Jpeg Versus Raw

After a long break of writing, I am fully back with my column and many interesting topics for you for the rest of the year.
This week I want to talk about Jpeg and Raw files, because to my surprise, I still find many photographers having their camera set to capture Jpeg images only. Their argument for this is that the camera works faster in the Jpeg setting, the flash card does not fill up so fast because the Jpeg image is smaller in file size and Jpeg images are faster to process. Meaning that raw images always need an extra software to convert them into readable tiff files.
All these arguments are correct, but still not enough for me to compromise the usage of raw images. As a professional photographer you should have a closer look at what quality boost you can give to your images with just a bit of extra work.
First of all let us look at what a Jpeg image really is.
Jpeg stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group. It is a color image compression technique that can reduce files to about 5% of their original file size. That is why it is ideal for displaying images on the web. It reduces the file size with out significantly reducing the quality on the computer screen. But in reality a lot of file information is simply getting discarded.
The raw Image in comparison is a raw file that is giving you the raw data of the camera’s sensor. Here the camera is not giving you a preprogrammed processing of your image. No extra sharpening, no color boosting, no compressing of the file into an easier Jpeg format. Just the unblemished, untouched, original image that you saw through the view finder.
Furthermore, the pure raw image gives you also a much better dynamic range of 8 steps for your image. A Jpeg image gives you only 4 to 5. Meaning that now it will be possible for you to get more structure into the highlight and shadow areas of your picture. It will help you a lot when editing your work.
Jpeg may be fine for casual snapshots but will not show your camera’s true potential. Give it a try and compare the results for yourself. Open a raw image and its Jpeg version in Photoshop and zoom both pictures in to 100 percent. You will definitely notice the difference. It takes a little diligence to learn new software techniques but the results are well worth it.

Na dann gut Licht!
Your Yetunde