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When I got involved in professional digital photography, whether to shoot in RAW or JPEG was an important consideration. Ultimately, I chose RAW.
My opinions resonate with Nasim Mansurov, who wrote the best article on the debate. He covers the advantages and disadvantages of RAW and JPEG formats, providing some nice visuals as well. Ultimately, he advocates ‘serious photographers’ shooting in RAW format, whereas recreational photographers should shoot in JPEG format.
Essentially, RAW is minimally processed camera sensor data. It is far larger than a JPEG and requires special software to interpret and edit. Although it preserves the most detail captured in an image, it has little currency among end users and the programs they use to display and print.
Because it is a larger file format, in a given memory card, fewer images can be stored at a slower rate. Also, storage on a computer is taken up more quickly.
The key to making RAW work is workflow and storage space. Each RAW file can be 6+ MB, whereas a good quality JPEG doesn’t need to go much past 1 MB. In the past, this was a big issue, but now I think memory is getting so much cheaper that terabytes of potential storage won’t be an issue.
Workflow is a different monster. To edit every RAW file and save a JPEG copy on Photoshop would take ages. You need a program like Adobe Bridge + Camera RAW, or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to batch process images. These programs are dedicated to improving workflow and efficiency.
I prefer to convert RAW files from my Nikon D700 to DNG format. The reason I do this is because DNG files don’t require a separate XMP file when editing, they have better compression, better support among other software, and better support over time.
The problem with RAW files is that they’re specific to the make and model of a camera; although each type shares common characteristics, there are differences, and support is spotty. Take my D700 for example. I had to upgrade Adobe Photoshop to CS4 just so it could process D700 RAW files.
At the end of it, I have a DNG file that I can make changes to without losing image quality, and best yet, I can always restore the image prior to changes. This includes cropping. Any changes made to the image are saved in addition to the original settings.
Ultimately, I still have to make a JPEG at the end of it, because you can’t show most people RAW or DNG files, and you can’t have them printed at your local shop. JPEG is smaller and has better currency.
Which brings me to JPEGs. You can skip all the nonsense of workflow, conversion, large file size, and what have you if you think you can take the perfect shot at the outset, and don’t think you’ll need to edit it much later on. Personally, despite my best efforts to get perfect settings and lighting, I work in dynamic conditions, and focus more on composition than on camera settings. For this reason, I need a little wiggle room when I post process. Plus, I create a lot of derivative work from my photography, and like to have a little more detail to work with.
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