What do I gain using Raw if I don't have PS?
Apr 12, 2017 11:08:56 #
fetzler
Loc: North West PA
The program that comes with the camera works well. Nikon's program is free and I think is very useful in many instances.
Apr 12, 2017 11:21:39 #
henderson111 wrote:
Try opening your pictures in Microsoft Photos. That is the software that comes free when you install windows 10. It works great with JPEG and RAW photos.
Not exactly. It's just converting it to a JPEG (well, actually a bitmap) as it opens it.
Apr 12, 2017 11:36:44 #
If you don't shoot in raw, you loose the ability in the future to edit the heck out of your photos. I used to shoot in jpg, and now when I look at them, I see pictures that are not to my liking and when I edit them, I don't have as much room to play. In other words, if I move a slider this way or that way, I find the image gets to looking real bad in a real hurry.
Apr 12, 2017 11:45:17 #
I don't see how you can say Microsoft Photos converts a file to JPEG or bitmap. My files never change format.
Apr 12, 2017 12:02:08 #
mwsilvers
Loc: Central New Jersey
waynecrowley wrote:
I have only used Picasa to edit my photos. Can I gain anything if I use RAW instead of JPG if I don't use PS or other editor?
If you have no intention of post processing your images in Photoshop or any other editor then there is absolutely no reason to shoot raw. Shoot jpeg instead. Your JPEG files will have your in camera settings included in them. Unprocessed raw images will not have those settings and will generally look flat and less sharp as a result.
Raw images do not inherently look better straight out of the camera. Their strength lies in what you can do with them in post processing. You can still modify your JPEG files in Picasa. You're just limited to the latitude of changes that you can make to JPG files. And of course modifying the same JPEG file and saving it and modifying it again overtime will cause visible degredation of the image.
If you shoot everything in raw, you pretty much have to do post processing on everything you shoot.
Apr 12, 2017 12:15:43 #
waynecrowley wrote:
I have only used Picasa to edit my photos. Can I gain anything if I use RAW instead of JPG if I don't use PS or other editor?
It does not matter what software you're using to pp your images, but what you want to do/accomplish with your file/pp work!!
Apr 12, 2017 12:16:37 #
roadsideron
Loc: Apache Junction, AZ
After learning how to use rawtherapee I can now get my photos to look better than jpeg out of the camera. GIMP is also a free editor for final editing out of rawtherapee.
Apr 12, 2017 13:37:15 #
If all you shoot are JPEGs I would bracket the important shots. That will but you a bit of an advantage over a single JPEG shot. Remember, you can bracket white balance as well as exposure.
Apr 12, 2017 14:01:23 #
You can still enjoy the benefits of RAW. Your camera manufacturer probably has software for opening RAW files, editing, and converting them to jpegs. There is free software that can do the same. You don't need PS or LR.
Apr 12, 2017 15:09:08 #
henderson111 wrote:
I don't see how you can say Microsoft Photos converts a file to JPEG or bitmap. My files never change format.
It's not converting the *file*. It's converting the *data* as it reads it. To be displayed on the screen (or printed) an image must be in bitmap format, each pixel having a 24-bit RGB value. A Jpeg is just a compressed bitmap. Raw data holds even more information, on both the pixel & image level, which is lost during the importation, which is why none of these programs will write a Raw file. Only applications specifically designed to edit raw files maintain (and use) that extra information.
Apr 12, 2017 16:30:14 #
waynecrowley wrote:
I have only used Picasa to edit my photos. Can I gain anything if I use RAW instead of JPG if I don't use PS or other editor?
Lots of other options than PS. I'm using Affinity Photo, others here are using Gimp, Corel PSP, FastStone, etc.
Apr 12, 2017 16:40:41 #
roadsideron
Loc: Apache Junction, AZ
I also have PSP and NIK works as a plugin in that. I get PSP Pro on sale and I paid 24.95 for version 8 and 24.95 for version 9. If you can get any version they will give you opportunities to upgrade cheap.
Apr 12, 2017 20:04:08 #
waynecrowley wrote:
I have only used Picasa to edit my photos. Can I gain anything if I use RAW instead of JPG if I don't use PS or other editor?
When I bought my first digital camera, a Nikon d200 the first book I bought was ,The latest version of Adobe camera raw .I read it from front to back. It will explain everything you need to know to make a decision on your own if the camera you own is a Nikon NX- D is is what you need until you decide if you want to invest in photoshop which is what I did ,good luck.....
Apr 12, 2017 20:44:15 #
mikegreenwald
Loc: Illinois
Dngallagher wrote:
You might want to look at FastRawViewer - it will ... (show quote)
Thank you for this one! I odin't know about it, and it sounds like a big timesaver.
Apr 12, 2017 21:01:17 #
It really was for Me I only shot JPEG for one week Then I have shot raw @ 14 bit lossless ever since... For recovery of highlights My job entails working on other people's images and printing on a large format printer, raw images have better recovery ,more info and more capabilities because pixel's are not locked .Pixels are just light Wells and open to change color determined by a Bayer pattern you are basically shooting black and white. Again colors aren't locked .Early on when Nik software came out its basis was this concept of open pixel's.. Only possible in raw not jpegs which are locked and determined by your Cameras settings.
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