raw format less noise?

Does shooting in Raw format result in less noise?

I just use the highest quality jpg setting at the moment with ISO50. I only have a 128mb card so haven't done much with RAW. I also don't yet own the photoshop RAW import filter. The work flow seams a bit more involved with RAW as iphoto and other browser tools don't recognise the format. But if the results are significantly better it may be worth while for some shoots.

I will put my spin on raw. The good thing about Raw is that when you alter you images in photoshop or whatnot you don't lose pixels, which is essential for printing in my opinion. I don't use it very often on it's own, but the great thing about the G3 is that if you capture an image that you love, you can immediately save as a raw file while shooting in superfine Jpeg (which is what I usually do).

Lai Lai

I shoot in super fine all the time too. Are you saying there is a simple way to tell the camera to save a copy of the last picture in raw after the shot has been taken and your default setting is superfine?

Sounds like a cool feature but I don't know how to do that.

Yeah it is very easy. Right after you take your shot, press the FUNC. button while the image is still being displayed on your LCD. Select [ok] using the arrows on the omni selector and press the SET button. Simple and really helps out a lot if you are on trips or vacation without being able to download your pictures!
Shannon

hint: my advice is to set the camera to display the image shooted more seconds on the lcd. This can be annoyng but you don't have to wait all the time, you can push the shutter and jump again into the shoot mode, this way you have more time to decide if the picture deserve to be keept in raw or not

So does shooting RAW format mean less noise? I am also wondering..

this is so cool, I had no idea the G3 had this flexibility. I always thought you had to commit to the saved format before taking the picture. I will have to try this out.

Thanks

From my limited knowledge (the official disclaimer) shooting in RAW mode has nothing to do with noise. Noise is generated from ISO ratings, the higher the ISO, the more noise.

RAW does mean however, lossless compression. So you have the ability to save the image on to your home computer, manipulate that image in Photoshop, and save it again in any format you wish without any loss of image quality. The JPEG algorithim removes data from the image every time it is saved - after so many saves you will indeed suffer from noise. (That's how jpeg works its magic, without compression these images would be astonishingly huge, even RAW mode is utilizing some compression that Canon claims to be lossless.)

My understanding is that Photoshop 6 and 7 have vastly improved jpeg manipulation to make even this concern almost dead. Personally, I don't think the benefits outweigh the advantages of shooting in RAW mode, and like others have pointed out in various threads, if you shoot a picture you really like, you can save it in RAW mode right afterward.

satnitefever: possibly.

Given a noise prone image (those with areas filled with solid or gradient colors, like skies) even if the G3 captured it with 0% noise from the CCD, the jpeg algorithm will in fact introduce noise-like artifacts; the more compression, the more artifacts.

Shooting raw doesn't avoid getting noise coming from the CCD, but it does prevent adding more with the JPEG compression.

BTW, the compression algorithm for raw data is lossless and effective, because RAW isn't image data, but a bunch of 0's and 1's from a CCD. Using zip-like compression you will easily gain 3:1 ratios, there's no magic into that.

But the "hype" about RAW is that you don't only have a lossless format that is effectively compressed (ask a F717 how much do their "RAW" TIFF files weight... and they only avoid compression, not in-camera processing) but unprocessed, undeveloped.

Raw brings the darkroom to your computer. No darkroom work is going to make a mediocre shot a legend, but it aids a lot in polishing a raw diamond

For me RAW processing is the other half of digital photography joy.

Pukkita, excellent information.

Can anyone advise on where more G3 / Raw information can be found? Also Raw / Photoshop information?

Thanks for the help!