raw vs jpeg

[eyeguy 54]

I have always shot jpeg but found a program that will open up raw on my windows 7 so gotta give it a shot. what do you all like? 

[Sturg]

I almost always shoot in RAW.  I like being able to tweak the photos when  to maximize the look if my camera settings weren't quite right or the lighting was not quite as expected.  RAW files give you more data and latitude to improve the final look of the photo. 

[eyeguy 54]

thx,  I tweak the jpeg with elements 11 but sounds like I will be able to do more with raw. 

[Dbl]

For my shooting which is very high volume I use JPEG. When I'm doing snapshots of the family, JPEG. If I am shooting at night, landscape work or traveling I usually shoot RAW and JPEG together. I won't get into a huge debate of RAW vs JPEG but the RAW file holds considerably more data than a JPEG. Remember a JPEG is using your camera to process the file. A RAW file is just like our old film, nothing processed by your camera. Here are a few comparisons.

RAW - considerably more tonal range, noticeable in landscapes, larger file size more space for archiving, different processing using a RAW converter, not needed for personal or web viewing.

JPEG - Camera processed, less tonal range. Smaller file when doing high volume shooting, Faster when shooting in burst mode, shooting for web posting.

I use whatever fits my shooting at the time. Remember you will have a different work flow when handling each file type. Once you are comfortable with both you will have no problems shooting whatever works for you.

[Dbl]

As an add on to this I just spent two weeks in Scandinavia and shot both RAW and JPEG. In virtually every case I was able to tweak more data from my RAW files and help with some of my marginal shots. So in this case I had time to shoot and was not under pressure to produce high volumes in a short time frame (sports shooting) so shooting both RAW and JPEG was and easy choice. Spent a bit more time than I normally do processing because of the extra step of opening my RAW files and then importing them into Photoshop for more tweaking. In some cases Just the work done in the RAW converter was more than adequate to produce the results I was looking for.

[eyeguy 54]

interesting and thx.  I just went back to jpeg.  just a hobby and easy for my brain. lol