Shooting as JPEG...if you have to...

[ShutteringFocus]

I try to shoot Raw when I can because the files are small and well, you know all the reasons..


But I only have 256mb of space. So my question is. If I shoot JPEG and then save the files to cd's does JPEG compress the file everytime it is opened and closed? or only when it is saved?

Could I store the files as JPEG and then if I want to work with them, save as them as TIFF so I dont loose anything? Tiff images are huge...and I'm running out of CD's

(Sorry if this is supposed to be a camera only question forum. If it is...where should I have asked this?)

[CoolToolGuy]

If you treat them as files in Windows, there will not be extra compression - just move them or copy or whatever. If, however, you have them up in a viewer and save them to the directory you want them in, you run the risk of recompression.

Hope this helps.

[RichardtheSane]

If you are shooting jpeg, then there is a fairly simple solution.
Shoot the jpeg, then treat the jpeg as you would treat your raw file - as a digital negative.
Copy the jpeg to your PC, but if you do any editing at all on the image save it as a seperate TIFF. That way your original jpegs will remain unaltered, unedited, and ready for you in case you should happen to booger up one of your tiffs.
The will prevent the jpeg being re-compressed every time you save it.

[KiwiRob]

I download all my jpeg's then save them as tiffs immediately, then delete the jpegs. I keep to origional tiff on one hard drive and a copy on my second drive which I use for editing.

[ron chappel]

Keeping an unedited orriginal Jpeg is a good compromise solution.
If you mean 'can i open and close a Jpeg without losing quality?' the answer is YES.As long as you make no changes to it,you can do this endlessly without reducing it's quality at all :)

[ShutteringFocus]

So I could just store the original JPEGs on a CD and convert before editing...

Good news. Those 8-10mb TIFFs take up a lot of space.

Thanks :wink:

[defordphoto]

One way to protect your JPEG original from being overwritten is to highlight all the files, or the folder, and then right click. On the menu dialogue that opens, select PROPERTIES and then check the READ ONLY box. Once that is done that prevents any accidental overwrites.

[theoldmoose]

And be aware that some operations you do that you might not consider to be changes to the image, will in some cases, re-compress the image.

Two examples:

1) Rotating the image using Windows XP explorer. It not only re-compresses the image, but also strips out all the EXIF info, for your amusement.

2) Setting IPTC info (or what passes for it) in PhotoShop. Even though this is supposed to be just text comments embedded in a header pasted at the front of the JPEG, PhotoShop has the audacity to open the image portion, and re-compress it when you save the file. BreezeBrowser, on the other hand, I've been told will let you add IPTC info to images without damaging them.

Best option is to repeat the mantra, "Never open/edit an original image." Not even to 'just look around'. It's too easy to make a mistake with that once-in-a-lifetime image.

CD's are cheap. Always download your images to a 'to-burn' folder, and do so, before you do any sorting/selecting/editing on them.

On second thought, if you are using really cheap CD's, skip the burn, and back your images up on multiple removeable hard drives. It's false economy to buy anything but archival quality CD blanks (Maxell Pro, Mitsumi Gold, or Kodak Ultima), and quite dangerous to assume that anything you write on cheap CD media will be around in 5 to 10 years, when you really might need it. For information on CD media life, see http://www.cdsleeves.com

[KennyG]

One way to protect your JPEG original from being overwritten is to highlight all the files, or the folder, and then right click. On the menu dialogue that opens, select PROPERTIES and then check the READ ONLY box. Once that is done that prevents any accidental overwrites.

I use Downloader Pro which sets the read only flag automatically. It prevents that accidental "oops, I didn't mean to do that" overwrite of a downloaded file.

I would never delete any of the original files, even if I converted jpg to tif, I would still keep the jpg. You should always strive to keep the original files as they come out of the camera, they are your master 'negatives'.

CF is so cheap these days there is almost no excuse not to shoot RAW. They are the best negatives you can get.

[ShutteringFocus]

Excuse not to shoot raw?

How about this...

16 years old, saving for college, streached the pennies just to get the camera. :roll:

I would love more memory space...but even $150 is tough to get.

[defordphoto]

One way to protect your JPEG original from being overwritten is to highlight all the files, or the folder, and then right click. On the menu dialogue that opens, select PROPERTIES and then check the READ ONLY box. Once that is done that prevents any accidental overwrites.

I use Downloader Pro which sets the read only flag automatically. It prevents that accidental "oops, I didn't mean to do that" overwrite of a downloaded file.

Good to know. I did not know that.