20D Newbie question re settings

[luckymomoftwins]

I want to take my pictures in the JPEG format since that is what I am familiar with.
I'm going to be printing the images in regular sizes - 4x6 and/or 5x7's of photos I really like.

I'm not sure what setting would be best for the image recording quality -- would Medium Normal be okay?

I'm rather confused about the RAW vs. JPEG choices...HELP!

Thanks in advance,
Jennifer

[jimtfoto]

Think you'd still want to keep it at Large, Fine .... never know when you might want to print larger ...

cheers,
jim

[tim]

I'd also recommend large/fine JPG, just in case you want to print the photos larger. For example, one random snap I took on holiday (see it here (http://www.mrwild.co.nz/PhotoGallery/2004/NewYears/slides/CRW_4701.html)) I really liked, I had it printed 30*20 inches and it's hanging on the wall in my lounge. Actually I took it RAW, which is even better, but JPG would've been fine.

To learn about RAW, read this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321334094/qid=1123058474/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-3047575-5896047?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). It's useful even if you don't use CS2.

[luckymomoftwins]

With my old digital camera, I'd download the photos and use Photo Studio to enhance, edit, crop the images. (The camera I was using was a point and shoot Sony 5.0 for snapshots of my girls. Well, I got fed up with missing so many shots due to the delay. The camera just was not doing it and I finally just stopped using the Sony and went back to my Canon EOS 630. Not digital but no delay!) That's why I finally caved and got the 20D. Major improvement and well worth the cost!

Ok, so now I wonder will I still be able to edit/crop etc. the images if I shoot in Large/Fine JPEG mode? Sorry about so many basic questions: I've mastered composition but not so much the technical stuff, especially with this new camera!

Jennifer

[luckymomoftwins]

P.S. Tim, I could not see the photo...just a tiny red X.

[Icecamp]

Why not shoot in Raw+Large Fine JPEG? The JPEG is easily extracted from the RAW file. RAW files are easily converted to the format of your choice: Tiff, JPEG, BMP, etc. In the inital conversion you can choose the WB setting you like(white balance is added to JPEGs with in-camera processing, and unless you always are on top of the setting, some bad results can happen)add sharpening, add exposure compensation, etc. etc. Raw is a great format and is the ONLY format to shoot in if you are going to do a fair amount of post processing to your photos IMO. RAW is completely lossless, it is the pure digital data that your camera recorded, no processing added, a digital negative if you will. Converted to a Tiff(another lossless format)ulimited editing can be done to your photo without losing any info. Your RAW file can be stored as if is a negative with you converting a copy to any format you want at any time for any reason.
If you are happy with your out of camera results then JPEG is fine, but if you are editing(post processing)at the very least you should convert the JPEGs to Tiff before major editing. JPEG is lossy, that means for every action you take on a JPEG it looses some information Tiff is lossless, but the file size is much larger than RAW or JPEG. JPEG is like a photo that has been processed in a lab, a finished product, all of the actions have been taken for you by your camera. If you are editing everything you do will lose some info in your photo and that can have undesireable effects.
So what I am saying is: give RAW a try, it's not that difficult, and the latitude it gives you in post processing is more than worth it.