by Gary / 0 comments - Orginally published:26th February 2017
A lesson learnt early on
Back in 2003, I got my hands on a Canon 10D digital SLR. Boy was I chuffed. You can read more about that in 'The Return of the EOS', but one of the pieces of advice I had read, and heeded, was to shoot in Camera Raw.
What is Camera Raw? What are you talking about?
Okay, simply goes. The images you shoot on any digital device are recorded in memory. On regular cameras, a memory card, on a smartphone in its onboard memory somewhere, or maybe a memory card. All devices will generally support recording these images as JPEG, but the camera 'processes' the image and then saves it. It also makes decisions on the style of the shot, the sharpness and the light balance before saving these changes to your file. The level of compression may be adjustable, but the more that is applied, the more detail is lost.
Let me show you. This is a shot from 2016 which was saved as RAW, before being lightly processed manually and saved as a JPEG for this post.
The JPEG Image
The first thing I'm interested in is the quality of the image. So now let's have a close-up of some detail.
A close-up of the detail
You'll notice the more compression applied, the more pixelated it will become. Whilst this will not matter in small images on the screen, if you want to print it out or crop the image, you'll notice the lack of quality.
Raw records your images exactly as the sensor captures them. This is great because once you have the raw images, you can process them as many different ways as you like and always have the original as a reference - a bit like a film negative if you remember the days of film!
Raw is exactly what it says - it's the raw data from your camera's sensor.
So if I shoot in raw everything will be better?
Errr No. You remember I said JPEG is a lossy compression file format. Well, that has its benefits.
The image above is 1.2 Mb as a JPEG at 20% (14.1 Mb at 100%), and as a raw file, it's 24 Mb. So you'll need more/bigger memory cards and more storage at home or in the cloud. Raw's a chunky monkey.
Also, being larger file sizes, it may well slow down the burst rate for shooting multiple images; that'll depend on your camera, but it normally is slower for raw.
Oh, and then the final sting in the tale, raw images need to be processed.
Yep, raw's strength may also be your weakness.
So my example raw shot actually looks like this when captured.
Select Tilt-Shift filter
Urgh, really? Yep, as I said, the camera processes the raw data it captures, and it tweaks it to give you your final image. And most of the time, it does a reasonable job, plus you may have a choice of selecting the image style, which helps the camera out again. The problem is once the camera has done its work, it saves the output as the JPEG and any other info recorded by the sensor at the time is lost.
So if we're working with RAW, we can get the most out of the shot.
Now the camera manufacturer will have provided you with some raw editing software. However, despite Canon's offering being quite good, I prefer to use Adobe's Lightroom, partnered with Adobe's Photoshop, as my editing suite of choice. So from the raw image above, I am able to extract this;
The final processed image
Within Adobe's Lightroom, there are many presets within the development module to get you going. It's easy to give your image different looks - plus there are always additional Lightroom plugins available & you can create your own for a personal look.
Lightroom - Old Polar preset
This example uses Lightroom’s Old Polar Preset – it looks like a photo found in an old tin box from the ’70s
Lightroom Aged Photo
Now with a 'Aged Photo' preset
Lightroom - Antique Processed Raw image
With an 'Antique' look applied.
But there's more. Add to that DXO's NIK Collection of plugins, and I can create further variates at a simple click of a button or two within Adobe's Photoshop.
Nik Collection Bright - Processed Raw image
Here we use the 'Bright' default within the HDR Efex Pro 2 filter.
Nik - Sinister - Processed Raw image
Then something darker using the 'Sinister' default.
If Black & White photography is your thing, then check out the Silver Efex Pro 2 module. There are 38 presets to get you started, and then you can create your own styles from there.
Nik - B&W SFX
Now I appreciate you can apply filters and recreate the similar effect with JPEGS. Still, the beauty of RAW is that you start with one 'negative/original' image, with its full-colour range, and you can take your shot in any direction you want. If you start with JPEG, there's always the real possibility you'll commit to one look and lose the original. (I know - I've done it with a pre-2003 JPEG myself)
Any other downsides?
With larger file sizes, that means larger memory cards, or more of them, or both. It also means more storage either back home, in 'The Cloud', or on the road with you. Something to consider before switching to RAW.
Something I didn't on a 2004 trip to New York. I started to notice the impact of the larger file sizes and had to switch to JPEG. It's the only time I have changed back to JPEG.
Also, you'll be editing larger files, so your PC/Mac/Laptop needs plenty of memory; otherwise, the process can become rather painful.
Another thing to consider is disappointment. As I said, RAW images need to be processed most of the time. You may be able to select a preset, but often, straight out of the camera, they may look flat and less sharp than you would have hoped for. That's okay; you can do that now; it's your choice - if you've shot in JPEG, your camera has already saved a predefined version.
So why shoot in camera RAW?
Okay here's my 5 reasons.
What won't RAW help with?
We have established raw is pretty cool, and it can help correct some issues after the event. However, it's not magic; it cannot solve the following problems.
In summary
If you switch to RAW, you're giving yourself a chance to go back to old shots and improve them as your skills develop. You won't regret it - I promise.
Why shoot in RAW format? Hopefully, I have provided a compelling cases for shooting in RAW, if your camera supports it, and you're serious about photography.
Have You?
Have you converted to RAW? If so, did it make a big difference to your workflow? Have you seen the benefits? Or have you tried it, and it didn't work for you? Either way, I'd like to hear.
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