Originally posted by dmnf This is my first time to try shooting in RAW. I set my K-r to do RAW+.
When I compare the JPEG files with the RAW files, they look exactly the same, The RAW file size is much bigger and Faststone also tells me it is in RAW format.
What are you using to compare the RAW v.s. JPG images?
RAW contains a JPG preview imbedded within itself for faster viewing on the LCD. Your OS's file system may or may not use the JPG preview. Some software may even display this embedded JPG. at least initially. I thought Fastone quickly processed the RAW image, but maybe its showing the JPG preview for some reason? (I only used it once, years ago, so Im not certain how that one works).
If you are comparing from the camera/s LCD, you will see no difference as the embedded JPG is using the same image settings as any other JPG you may have taken in the past (including WB and other image settings that affect JPG).
Once you get that RAW file into an RAW image processor (LightRoom, Adobe Camera RAW, etc...) the true RAW image is visible and you will have a hard time exactly matching the JPG settings.
Technically the WB setting does not affect the RAW image itself. But it does affect the JPG preview, of course. It also sets the starting point for RAW processing software to generate the image that it will display to you. Having this set to some meaningful and/or helpful value will be beneficial to speeding up your processing of your RAW images.
Leaving your white balance off of Auto will allow you to adjust the white balance for a whole set of images when/if necessary. Otherwise the camera make each image different, and you may end up individually adjusting several dozen images, each slightly different from the last. I rarely find it a big deal, but a wedding shooter might find that a much bigger deal.
Setting to some wild value simply means you need to re-adjust every image. But you don't really lose anything from it, other than your time, when shooting RAW.