Do you shoot RAW?

[pixelstix]

I'm getting ready to teach a digi class and I'm writing up my notes. Since I'll be showing them how to quickly edit their photo's exposure, etc. in Adobe RAW (my preferred method), I need to quickly explain what RAW is. And since I'm bad at explaining stuff, I did a quick google to help me get the words right. I came across a Ken Rockwell article where he talks about shooting in RAW like it's the dumbest thing you could do. I know I've heard this all before, that you don't need to, and I know you can open your jpgs *in* RAW (one at a time?) but I've always seen a noticeable difference from my camera between the RAW file and the JPG (I shoot RAW+JPG) so I've continued to shoot in RAW and fill up my hard drive.

What do you do?

[marlathrall]

I just started shooting in Raw last month when I switch to Lightroom and I LOVE it. Fixing WB is so stinking easy in Lightroom when you shoot Raw and I don't think I will be going back to Jpeg anytime soon. If you didn't use Lightroom, I could kinda see why you'd stick with Jpeg... That's actually why it took me so long to switch.

[glumirk]

My Rebel XS is horrible at white balance, so I shoot in RAW for that reason more than anything else. If you can get perfect exposure and white balance every time you take a picture, then go ahead and shoot in JPEG, but IMO if you don't want to miss those great shots then shoot in RAW.

While on the subject, I also think that ACR in CS5 is just like Lightroom 3 as far as photo editing goes. I {heart} ACR!

I have heard some people, in order to save hard drive space, shoot RAW and then save in JPEG and discard the RAW. Hard drives are so cheap now that I don't think it's worth the time/effort.

[KateD]

I've been shooting in RAW for three years and I'd never shoot in JPEG again by choice. Yes, you can open a JPG in ACR, but there's a lot more information in the RAW file, so you tend to get better results. The other thing is that when the camera saves a JPG, it's also doing some edits to the picture like sharpening it. I want to make the choices about how my photos are edited, not leave it to the camera.

[MamaBee]

I"m sure I am the minority... I do not shoot in RAW... didn't know about it or how when I first got my camera and when I took a photography class, he was very old school and said not to.... and I'm not worried that my photos are perfect- I just want to get my story down on paper.

[Nettio]

You should probably take anything Ken Rockwell says with a grain of salt. He's not really seen as a credible source in a lot of photog circles and a lot of what he says on his site is more opinion than fact.

I think the best way to explain RAW vs JPG is that a JPG is a RAW file that your camera has processed for you using what the camera programmers feel are the proper settings, where as by shooting RAW, you get to process the image into a JPG on the computer, using what you feel are the proper settings. So it basically gives you 100% control over the final image.

I shoot RAW because I don't find it to be that much more work than JPG and I like that it gives me extra flexibility in tough situations or when I make mistakes.

[Kara]

I do shoot in RAW and process in Lightroom. It's saved me on more than one occasion!

[pixelstix]

I'm so glad I'm not alone. I second guess myself when I read stuff like that... maybe there's not really a difference anymore, or...? I know a while back Pioneer Woman talked about not shooting in RAW too and a lot of people seemed to listen. I prefer to have full control too- and I definitely feel like I get that.

For a while between getting my Canon T3i and PSE 10, there was no RAW update for my old PSE 6 to access my new RAW files. I had to edit my jpg's in RAW, and I was so glad to get back to being able to access my RAW images!

[sprauncey1]

Originally Posted by Nettio

You should probably take anything Ken Rockwell says with a grain of salt. He's not really seen as a credible source in a lot of photog circles and a lot of what he says on his site is more opinion than fact.

I think the best way to explain RAW vs JPG is that a JPG is a RAW file that your camera has processed for you using what the camera programmers feel are the proper settings, where as by shooting RAW, you get to process the image into a JPG on the computer, using what you feel are the proper settings. So it basically gives you 100% control over the final image.

I shoot RAW because I don't find it to be that much more work than JPG and I like that it gives me extra flexibility in tough situations or when I make mistakes.

Exactly! Ken sometimes has some good stuff to say, but he also makes no sense sometimes (he's a man! LOL JK Aaron!)

[Freckles]

I've been shooting in RAW for the past 4 years! It's definitely not the same editing a jpg or a RAW with Adobe RAW. This has saved my photos more times than I can count!

[nikkiARNGwife]

I shoot RAW and process in LR...and I love it

[DawnMarch]

I only shoot RAW. RAW is really the RAW data that your camera has captured. By the time an image is converted to a jpeg file, that data has already been manipulated, compressed and permanently changed. Yes, you can edit a jpeg with a RAW editor now, such as ACR or Lightroom, but there is much less correction you can do to a jpeg file because it already has much less data to work with than the original RAW file.

[ColleenSwerb]

I think it depends on what you want to do, or are trying to do. I shoot RAW because I want the control over my images, 100%, every time.
If I was just a mom-with-a-camera snapping away and not really caring about the finer details of photography, I wouldn't bother. And there's nothing wrong with that AT ALL.

I've been shooting RAW for close to 4 years now, and I don't see myself ever going back.

[NeverendingJen]

I shoot in JPEG 90% of the time. When I know I am going to need to control the photos even further, I switch to RAW. I rarely was doing any edits in RAW because I'm more concerned about getting photoes taken than having my photos be perfect.

[misfitinmn]

Originally Posted by NeverendingJen

I shoot in JPEG 90% of the time. When I know I am going to need to control the photos even further, I switch to RAW. I rarely was doing any edits in RAW because I'm more concerned about getting photoes taken than having my photos be perfect.

You saved me some typing because that's EXACTLY what I do!

I shoot in RAW if I'm trying to do a "photoshoot" of my boys, but day to day, I keep it in JPEG so I don't have to empty my memory card as often.