Benefits of RAW

[Corey]

Just was curious of the benefits of RAW. Also, what is a good RAW editting software. I only have Digital Photo Pro that came with my Rebel XT (350D). Thanks guys!

-Corey.

[Mike R]

Pro: greater control over final look of image.
Con: every image must be processed,larger files
Is it worth it? Yes (really depends who you ask, this is a great debate)
Lightroom is my software of choice.

[Corey]

What kind of control do I have tho? I know it doesn't let the camera do the "finishing touches" to the picture. So basically I get to adjust the exposure/sharpen/colouring/etc to it before I get to edit it?

[TeeTee]

My main reason for using RAW is lossless editing and greater control over exposure provided youre shooting at ISO800 or lower.

[S.Horton]

Control.

[pagnamenta]

If you shoot a lot of low light shots with horrible in camera WB, then you can batch process your own custom WB. I do this for all my indoor sports shots and it saves me the headache.

Trouble is the file sizes are bigger.

[Ephemeral]

What kind of control do I have tho? I know it doesn't let the camera do the "finishing touches" to the picture. So basically I get to adjust the exposure/sharpen/colouring/etc to it before I get to edit it?

Another plus for shooting in RAW is that Jpgs are 8 bit images which means, in a simplified manner, that each pixel has a maximum of 256 distinct values for each. RAWs are 12bit which means there are 4096 values for each pixel. This means that you can fine tune a RAW image better than you can fine tune a jpg image.

Also a JPG image will have things like White Balance, Colour Styles, sharpness, contrast, etc. applied to the jpg iteself, while with a RAW you can change them after, hence post-processing.

It's all pros and cons at the end of the day.

[S.Horton]

OP asked a good question.

What does it mean to have control over results? To have control over the true digital negative vs. a compressed (and lossy) JPG?

One example: As my CS3 skills increase, the number of pictures I want to revisit goes up. Those in RAW I can go back to. Those in JPG, quite often, I cannot.

Example of a shot 'revived' just last week from long ago is this somewhat mediocre sunrise ;):
http://midnightblue.smugmug.com/photos/185650010-L.jpg


Example of a GREAT shot which cannot be 'saved' because it was JPG (and what a shame:cry:):

http://midnightblue.smugmug.com/photos/123979296-L.jpg

So, control amounts to increasing your number of true keepers, and the ability to, in time, create something you'd frame instead of lament.

And why didn't I shoot in RAW in Yellowstone last year, and thus lose that awesome sunrise shot forever? I didn't know any better. Painful lesson, but control of that negative is a huge plus, and the reason to shoot in RAW.

[chauncey]

Sam is right, but I have brought back a lot of jpegs from the throngs of disaster with ACR 4.1. And with CS3 and their smart objects stuff, image loss can be a thing of the past.