Originally posted by demuire Question: What are the advantages of shooting in RAW+?
None. You only do more processing with RAW+. It might be useful if you're away and have no access to the Pentax software - then it helps you show your shots on a computer that doesn't have it.
Like others have mentioned already, RAW+ writes both a DNG and a JPG file. The processing needed to create the JPG file is overload compared to the RAW mode. It will impact battery life and it will impact burst rate performance.
I just did a couple of quick tests on my K-7 to see the impact on burst performance. I kept shooting until the internal buffer got filled and then I counted how many seconds it took to flush it to the card. Results:
RAW+: 8-9 shots, 15-17 seconds
RAW: 14-15 shots, 12-14 seconds
I use RAW, I delete bad shots in camera, then I just transfer and convert to JPG the good shots. If you're ever on vacation and people want to see your shots, it might be worth switching to RAW+. But if you don't have a good reason to use it, avoid it. Just remember it exists if you ever can find a use for it.