miteehigh Loc: Arizona

I have used jpegs most of my time with digital photography. The reason that I did was because it was simple and it was easy. I tried raw a time or two but did not see any benefit until recently. When I finally educated myself to all of the tools available in Photoshop (old CS4) I was amazed at how my photograph's colors improved. From the improved color controls I was able to more effectively convert to black and white. For those who, for one reason or another, have been reluctant to try raw, I suggest giving it a try. The attached images were made with a Canon 1DS MkIII and a Canon 5D Mk II. (no mirrorless for me at this time). The lens used was a Canon L 85mm 1.2

Cwilson341 Loc: Central Florida

Very nice. I converted to shooting raw a few years ago and have never looked back!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I'll add the additional RAW benefit is the files are the same today as they'll be in the future. I've been revisiting some older work and re-editing using modern tools and a more experienced eye. Alas, some of the JPEG files don't hold up to the editing I'd like to perform today.

That said, if the JPEG was good from the start, they're fine for editing, assuming the they colors and / or white balance don't need a lot of modification.

miteehigh Loc: Arizona

I agree to a point. jpegs, because of the compression, do not have the full data library that a raw image has. Beyond that jpeg post processing is global whereas raw allows more localized adjustments. If the attached photograph started as a jpeg I would not have been able to adjust the color balance as was possible in raw.

If one were to use luminosity masking with a jpeg image, tonal balance can be adjusted and refined. However color can not be balanced. The same can be said for saturation masking. However, if a raw image is post processed and then refined with luminosity masks and saturation masks the image can be brought to a better representation of the desired result.

This was shot with a Canon 1DS MkIII and Canon L 70-200 2.8 lens.

Craigdca Loc: California

I used jpg only for the first few months until I learned about raw and have been using raw+jpg ever since, usually tossing out the jpgs but taking them in case I need it immediately.

The advantage of 16-bit raw over 8-bit jpg files just makes sense even if more work is required. In Canon’s DPP4 software, the settings seem to mimic the camera’s settings that are used to create the internal jpgs. It also gives the option to change a camera’s settings such as Auto WB to Cloudy, or Portrait to Landscape.