When raw was new it seemed everyone said to shoot raw and jpeg, which I did. I was looking over my storage yesterday and was reminded just how much space this is taking up! I use subscription Lightroom and Photoshop, if that matters to your response. I do not recall ever going back to the jpeg shots for any reason. Is there some reason I should NOT just go and delete them? It would be easy enough to do. In January I went to a SONY mirrorless and these files are even larger than before, so I am storage conscious right now. My gut instinct is to just delete the jpegs but I don’t want to cause any probllyems. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Also…for the record, how many others are shooting raw and jpeg, or did I miss the memo saying this was not really necessary. (The camera “how-to experts” seem to suggest setting it up this way.).

When raw was new it seemed everyone said to shoot raw and jpeg, which I did. I was looking over my storage yesterday and was reminded just how much space this is taking up! I use subscription Lightroom and Photoshop if that matters to your response. I do not recall ever going back to the jpeg shots for any reason. Is there some reason I should NOT just go and delete them? It would be easy enough to do. In January I went to a SONY mirrorless and these files are even larger than before, so I am storage conscious right now. My gut instinct is just to delete the jpegs but I don’t want to cause any problems. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Also…for the record, how many others are shooting raw and jpeg, or did I miss the memo saying this was not really necessary? (The camera “how-to experts” seem to suggest setting it up this way.).

No, you are NOT accomplishing the same thing. When you change the ISO, you change the gain of the sensor/amplifier chain prior to the A/D which ALSO changes the D/R of the A/D and the S/N of the signal. When you change the exposure slider in PP, yo are simply multiplying the raw value by a constant.

Let me give you an example. Suppose you set the SS, Aperture and ISO such that you underexpose and by so doing, you limit the DR and amplitude resolution of the A/D (since you are not using all the bits of the digitizer). Suppose you have a 12 bit A/D with a max digital output of 4096 and you set the amplifier chain gain such that you just set the MSB (most significant bit). The smallest amplitude value that the A/D can resolve is 1/4096, but this accuracy and resolution is limited by several other factors including the sensor noise, the amplifier noise AND the uncertainty of the digitizer (at least 1/2 LSB), all of which are not necessarily linear in nature. Now instead, instead of setting the gain (ISO) correctly, you underexpose by 3 stops. Now you are only utilizing 9 bits of the digitizer resolution (512 discrete levels of amplitude resolution) or 1/512 max resolution. Not only that, but that 1/2 LSB is now a larger proportion of the total signal than if the full DR of the A/D was used. You have not only limited the resolution but decreased the S/N ratio. Now when that digital value is multiplied by 8 (3 bits) in PP by moving the exposure slider, the max value is again 4096, BUT you cannot recreate the resolution. You can’t magically recreate those missing 7 points between every real point - they are simply interpolated, but the actual resolution is lost and the S/N is still a larger proportion of the signal.

This is the old ISO invariant argument that you can shoot at base ISO, using only a portion of the A/D and “bring it up in post” with no changes in the final product or loss of resolution or S/N. You cannot. You pay big $ for a high resolution sensor and A/D and then limit it to a much lower resolution by underexposing and multiplying it in post. If you or anyone else really believes this, then why not use a much cheaper 8-bit A/D and work only with 8 bit data? Why not record in 8 bit audio instead of 14 bit and simply multiply it in the player? The designers of both cameras and audio systems know the reason and that is why we use high resolution A/Ds, and a signal chain to utilize the entire DR of the A/D (the ISO control on your camera). This is digitizing 101 - not rocket science.

I remember photoclubs from long ago..

They stank of chemicals but folks going there were sharing information and techniques as there was very little talk about 'feature' latest gear to have. Competitions took place... To represent the club in another competition.

Funny part is few of these clubs had 'group outings'. Instead they had a challenge for the month or even the year and each person was going out doing their own stuff then back inside were discussing every offer until one was selected as the 'winner'.

Trust me it sounds good but it was not utopia. The clubs were highly dysfunctional families but everyone took something home. Today? Bah.