Use JPEG and forget RAW?!

[josbiker]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting.

 

[dgnelson]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting.

If you shoot jpeg then you're trusting the camera to make all the right decisions. That's only an advantage if its little brain is smarter than yours.

Dan

 

[Cigarguy]

Shoot whatever makes you happy. Photography is all about interpretation. Is there a right and wrong way to see things? If it makes you happy then that should be good enough. If a few others like it too then it's a bonus.

Some people like spending hours post processing. I don't which surprised me as I absolutely love spending hours and hours in a darkroom messing with film. I think it because I spend all day in front a computer for work and don't want to do the same thing when not working.

 

[Tony Rogers]

One way to get the best of both worlds is to shoot in Raw and use Olympus viewer to batch convert all the "OK" images using default settings. Then, any images that need correction/cropping etc. you can process from Raw using your favourite software.

I find Olympus Viewer very slow for individula photos from Raw but the batch processing can just be left to get on with it. I use Photoshop CC for mmore advanced processing.

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting

I sympathise with the view that jpg shooting can in the main produce results as good and sometimes even better than RAW. But where you are very misguided is in the idea that we can set the camera to get the perfect jpeg shot every time. I assume that the subject matter that you shoot isn't what you might call challenging. I understand a bit about setting but with the subject matter that I close to shoot, Birds & BIFS, Insects and Aircraft I'd be fooling myself if I thought I had a chance of getting it right every time.

 

[trog100]

raw does allow more room for getting it wrong..

but i shoot jpegs partly because i like to see instant results and i think batch processing raw files is just too much trouble and the results are no better than what the camera does..

trog

 

[abe4652]

I am in awe of your ability to, on the fly, while shooting at anywhere from 1 frame every minute, to 8 frames a second, to know precisely:

1) Correct white balance

2) Correct exposure (I sure hope you are shooting manually and not relying on the camera's new-fangled ability to autoexpose, but if you are so relying, having a camera that always knows precisely the correct exposure for the part of the image you wish to expose at a certain way)

3) Avoid pesky sky exposure issues where your overwhelming 8 bit 256 levels of brightness may result in banding (look it up), while RAW has many thousands of levels.

Please, tell us how you do it.

 

[Fri13]

Wrong. You can see what you get with settings YOU choose.

RAW shooters srem to trust the camera and then hope they can fix things at front of the computer.

Jpeg is just a format, very flexible and the format used for printing etc as final file too.
Raw has benefits when you need extreme features but those are very rare.

If you cant get things correctly with JPEG, you dont with RAW either.

 

[papillon_65]

It makes the assumption that everyone is just trying to replicate exactly what they see, which isn't exactly what photography is all about for many people. Many of us like to put a twist on some of our shots and create something very different for the original scene. Part of this usually involves post processing to create something visually different. Now it is possible to sometimes do this using jpegs, but often it's much better to shoot raw and give yourself more creative options. Jpeg files fall apart pretty quickly, raw files not so much. So if you want to shoot everything pretty much as you see it that's great, but don't criticise others for doing it differently, that's your own bias.

Personally I shoot both as and when I see fit, some cameras don't even give you a raw option so there isn't a choice. I would never be so bold as to lecture anyone who does it either way, that's entirely up to them.

 

[krylovsk]

As a learner wishing to improve my photography skills, I agree with you that mastering the technique and camera eventually should allow one to use JPEG only and drop RAW altogether, or use it as a backup only in extreme cases.

As a shooter in the field, I often find it's impossible to do all the necessary settings on the spot due to so many factors varying from the subject matter to the field settings. Yes, my technique is sloppy and I want to improve on it, but there will be always factors that I cannot control no matter how quickly and good I am.

What digital photography and RAW provide me, is a way to postpone some of those decisions to PP while getting the best I can on the spot. The better my on-the-spot skills are, the less work I will beed to do in the PP, which to me is just another step in capturing the image. I found both techniques complimentary and not mutually exclusive, and I think to improve my results I need to work on both of them.

 

[Dave Bennett]

It makes the assumption that everyone is just trying to replicate exactly what they see, which isn't exactly what photography is all about for many people. Many of us like to put a twist on some of our shots and create something very different for the original scene. Part of this usually involves post processing to create something visually different. Now it is possible to sometimes do this using jpegs, but often it's much better to shoot raw and give yourself more creative options. Jpeg files fall apart pretty quickly, raw files not so much. So if you want to shoot everything pretty much as you see it that's great, but don't criticise others for doing it differently, that's your own bias.

Personally I shoot both as and when I see fit, some cameras don't even give you a raw option so there isn't a choice. I would never be so bold as to lecture anyone who does it either way, that's entirely up to them.

 

[TN Args]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting.

If you shoot jpeg then you're trusting the camera to make all the right decisions. That's only an advantage if its little brain is smarter than yours.

Dan

The top post is too white and the next one too black.

JPEG files are highly flexible and adjustable in post -- but raw files even more so.

And the large number of adjustments to JPEG settings in-camera are proof that the camera is not making all the decisions. The JPEG photographer has a lot of control and freedom.

The OP has a point that I like: the time taken to make the decisions in the field about the final image before shooting in JPEG, develops the photographer's ability to pre-vision the image -- and ultimately I think that makes for a more skilled photographer than one who lapses into the mentality "the basic subject is interesting, I will take a snap and try to make something of it later, but not sure what that might be just yet". Plus the idea of more overall time in the field or studio with the subject, and less on a PC at home, appeals to me.

