WetLens
Contributor
Interesting thread, especially in light of the research and decision-making process I went through earlier this year, leading up to an extended trip to Indonesia.
While I remain unconvinced on the superiority of RAW for 99% of shooters or shots, I did make the decision to shoot RAW based on two factors:
1. 8-bit vs. 12-bit data. The significant difference in number of shade possibilities has to make a difference in the ability to tweak and adjust images. While I have not been able to truly “see” these differences in experiments I’ve run, I have trouble arguing with the numbers – and what the future holds in monitor, video card, and software technology. Even if I am unable to see the difference now, why give up this range of control not knowing what the future holds.
2. RAW images are just that – RAW data. JPEGs are processed by software in the camera. Any camera settings like WB, Vivid, Saturation, Sharpness, etc. are applied to the saved image – there is no going back. The RAW image saves WB (not sure about other settings) as separate data in the file. It does not alter the image data itself.
Based on those differences, I adopted a workflow for Indonesia that included daily downloads and backing up on a separate drive. I used Lightroom 2.7 to transfer images and do a quick review. On the first leg of the trip I had internet access, so I made daily quick collections and exported JPEGs to upload on SmugMug. As I am relatively new to Lightroom, I have to say that processing the RAW images did take longer that I would have spent simply resizing and uploading JPEGs.
About two-thirds of the way through the trip, I had to reassess my workflow. I was getting dangerously close to filling my laptop’s internal HD – even after some heavy sorting and deleting. It became obvious that I would not make it to the end of the trip using my adopted method. I looked at my daily shooting and found that I had exceeded 4Gb on only one day of the trip – a five-dive day with heavy macro and a bit of video shooting. With 8 and 16Bg cards, it was obvious I could should RAW+JPEG and have plenty of room. I saved JPEGs to my computer HD – saving precious space – and RAW to the separate HD. I had the best of both worlds – easy and immediate access to JPEGs for quick review and archived copies in RAW.
Now that I am home and working my way through well over 5,000 images, I find myself using Lightroom to sort and rank the RAW images. For processing the images, however, I’m still more comfortable with Photoshop controls. I just haven’t found the comfort level with Lightroom’s Develop module. I’ll get there, eventually.
While I remain unconvinced on the superiority of RAW for 99% of shooters or shots, I did make the decision to shoot RAW based on two factors:
1. 8-bit vs. 12-bit data. The significant difference in number of shade possibilities has to make a difference in the ability to tweak and adjust images. While I have not been able to truly “see” these differences in experiments I’ve run, I have trouble arguing with the numbers – and what the future holds in monitor, video card, and software technology. Even if I am unable to see the difference now, why give up this range of control not knowing what the future holds.
2. RAW images are just that – RAW data. JPEGs are processed by software in the camera. Any camera settings like WB, Vivid, Saturation, Sharpness, etc. are applied to the saved image – there is no going back. The RAW image saves WB (not sure about other settings) as separate data in the file. It does not alter the image data itself.
Based on those differences, I adopted a workflow for Indonesia that included daily downloads and backing up on a separate drive. I used Lightroom 2.7 to transfer images and do a quick review. On the first leg of the trip I had internet access, so I made daily quick collections and exported JPEGs to upload on SmugMug. As I am relatively new to Lightroom, I have to say that processing the RAW images did take longer that I would have spent simply resizing and uploading JPEGs.
About two-thirds of the way through the trip, I had to reassess my workflow. I was getting dangerously close to filling my laptop’s internal HD – even after some heavy sorting and deleting. It became obvious that I would not make it to the end of the trip using my adopted method. I looked at my daily shooting and found that I had exceeded 4Gb on only one day of the trip – a five-dive day with heavy macro and a bit of video shooting. With 8 and 16Bg cards, it was obvious I could should RAW+JPEG and have plenty of room. I saved JPEGs to my computer HD – saving precious space – and RAW to the separate HD. I had the best of both worlds – easy and immediate access to JPEGs for quick review and archived copies in RAW.
Now that I am home and working my way through well over 5,000 images, I find myself using Lightroom to sort and rank the RAW images. For processing the images, however, I’m still more comfortable with Photoshop controls. I just haven’t found the comfort level with Lightroom’s Develop module. I’ll get there, eventually.
