ist DS, RAW or JPG?

jdmidwest · 05-17-2007, 05:25 AM

What are the advantages of shooting raw and using software to convert instead of just letting the camera do the conversion?

The 10m files are slow to load and take up a lot more room on the camera and the hard drive.

db2 · 05-17-2007, 10:42 PM

the camera is brainless and does not know what a good photo looks like.
Raw files are 48 bit so you can get a smoother result when you manipulate them.
As programmes develope and indeed your skills also, you can re-do the photo to get better results.
If you are going to try black and white you will be sorry later on if you do not have a raw file to work with, ie, more bit depth=smoother transitions.
Increased exposure latitude.
If you are going to try your hand at serious artistic photography you need raw files.
It took me a while to get onto raw but I won't be looking back now, gives me incredible control and pleasing results that are not possible with jpegs.
good luck
Pete.

PDL · 05-19-2007, 05:16 PM

It's all about control. Either you have it - or you turn it over to some else's control. JPEG's are fine - but if you want to push the boundary - and be able to get back to ground zero again - shoot RAW. I only shoot RAW now - for the first six months I had my *ist Ds I shoot JPEG and maybe 20 or so RAW. Once I got into some marginal places to take images - the power of RAW to stand up to some pretty extreme manipulation and deliver more that acceptable results became obvious. Now everything is in RAW - I normally have issues with color balance - with RAW I can change it to what it was without blowing everything else up - it is the way to go.
I agree with db2 --- bit depth per channel == more information to work with. Exposure latitude and manipulation does not cause as many bad things to happen.
Remember - digital imaging is all about capturing information -- RAW maximizes information - JPEG's by design lose information.

PDL

GavinIvey · 05-31-2007, 07:26 PM

I also have the ist DS. What is a good program to manipulate the RAW files. I have Photoshop 7 and it does not support our "PEF" files.

*Matjazz* · 06-01-2007, 02:03 AM

I suggest SilkyPix or Lightroom. If you do mostly porttraits and studio shooting Capture One might suit you. I've tried Raw Shooter Essentials, Bibble Pro, Capture One, Lightroom and finally settled for SilkyPyx.

Alfie1965 · 06-01-2007, 03:44 AM

Originally Posted by GavinIvey

I also have the ist DS. What is a good program to manipulate the RAW files. I have Photoshop 7 and it does not support our "PEF" files.

I have an ist DL2 and photoshop CS2 and I thought that it would not support PEF Files but a patch is available from the Adobe website. Never had photoshop 7 so I can't say whether or not a patch is available for this but I would try this first. open photoshop go to help menu and check for updates. Download the latest updates available and hopefully it will work.

As for RAW vs JPEG I shoot RAW when I want photographs, and jpeg when I want to take family snap shots, eg when on holiday and want to save disk space.
I always keep a spare card for shooting RAW so as to keep them separate from the jpegs

davek · 06-01-2007, 06:43 AM

Personally, the file size is becoming less & less of an issue. With the price of memory cards dropping, I can 6G around with no difficulty (plenty of space for me). I can easily pick up another good 2G card for around $40cdn.

I don't keep raw files on my pc long-term anyway. I copy to PC, Process & convert to JPEG in Bibble, archive the raw files, and use JPEGs in my Photoshop Elements Organizer database.

Sometimes I flip back to JPEG for family snaps, or if I'm worried about space, but that causes a deviation from my standard process, which can be a pain in itself.

GavinIvey · 06-01-2007, 07:48 PM

Thanks for your help. I downloaded the silkypix demo. I like it alot. Probably going to go ahead and purchase the full thing.

GavinIvey · 06-01-2007, 07:48 PM

/threadjack =)

PDL · 06-01-2007, 10:17 PM

Originally Posted by GavinIvey

I also have the ist DS. What is a good program to manipulate the RAW files. I have Photoshop 7 and it does not support our "PEF" files.

I have PPL (which I use a lot), Lightroom (becoming my favorite tool), Adobe Elements (which to me is a perfect waste of money - I have never used such a poorly designed non-intuitive image manipultation program - ever - -- and I started using digital when I bought a film scanner in 1998).

They all work within reason - my son loves CS2 - but I refuse to pay money for a program than I used to buy my camera. Each has its falts and strengths. PPL is good - especially for the cost (included with the camera and updates). Lightroom is really nice - one of the best things out there for B&W conversions, somewhat painful in that (typical) Adobe tries to re write the OS mechanisms for accessing drives (Lightroom will not access NTFS compressed volumes - very stupid). Maybe some of these issues will be "fixed" in v1.1 due "real soon now" -- before the end of the millenium I am sure. Elements is a different story - you might like it - but I find it a major pain - as with all the Adobe products - you have to be connected via broadband to use help --- give me a break.

As for the other RAW image manipulation programs - (Bibble, SilkPixs, Capture One, iPhoto, etc. I will let others give their opinions - as I do not have them.

PDL