Congratulations on your purchase!! You're going to have heaps of fun.
Here's a quickie on the RAW/JPEG thing:
- RAW keeps all of the data so:
* you decide how to process the image
* because you have all the data, the image at the end of processing should be better with less detail lost in shadow and highlight areas in particular
* the files are bigger so it will eat more memory and take longer to write in camera to the card
* you need to make sure you have software that will handle RAW files
* it's not a license to shoot crappy photos
you still need to get it as right as possible in camera. It does allow you to salvage a little wider range of boo-boos, though.
JPEGs
- are smaller so write faster to the card and take less room
- the camera has decided what to keep and what to toss; this may or may not be what you really want
- you can, on many models, help the camera make those decisions to some degree but it will always be tossing data and it will be making decisions that may be difficult to remedy later
RAW or JPEG - well, only you can decide which works best with your workflow. I know some staunch JPEG shooters who think RAW is only for those who routinely fuff up their shots and rely on photo-shopping. I know JPEG shooters who are very happy with the results they get from their cameras and see no need to shoot in RAW.
I know RAW shooters who just don't see the point of shooting in JPEG at all because throwing away data just seems silly. I know RAW shooters who shoot in JPEG sometimes, depending on their needs and conditions.
RAW can never hurt, imho, if you can deal with the slower write times (the biggest downside).
I don't use the hack on my Canon A series cameras. I tried once but I'm a bit of a dweeb when it comes to computer stuff and I couldn't get it to work properly so I gave it up LOL
I don't use JPEG on my dslr at all - if I want a jpeg I just hit a button in LR and viola I have the size I need for whatever I'm doing.
