RAW Format Is a Lifesaver

[James Fee]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1759,1781457,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1759,1781457,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Raw is an invisible wonder. Photographers rave about the Raw format of their cameras and the exploits of their favorite Raw converters, but prepress never sees a raw image. Adobe's announcement of DNG makes a lot of noise—but no one seems to be writing DNG files—what's going on here? For now, Raw is a format for photographers only. To simplify matters, Raw is the digital equivalent of a negative. Equivalent? No, it's really, really better! If you have a raw file, you can change the exposure and white balance of a shot considerably, long after you've taken it. This is a lifesaver. It's a miracle. It's real technological progress. It's a genuine innovation that can pay for utility bills and food!"</i><br /><br />Should I use RAW? Ever ask yourself that question? Check out this article on the huge benefits of the RAW format.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

That article is a wee bit overhyped. Ask a working sports PJ with 1000 images to process in a day on whether RAW is good and you'll get a different answer. =P

[Philip Colmer]

Also, since RAW images are bigger than JPEGs, I think they take longer to write to the memory card, so the camera can take fewer shots per second. Not a big deal for slow moving or static shots but it can have an impact on fast moving shots, I would think.

I'm going to give RAW a try, though. It is always worth experimenting :-). To play safe, I'll probably set the camera to write both file formats to the card ... yes, I know - it will take even longer then :wink:.

--Philip

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Not really, normally the files go to the buffer first. A well-designed camera won't have too many problems shooting in RAW.

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I always shoot in RAW. Not that I know how to manipulate the files but it seems to be the most future proof way. A standard RAW format would be nice, to ensure that applications will be able to read the files in the future. It would also be cool to be able to view RAW files in Windows explorer and I've heard of a few hacks that enable this but nothing "official". Does Adobe reader display DNG files?

Philip: Are most cameras able tho write both formats at once? I don't think my Powershot S70 can but I could be wrong. The manual says the camera "embeds" a jpeg into the RAW file and I can set a quality setting for this. Are they referring to the .thm file that is saved with the .crw file?

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

No, RAW+JPG is just that: The camera will write two files, one .CRW, one .JPG. Available only to DSLRs and possibly the Pro1 (can't remember).