Raw vs. Jpg

If you have a digital SLR, you have the choice to shoot in Raw or Jpg file format and usually one of each at the same time, which might be good to start with so you can compare them. 

Shooting in Raw has certain advantages because it is a true "digital negative". You get all the raw data captured by the sensor so you get more picture information as Raw images capture 12 or 14 bits of data vs. 8 bits of data for jpg images. Raw also captures a little wider dynamic range of dark to light tones than jpg.

With jpg images, your photos are processed by the software in the camera. Sharpness, color balance, and contrast are directly applied to your images. This often results in nice-looking images that are ready to be printed or shared.  However, if you or the camera makes a mistake guessing exposure or color (white balance), if you have over- or under-exposed images, you don’t have much leeway in post-processing to fix them like you do with Raw images. In addition, jpg files are compressed and therefore much data is lost in the process which limits what you can do with the images without degrading image quality.

When shooting Raw, if the camera records 12 bits of data then each pixel can record 14,096 brightness levels and if 14 bits it can record 16,384 different brightness levels. These are both commonly referred to in image editing programs as 16 bit images.  Jpg only records 8 bits of image data, or 256 levels of brightness. What this means is that you have more tones of brightness and shades of color in Raw images. Therefore they have greater dynamic range of light to dark tones than jpg images and are less likely to cause clipped highlights or shadows with no detail in high contrast images.

Raw images will need processing because Raw has no in-camera processing and can't be used in that format without being converted to jpg or tiff format. You (vs. the camera) can make them look just the way you want them too by processing them in your Raw Converter where you can adjust the exposure, color balance, brightness and contrast etc. and reduce noise with the very effective new Adobe Raw Converter's noise reduction function, and sharpen them a bit using the easy sliders.  You can use the software that comes with your camera if you are budget-minded, but most photographers prefer to use software such as Photoshop Elements or other Raw image processors like Lightroom, Breeze Browser Pro, or Aperture for Macs, although many Mac users prefer Lightroom.

Canon's Digital Photo Professional does a good job on Canon images but many photographers find it slow and tedious as I do. There are tutorials available on Canon's website and probably on a CD that comes with the camera.

Nikon's View NX II comes free with their cameras. The better paid version of their Raw converter is Capture NX 2.

Which is best for you?

Every photographer has different needs and expectations.  Some of you may be perfectly happy with in-camera processed jpgs, especially if you are able to get good exposures and colors on a regular basis.  Others prefer to get as much out of each photo as possible with a little more work.  It’s up to you as to the amount of time and effort you want to put into your photos.

If you choose to shoot Jpgs, then you should read your manual and see how to set different parameters in the camera's Menu to control color, saturation, white balance and sharpening to get the best images possible out of camera. Once you get the adjustments set to your liking, you should be able to get great prints from your images. 

There are several reasons why people choose to shoot jpg:

1. Image files are smaller and therefore more of them fit on a card and on your hard drive(s).
2. Image quality is usually fine for family snapshots and for sharing on the web. It depends on your camera as some have better jpg results than others.
3. You don’t have the time or inclination to process Raw photos.

Reasons to Shoot Raw

1. A raw file is exactly what the camera's sensor recorded. This means that the photographer is able to extract the maximum possible image quality, now or in the future, and any processing is appended to the image as a separate info file and does not affect the actual image.Therefore you can always go back to the original and make additional corrections or alternate versions. In the future when better Raw converters come along, and they are continually being upgraded, and as your own skill improves, you can go back and process your Raw images again with better results. A Raw file is a true "digital negative" that can be processed several different ways but the original is not altered in any way.
2. Raw files do not have white balance set even though you may have chosen one at the time of shooting. This allows you to set any color temperature you prefer after the fact with no image degradation. Once a white balance has been applied by the camera to a Jpg there isn’t as much leeway for changing it.
3. Raw images have a larger Dynamic Range, i.e. more tones from light to dark, and better ability to capture the darker and lighter tones without losing details in the shadows or blowing out the highlights. You can usually recover up to 1 full stop of blown highlights and up to 2 stops of shadow detail in processing them. A Jpg is more likely to lose detail in shadows and highlights especially in contrasty images.  
4. You don’t have to worry quite as much trying to get a “perfect” exposure because you know that you can fix minor problems later.  (But don’t use this as an excuse to not try to get it right in camera!)
5. You spent a goodly sum for a nice digital SLR and lenses, and to get the best out of them, you should shoot Raw. To me, shooting Jpgs with an SLR is like buying a Porsche and never driving over 50 mph! (FYI, I haven't shot a jpg with my SLRs since 2 weeks after I got my first one in 2004.)
6. I find that it speeds my workflow to do the majority of my tone and color adjustments at one time in the same interface in either Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw, plus noise reduction, rather than making the adjustments in Photoshop or Elements separately such as Levels, Hue/Saturation, Shadow/Highlights, Color Cast removal etc.
7. As world-renowned photographer Tray Ratcliff said, "Jpg is for children." <grin>  

Photo Editors with built-in Raw converters:

Adobe Photoshop The newest version is CS5
Adobe Photoshop Elements Version 10 is the current version
PaintShop Pro X4 and Ultimate

Commercial Raw Converters/Processors (some have additional photo editing capabilities too)

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 (my favorite!) Also catalogs all your images and is searchable by keywords, etc.- very fast processing if you shoot a lot of photos such as birds, sports, portraits, and events. Create photo slide shows, web photo galleries, and photo books also
Lightroom Learning Center Check out the new features in version 4
Breeze Browser Pro Image browser and processor - recommended by Arthur Morris of birdsasart.com
Nikon Capture NX2 for Nikon Cameras only

Links for more information on shooting Raw:

NatureScapes Article (with illustrations)

Raw vs. Jpg Ultimate Visual Guide great article with illustrations of the same images processed from Raw and in-camera jpgs

Why Shoot Raw vs. Jpg? from PhotoWalkPro

Why Shoot Raw? from Canadian Geographic Photo Club

Buy Adobe academic software cheap if you meet the proof requirements as a student or teacher/educator at academicsuperstore.com