Shooting in Raw Format

[Disneyfalcon]

Thanks Photodave!

 

[BillyBuff]

Lightroom

I don't have a need for Photoshop so I use Adobe Lightroom for my RAW files. It's been a great help for White Balance and Tonality controls.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I'll say it again - If you shoot it right the first time, you don't need RAW.

 

[Laura]

I'll say it again - If you shoot it right the first time, you don't need RAW.

Not everyone is PhotoDave219.

By the way - you've shown me your cheating ways with the camera.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

I'll say it again - If you shoot it right the first time, you don't need RAW.

90-95% of the time what you say is true... However you don't always have control over the lighting around you and being able to turn one raw shot into a 3 exposures that can than be combined can make some shot look much better... Not to mention when your trying to capture the moment you don't have time to verify everything and usually have to use the camers automatic mode which on my camera is usually only spot on 95% of the time.

Memories cheap, so why walk a tightrope without a net... Raw makes a cheap safety net.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Not everyone is PhotoDave219.

By the way - you've shown me your cheating ways with the camera.

You want me to only shoot one frame of a scene? Give me a speed graphix or some other medium/large format camera. Until then, i will shoot as many frames as a i need to get the peak of the scene or exactly what i want.

 

[julwh]

I have never shot in RAW before but after reading this thread, I am going to give it a try. Great information!!

 

[BillyBuff]

I have never shot in RAW before but after reading this thread, I am going to give it a try. Great information!!

Give it a try. just make sure you know what you're doing and what you're looking for in the final results.

I shoot Raw for the following reasons:
- Keep original unprocessed data
- Easier to make minor changes like contrast, exposure (1/2 to a full stop either direction), sharpness, White Balance, etc.

Myths about shooting in Raw:
- Too much time processing.
- Not worth it.
- Useless
- Photo manipulation
- For inexperienced photographers only

There are people that'll tell you don't shoot in Raw if you get it right in the right place. This is a 50/50 split. Some people have a lot of time sitting there composing a scene, fixing the contrast, fine-tuning the White Balance, etc. Well, if you look at it on a technical point, you're basically tweaking the "raw data" before taking the shot. So, there's not much difference in shooting JPEG or RAW.


Bottom line: JPEG - You tweak the settings in-camera and RAW - You tweak the settings after the shot.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Give it a try. just make sure you know what you're doing and what you're looking for in the final results.

I shoot Raw for the following reasons:
- Keep original unprocessed data
- Easier to make minor changes like contrast, exposure (1/2 to a full stop either direction), sharpness, White Balance, etc.

Myths about shooting in Raw:
- Too much time processing.
- Not worth it.
- Useless
- Photo manipulation
- For inexperienced photographers only

There are people that'll tell you don't shoot in Raw if you get it right in the right place. This is a 50/50 split. Some people have a lot of time sitting there composing a scene, fixing the contrast, fine-tuning the White Balance, etc. Well, if you look at it on a technical point, you're basically tweaking the "raw data" before taking the shot. So, there's not much difference in shooting JPEG or RAW.


Bottom line: JPEG - You tweak the settings in-camera and RAW - You tweak the settings after the shot.

... Shooting in RAW won't necessarily make you a better photographer either. In your case, work on some composition. Or as a friend would say, work on S__________g Less.

 

[Deadmanwalking]

... Shooting in RAW won't necessarily make you a better photographer either. In your case, work on some composition. Or as a friend would say, work on S__________g Less.

I don't think he made any claim that it would make you a better photographer. He simply pointed what some people, like yourself, seem to forget. That for perfectly taken pictures the photographer will have to tweak things like white balance either prior to taking the shot for JPEGs or if RAWs are used later in processing. I have yet to find a digital camera that would get the white balance right 100% of the time when set to auto.

And frankly, I'm not sure you are qualified to tell someone they need to work on composition. Even more baffling is you make a statement like that from what someone wrote, not what they shot... But hey, from what I've written maybe you can tell me whether my last shot was over or under exposed.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I used RAW last summer, its OK if you have Nikon Capture.

 

[BillyBuff]

I agree. I never said shooting RAW would make anyone a better photographer.