Okay, full disclosure - I shoot 95% of my images using the RAW file format. Why? Well, as the name suggests, the format captures much more raw picture data from your scene than a JPEG and this in turn gives you more potential when it comes to editing files using software such as Lightroom.
With RAW you can recover more detail in the sky, rescue increased detail in shadows and balance the exposure while properly correcting colours. RAW is great, so why am I defending an inferior file format?
Well, because the humble JPEG (it stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, by the way) still has its uses and knowing what these plus points are can not only help you capture better images, but it could also save you in a jam. Let me share not one, but four scenarios why the JPEG may (on occasions) be the wiser option…
Let’s start with the first scenario; say you’re interested in shooting sports or wildlife photography and you’ve invested most of your money in glass to get those longer focal lengths, so you’re still using a DSLR body that’s a little bit older. It’s common with these types of cameras for the burst rates to be faster in JPEG mode, rather than with RAW, because RAW files are much larger and the camera simply can’t process the information as fast as it can with the smaller JPEG.
Sports and wildlife photography is all about those crucial split second moments, such as a goal being scored, or an eagle catching its prey from the waters. Miss it and you’ve missed out so in this instance, using the faster burst rate with JPEG file format could be the way to go. Sure, you may not be able to edit the file to the same potential as a RAW image, but which would you rather have; a JPEG that’s good but not quite perfect or no image at all?
Did you know you can fine-tune the look of your JPEGs?
Okay, secondly, photographers are often told not to shoot JPEG because the camera makes all the decision about how the JPEG will look (sharpness, saturation etc), and this is partly true. But if you dig a little deeper into your camera settings, you should be able to fine-tune the parameters of the JPEG to get the sort of look you want. Altering the sharpness, contrast, saturation colour tone of your JPEG images are all options on DSLRs, in fact, I’ve downloaded additional picture styles that give me more creative options. So, if people say you can’t be creative with the JPEG file format, you now know different.
My third reason why JPEGs can be damn useful carries on from the Picture Style options I just mentioned. There’s no doubt that shooting RAW will help photographers create better mono images as you can play more with highlights and shadows, which is a key part of a black and white conversion. However, when you are out and about in the field, it can be hard to ‘see’ in mono - and by this I mean visualise how a scene would look in black and white. By setting your camera to capture RAW & JPEG at the same time, you get the best of both worlds. You can set the JPEG Picture Style to mono and get an instant view of how the scene looks in black and white, while the RAW file is stored away nicely on your memory card ready to edit ‘properly’ when you get back to the computer.
Combine the convenience of JPEG with the editing power of RAW.
My fourth and final point of order is that JPEGs can sometimes really save the day. There’s no doubt memory cards are cheaper than ever before, but all of us are capable of human error, so if you’ve travelled far for a day’s photography and forgotten all but one of your memory cards, the JPEG can offer salvation. You could choose to capture all of your test shots in JPEG so the card doesn’t fill up. Then, once you got the settings right, delete the JPEGs, switch to RAW and then bag the ‘keeper’ image. Get really low on memory and you could even shoot in JPEG and hope there’s enough tolerance in the data when you come to edit the images on the computer. Of course, this is no way ideal, but it’s better than coming back empty handed.
In fact, there’s a school of thought that with today’s RAW files, so much exposure detail can be recovered that photographers are getting lazier and lazier with their technical exposure skills, so maybe a day of shooting JPEGs could even help your photography? Like I said, I’ll continue to shoot RAW for the vast majority of my images, but I’ll also argue that there’s still plenty of life left in the JPEG format.
. digitalrev.com2017-12-21 03:00
