RAW Vs JPEG

[fizzy_drink]

Hiya,

I've just created two 100% crops of the essentially the same image, one in RAW and one in JPG.

The image processing on my Powershot G9 seems to be quite good - the JPEG obviously has less noise because it's been processed. (The images were shot at ISO400, F2.8, 1/10sec).

Now I understand that I might be able to do a better job manually using the RAW file, but HOW?

I'm not sure what software to use, and the workflow involved.


Can anyone offer some advise?

Ta,

Oms.

 

[Track'd]

The built in PS CS3 is good enough for me. There are quite a few plugins, free demos, but unless you pay for them there are usually 2/3 options unavailable, which stop you doing everything like most things.

Tbh i would just shoot jpg anyway on your everyday camera

 

[Toypop]

Firstly I don't know what exactly you plan on doing with your images so any minute differences maybe irrelevant.

If I were you I'd ask myself if the processing done by the camera was preventing me from making optimal use of the image.

E.g. is excessive noise reduction processing ruining the image. Are you getting frustrated because the cameras processing has mucked up images and that you could have done a better job by editing the RAW image yourself.

If the answer to that is "no" then for the love of god don't waste anymore of your time on it!

 

[Rasclart]

yeah photoshop will do it. Sometimes you need the plugin that relates to the RAW format for say Nikon, Canon etc. I did for my D80 and D40

Have a play with it mate but probs not that necessary

 

[MaLicE]

i always shoot it raw or tiff... most of the companies i work for require me to give it to them in raw or tiff... they tell me before hand or i ask... it allows them to edit the images better and you can adjust exposure etc easier and get a better overall result than u can with jpg...

oh and aperture or photoshop has good raw editors in it...

 

[Josh2005]

also have a go at using Adobe photoshop Lightroom... it has a feature to get photos from the camera, put them into a library, edit *develop* the photos with both jpg/raw format with tons of options and then save to the library or export as jpeg etc to a new location... I use it on both my mac and pc and its great.... most of the photo features of photoshop but i think more user friendly general useful features at hand too.

 

[-TA-]

Lightroom is awesome, going though a set of 200 headshots, and with a few clicks, setting all the settings i need, sync them all, and then a quick blast though, doing any individual tweaks needed, export, job done!

 

[fizzy_drink]

Firstly I don't know what exactly you plan on doing with your images so any minute differences maybe irrelevant.

If I were you I'd ask myself if the processing done by the camera was preventing me from making optimal use of the image.

E.g. is excessive noise reduction processing ruining the image. Are you getting frustrated because the cameras processing has mucked up images and that you could have done a better job by editing the RAW image yourself.

If the answer to that is "no" then for the love of god don't waste anymore of your time on it!

Well, if I intend on using/printing a photo at the time I take it, it tends to be well-composed anyway. JPEG straight out of the camera looks super under those circumstances (because no editing is required).

The rest of the time I'm experimenting.

Thing is, I've been looking at blogs and many of the *WOW* shots have been processed-to-death! So it seems to be going in that direction if you know what I mean.

Furthermore, I'd like to be in control of whether a photo looks grainy, noisy or just less-detailed. The DigicIII processor in its latest form goes for a grainy look (which I prefer) however I might want to alter that for certain shots.

Personally, I think the JPEG quality @ ISO400 is super - it could almost be 35mm film.



PS Anyone used Noise Ninja?

PPS Thanks for the replies!

 

[McBunny]

one thing to remember is that every time you save a jpeg it reduces the quality even further but you cant save as raw so need to use tiff Tiff FTW

 

[Rasclart]

Dont get too hung up on file formats and what people can do with PS though too much, its all about the pictures. s**t in, s**t out. Too many people pay too much attention to the "tech" side of things which IMO should come WAY second to actually taking some pictures

 

[Mike_182]

I use Photoshop CS2 for mine - more than competent and more buttons than I know what to do with - which has to mean that it's a good place to start experimenting with it!

PM me if you need CS2 'demo'!