Oldroyvoyager

Thanks for all the information.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Shooting both formats might be confusing to you to some degree. They do indeed turn out differently once placed in the processing software. The JPEG image is already processed, as per the camera algorithms. The RAW image is not, it is sort of like a piece of film waiting to be processed by you. The RAW image and the JPEG image handle dynamic range differently as well. With your RAW file you can shoot the image more to the right of the histogram, as long as you do not blow out the highlights, and this is advantageous for capturing the full range of possible color for the final product. The JPEG image exposure needs to be set a little more to center-right in order to avoid blowing out the highlights. Photographers, in general, shoot in RAW to obtain all of the possible dynamic range of their camera. Experiment with both formats and determine what works for you.

Oldroyvoyager

Thanks.

bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.

JPG files have been edited by the camera. Nikon Electronic Files (NEF) have not been edited. The will almost always look different.