Why Do You Shoot RAW?

Me and some photojournalists i know were having this discussion and since I know the vast majority of the dSLR shooters here shoot RAW, I'd just like some sense of why?

My opinions on the matter are well know and i have no desire to go back into that argument alas I'd like to know why you shoot RAW.

Not having to white balance?

The same reason 35mm photogs store their negatives, I want a backup that allows for as much manipulation as possible after the fact. I shoot RAW+JPG though.

Then again, I don't view Photoshop as a sin, unlike others.

1) white balance

2) greater manipulative recovery capabilities (more stored dynamic range)

3) I don't do any commercial work that makes JPG more beneficial

I shoot both RAW and jpg at the same time. RAW converters offers more options post shoot but sometimes the final output is hardly noticeable. Daylight shooting jpg will be OK IMO.

I spent years on the Adobe forums discussing this.

I'm just trying to get some opinions from people who do. I am not trying to get an argument going, just some honest opinions as to why you choose to shoot RAW.

My world is more about speed, workflow, transmit and get it online. That and i am not paying money for CS4 to open my RAW files when CS2 works fine for editing.

Another vote for both. Probably 90% of the time I'm happy with the jpg. But every now and then I need to fix something and, for Canon, I have actually found DPP to be very workable for me (unlike some).

Besides, I always end up saving as a loseless tiff. Just a habit I guess.

PhotoDave219 said:

That and i am not paying money for CS4 to open my RAW files when CS2 works fine for editing.

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That one I understand. However, since I make my money in designing ads, the upgrade to CS4 is a legitimate business expense for me

I shoot Raw only anymore. I used to Shoot RAW + Jpg when I first got a camera that could, I think just because it could (honestly). There are benefits to shooting jpg, and I will when the occasion calls for it (Sports mainly), but not for what I shoot. Some of the reasons I shoot in RAW are

-Higher Dynamic Range (Which gives me the ability to create HDRs),

-Ability to control more aspects of the image, meaning I (big I) can control how I want the image to come out instead of relying on the camera to decide it for me.

-Yes the white balance but that isn't major because I should be doing that before I start to shoot.

-Future proofing (incase someone develops another type of processing that requires RAW.


There are probably more reasons but it is early in the day and I haven't woken up entirely.

I shoot RAW all the time, for most of the reasons already posted in this thread. I don't have any work that needs to be sent out immediately, it's really nice to be able to fix the White Balance on images(inside of Pirates of the Caribbean rings a bell), and just being able to fix things that I did wrong when originally exposing the image.

Its the attitude of "I can fix it in post" that causes that reaction from me.

PhotoDave219 said:

Its the attitude of "I can fix it in post" that causes that reaction from me.

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With RAW you can make more adjustments than jpg without destroying the image. I think many Photoshoppers like RAW because they can spend more time on the computer. I tend to use jpg for internet output and RAW for print because the jpgs have less choices and hence faster and web output is less demanding. You can spend more time with a print image and get it the way you like it including CMYK and colour spaces, etc.

As I wrote before, using both gives you all the options.

PhotoDave219 said:

Its the attitude of "I can fix it in post" that causes that reaction from me.

Click to expand...

Glad to hear that you're not going back to the argument about JPEG Vs. RAW

Everyone has their own preference. I have shot in JPEG only and in RAW only and I find myself coming back to RAW because of the workflow. I am a wedding & lifestyles photographer so I'm always snapping away at the shutter. Sometimes I do not want to miss that special moment because I am changing some settings to match the current situation. I usually shoot at aperture priority and a fairly high ISO like ISO 400 or ISO 640. This will give me some room of having a "shootable" (is this a word?) shutter speed if I am going from one lighting scene to another.

Also like the higher dynamic range that RAW gives me.

My workflow did not change when using RAW or JPEG. I do not own Adobe Photoshop so there's not much choice on me correcting my files. I do however use the DPP software supplied by Canon that came with the camera purchase. Also using Adobe Lightroom (similar to Canon's DPP) for my batch processing like White Balance, etc.

I was at a Joe McNally seminar recently and found out why he uses RAW files. It's because he has to deliver unaltered files to Sports Illustrated, national geographic, etc. so RAW is his choice.

I guess this is just a personal preference for me.

Actually..... SI's policy is a RAW+Jpeg. You transmit back a small JPEG of the entire take and the editors tell you what to to send back RAW so they process only what they want. Then you send them the rest on DVD for archiving.

This is different from a few years ago when you burn the DVD and then put it on the next airplane to New York.

Interesting that in Dave LaBelle's lecture i was in today, we didnt talk anything about gear, settings, camera geek stuff but only talked technique and composition.

I'm all for camera techniques and composition. I hate post processing. The lesser time I spend in front of the computer, the less strain and tired my eyes will be.

Thats the exact reason why i dont shoot RAW. I had a grand total of 12 minutes to make deadline after the UGA/GA Tech game.