Reasons to
shoot in RAW:
1. Get the Highest
Level of Quality
When you shoot in RAW you record all of the data from the sensor. This
gives the highest quality files.
2. Record Greater Levels of Brightness
Levels of brightness are the number of steps from black to white in an
image. The more you have, the smoother the transitions of tones.
3. Easily Correct Dramatically Over/Under Exposed Images
RAW has additional information in the file. You can also recover more
blown highlights and clipped shadows.
4. Easily Adjust White Balance
When you
shoot JPEG the white balance is applied to the image. You cant just
easily choose another option. With RAW the white balance is still recorded,
but because you have way more data, its easy to adjust.
5. Get Better Detail
When you shoot RAW you have access to sharpening and noise algorithms
in programs like Lightroom and Photoshop that are way more powerful than
those found in your camera.
6. Enjoy Non-Destructive Editing
Adjustments to a RAW file don't do anything to the original data.
You create a set of instructions for how the JPEG or TIFF (another file
format) version should be saved.
Downsides
to shooting in RAW
1) Need To Be Processed
Because the files need to be processed, it takes more time to shoot RAW
than JPEG.
2) Takes Up More Space
Since RAW files have more uncompressed information they can be 2-3
times larger than JPEG files.
3) Slows The Camera Down
RAW files are larger than JPEGs, so theyll fill up the buffer of
your camera faster.
4) In A Proprietary Format
RAW files are often recorded in a proprietary format, which means that
the camera manufacturers havent officially disclosed how the raw
data can be converted. Companies like Adobe either need to llicense software
to decode the RAW files.
5) Obsolence - outdated software and inaccesable files
You cant be certain that in 5, 10 or 20 years youll be able
to easily open that RAW file if you dont have the proper software
to decode it!
A new open source
RAW format has been developed in order to overcome this obstacle. It was
developed by Adobe and is known as DNG (Digital Negative). Using a program
like Lightroom, you can convert your proprietary RAW files into the open
source DNG format.
Alternative
RAW processor (Windows and Linux)
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