Large JPG vs RAW

[andreavictoria]

Can somebody help me here? :lol

More specifically can one of you fabulous photgraphy experts tell me that advantages for both? I know that RAW takes up a whole lot of memory on my Rebel, but does it affect the quality of my shots?

TIA!

[HillsCass]

RAW absolutely is worth the space, if you are able to process them and edit them. A RAW photo almost lets you make decisions over again as to exposure, white balance etc etc... I do all my shoots for other ppl in RAW.

Jpgs have already had decisions made for them, and you can't reverse that.

When I'm taking happy snaps, I'm always in Lge Jpg mode... That way if I want to enlarge part of the photo etc later on, I'm not struggling for resolution. I work in a photo lab and I see that happen to other ppl all the time.

Did that help any?

[andreavictoria]

Thank you so much Cassie! Now it's time to get a bigger CF card, lol!

[Lauren]

Aside from what Cassie said which is enough reason in itself, RAW tends to maintain more detail and dynamic range (amount of variation between your highlights and shadows) which is essential for me. I never shoot outside of RAW, outside of a few test shots in JPG to see if the 5D lives up to it's straight out of camera JPG hype - which it does.

But anyway, RAW does indeed eat up the CF. I used to get away with between 2 and 4gb worth of cards for a weekend, but when I upgraded to my 5D, I had to look at portable storage solutions because it only takes 50 RAW images to fill a 1gb card. So worth it though!!

(BTW - you should get at least double that on a Rebel - maybe less if you shoot RAW+JPG but I never tried that mode)

[andreavictoria]

Thanks for you awesome advice too Lauren! I did notice when I did shoot some photos in RAW that there was much more clarity and definition...but I didn't know if it was because of RAW or if it was because I finally took good pictures...lol.

[Leila]

Andrea, just a tip on a CF card...I recently upgraded my card from 1GB to 6GB because I wanted to be able to shoot in RAW mode. I can get 750 RAW shots with this card, the Hitachi Microdrive. It comes in 4, 6 & 8GB sizes. I picked up my 6GB from Best Buy for about $199. The 4GB was only $50 less.