Having said that, I shoot raw because I'm just not that meticulous or that good!

 

[Fri13]

I use to use only RAW in Canon and Nikon cameras and sweared in the name of RAW. Up to point when I "upgraded" to E-M1.

No more WB adjustments on computer, no color corrrction or alterations and no exposure corrections as E-M1 allows to get all right in the camera.

Now i have jpeg as main file and one Fn buttons switches to Jpeg+Raw when i see i will need the RAW capabilities in single frame.

If wanted to make some fancy looking photos, I bracket and use those as benefits are better than with single RAW.

 

[Fri13]

What amazes me a lot is how often people use A and S modes or even P mode and shoot RAW because they believe they are in control.

And just looking DSLR guides, it is almost always told to use those S and A modes.
I did too and i relayed the spot metering etc.

But since E-M1 I needed to relearn photography as it was faster than ever and more direct. Body best out there designed for a direct control and input.

- Shooting anymore only in M mode, faster than any other mode in any other camera.
- No worrying about WB
- Wide range possibilities for creative work in the camera.
- Spot metering? Exposure settings? It is direct control with the vision and I dont need those as I see what I get and when I know what I want I can get what I see.

 

[SkiHound]

The continuous jpeg v raw discourse is tedious. Shoot what works for you in your workflow. EVERYTHING is processed and always has been. Ansel Adams spent long periods of time dodging and burning (e.g., processing) in the darkroom. Different film produced very different looks. Velvia was super-saturated, Kodachome and Ectachrome had very different color profiles. Different jpeg engines produce different different interpretations. Different photographers using the same body use different jpeg settings. Etc., etc. I often use jpegs because I can simply tweak them a little and pop them up to friends and family on social media. But, it's undeniable that raw gives way more latitude with respect to pushing shadows, recovering highlights, and most especially adjusting WB if needed. I do agree that lots of folks push the sliders too far and produce unnatural results, but they do that with jpegs as well.

 

[papillon_65]

What amazes me a lot is how often people use A and S modes or even P mode and shoot RAW because they believe they are in control.

And just looking DSLR guides, it is almost always told to use those S and A modes.
I did too and i relayed the spot metering etc.

But since E-M1 I needed to relearn photography as it was faster than ever and more direct. Body best out there designed for a direct control and input.

- Shooting anymore only in M mode, faster than any other mode in any other camera.

Not necessarily, not in mixed and variable lighting, shooting in aperture priority mode is often quicker, pick your aperture and the camera will pick the shutter speed depending on your ISO setting. Shutter priority is also better for sports and fast movement. None of the modes are right or wrong, just use what suits.

- No worrying about WB
- Wide range possibilities for creative work in the camera.
- Spot metering? Exposure settings? It is direct control with the vision and I dont need those as I see what I get and when I know what I want I can get what I see.

Spot metering is useful for getting the correct exposure quickly on a specific subject when it's critical, shooting birds in flight for instance.

 

[tt321]

What amazes me a lot is how often people use A and S modes or even P mode and shoot RAW because they believe they are in control.

And just looking DSLR guides, it is almost always told to use those S and A modes.
I did too and i relayed the spot metering etc.

But since E-M1 I needed to relearn photography as it was faster than ever and more direct. Body best out there designed for a direct control and input.

- Shooting anymore only in M mode, faster than any other mode in any other camera.

Not necessarily, not in mixed and variable lighting, shooting in aperture priority mode is often quicker, pick your aperture and the camera will pick the shutter speed depending on your ISO setting. Shutter priority is also better for sports and fast movement. None of the modes are right or wrong, just use what suits.

Absolutely. I was in M mode and the clouds were moving fast with sudden brightness changes and a lot of shots were suboptimal until I switched to A mode.

- No worrying about WB
- Wide range possibilities for creative work in the camera.
- Spot metering? Exposure settings? It is direct control with the vision and I dont need those as I see what I get and when I know what I want I can get what I see.

Spot metering is useful for getting the correct exposure quickly on a specific subject when it's critical, shooting birds in flight for instance.

 

[Rudi]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting.

:-D why don´t you shoot an instant camera like Polaroid or Fujifilms ?

I shoot RAW + JPEG to have all the possibilties to decide what I like to keep or to work over.

And for all to be save I backup my RAW files as I did with the negatives in film days.


Rudi.

 

[josbiker]

The biggest problem with the RAW shooters they do not know how to shoot a perfect JPEG on the spot.

They go to their computer (time consuming) and they are forgotten how the scene really was and than they give a certain twist to their photo's thinking that was the original scene.

Do the test and you should be glad, do not use the extremes because that photo was not good enough right from the start.

The RAW shooters show you always very extreme lighting examples and think or say look at that what i have gain back, i say shoot your JPEG properly and than you gain all the profit from JPEG shooting.

If you shoot jpeg then you're trusting the camera to make all the right decisions. That's only an advantage if its little brain is smarter than yours.

Dan

What a way to answer you must have an enormous brain.;-)

 

[Trevor Carpenter]

What amazes me a lot is how often people use A and S modes or even P mode and shoot RAW because they believe they are in control.

- Shooting anymore only in M mode, faster than any other mode in any other camera.
-

I use M a lot but it's not necessary quicker. When I'm shooting BIFs I use A and 7.1 by default having already satisfied myself that it gives me the best S and that my ISO is at the optimum level.. If my camera is set on M by default, it may well be wrong and I will have to make setting changes which I don't have time to do.