Switching JEPEG to RAW ?

[tazmamar]

I have been shooting in JEPEG. From reading about RAW, I am convinced that RAW gives me flexibility in correcting my images, mainly for me i.e. adjusting WB, exposure, color etc. Since I am new to this I need suggestion in what item/software I need.

Thanks

[ssim]

You need a RAW converter. You already have DPP which came with your camera. If you have photoshop CS2 you can download the latest Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) from the Adobe site. It is free but will only work with CS2, any version previous to this it is a paid update.

There are many other RAW converters out there, Phase One, Bibble, Silkypix, DxO, Breezebrowser, to name just a few. You can check out this site (http://www.sphoto.com/techinfo/rawconverters/rawconverters.htm) which lists most, if not all, of the ones available these days. You could also have a look at Lightroom, but it is still in beta form but is a free download.

RAW does have its advantages, particularly when it comes to white balance. If you can nail your exposure at the time of shooting it becomes less of an advantage but I still shoot just about everything in RAW.

[CyberDyneSystems]

tazmamar,
I just want to be clear that I understand what you are saying.

You will be shooting RAW now, and want to know how to handle the new RAW images you will be making,.. correct?

In reading your post and title, it almost looks like you might be hoping to convert your existing jpegs to RAW files.
This is not possible.

[tazmamar]

Hi Rudolph,
No, I am sorry that, if the title mislead you. I am just trying to say that so far I have been shooting only in JEPEG. But that I want to start shooing In RAW and take advantage of some of the editing I can do my self rather than the camera.

[Longwatcher]

In reading your post and title, it almost looks like you might be hoping to convert your existing jpegs to RAW files.
This is not possible.

Just to be annoyingly technical yes it is possible, but it still won't be as good as if you shot it correctly to start with and it would take a really good software program or way too much time.

I can neither confirm/nor deny that I spent way too much time with certain 3-letter agencies to not know it is possible. It is only a question of how much effort is required.

[JoeJ]

Hi Rudolph,
No, I am sorry that, if the title mislead you. I am just trying to say that so far I have been shooting only in JEPEG. But that I want to start shooing In RAW and take advantage of some of the editing I can do my self rather than the camera.


Download Adobe Lightroom Beta4 and have a go at RAW.

[tazmamar]

Thanks to everyone

[The111]

I fooled around with RAW for one weekend and every single picture turned out worse than if I had just taken the default JPG processing. I don't doubt that RAW can look better in the end, but I'm guessing you need to know your stuff better than I knew mine...

[René Damkot]

Try DPP: By default it uses the camera settings, while a converter like ACR by default uses 'auto everything' which is quite bad...