Raw or JPEG?

[John Gulliver]

@John G - I've routinely shot more than 235 images in a single dive (granted mine aren't 30 minute dives). you might want to consider some bigger cards - they're cheap as chips. It would truly suck to be on a dive and be limited in the number of shots you could take...you just know that would be the dive with whale sharks mating, mantas doing ballet, barracuda line dancing and sharks singing while swimming in formation If you never fill the card fine, but oh the pain to run out!

I'd love to but my D50 can't handle bigger cards than 2GB.

 

[John Gulliver]

I don't know enough about Ken Rockwell to say anything definitive, but I have seen that he is commonly mocked on some hotography forums and there is a vocal segments that thinks you should do the opposite of whatever he recommends.

Re Ken Rockwell's qualifications: "This page generates controversy because fact doesn't always agree with old wives' tales circulated by newcomers to digital photography in chat rooms. I'm sharing what works for me gathered across three decades of continuous full-time paid professional experience in digital imaging. In addition I was studying digital imaging for ten years before I got my engineering degree and started as a professional working with the guys with Ph.Ds in mathematics who invented all this."
What qualivfications do the people who mock him and thoink you should do the opposite of what he recommends have ?

 

[alewar]

With the RAW format you have the best quality the camera can give you. Once you compress the picture into JPEG format you lose quality always(*) and you can't go back to RAW. I always take my pictures in RAW format and convert/resize them automatically when downloading to my PC. If one of them turned out to be good, then I use the RAW version to retouch it and eventually save it with a bigger size and better quality. I use a program called "digikam" that makes everything really easy.


(*) except if you are using the lossless compression of JPEG-2000, but in that case the pictures are a lot bigger.

 

[Brewski]

Raw is all very well if your copy of PS supports your RAW files mine V6 doesn't. Therefore I am farting around in Olympus Master 2 then finishing off the jpeg in PS. This takes a lifetime.

I am starting to think like John and wonder if I need to have RAW files.

I had that problem with my copy of PS. go to Adobe.com and download the DNG converter. It is an extra step, but you'll see that you have much more control over your image editing the DNG than you have with JPG.

 

[Ardy]

Hi Brewski have you got V6 as I cant read these DNG files in V6

 

[AussieByron]

I'd love to but my D50 can't handle bigger cards than 2GB.

John I heard that Nikon recommends and tests only certain brands of memory cards like Sandisk, Toshiba etc. Maybe it might make a difference if you use these cards if your currently not????

Regards Mark

 

[John Gulliver]

John I heard that Nikon recommends and tests only certain brands of memory cards like Sandisk, Toshiba etc. Maybe it might make a difference if you use these cards if your currently not????

Regards Mark

Hi Mark, I'm using Sandisk. The D50 just can't handle bigger cards than 2GB, apparently. I've spoken to Nikon Europe support on the phone and they say they have tested 8GB but it won't work.

 

[IslandFrog]

Hi John,

Here is a link to an article on the advantages of RAW over JPEG:

Raw Conversion made easy by Thom Hogan

It is from Thom Hogan who is a working pro photographer and also does extensive testing and reviewing of primarily Nikon and Nikon related equipment. It may go into more technical information that what you are looking for, but might answer some of your questions.

I know of several pro photogs who shoot in JPEG, often because of the turn around time needed for their client. However most prefer to shoot both formats when doing so as it allows them to go back and work on the RAW files later, for the reasons that Thom puts into his article.

Hope you find this useful.

 

[John Gulliver]

Thanks Brad! Much of it was way above my head but I got the message re why I should shoot RAW, with or without JPEG. Actually the diference in number of images per 2GB card shooting only RAW and RAW+JPEG basic with the D50 is negligible (270 v 239).

 

[IslandFrog]

Your welcome John!

Keep an eye on that By Thom website. He has a lot of useful information on there. Not all of it is as technical as that article.