Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

I shoot jpeg 100% of the time and I shoot in AUTO mode, at my age, I don't have time for post processing.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

What camera are you using? Have you tried the software that came with. Proprietary software like that from Nikon and Canon will let you start out with your raw images images looking exactly like jpegs SOOC.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

DUHHHH! The editor is not supposed to give you the results of the SOOC jpeg. It gives you all the data so you can tailor the results. RAW is not for the lazy.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Nothing wrong with that if it meets your needs and you are happy with the results. I'm 73 and I find the time to make my images look the best I can in post.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Ditto at 80

One Jughead Loc: Greene County, OH

I just learned that I can set my Canon SX 50 HS to JPEG and use the digital zoom to get out to 95% of 2400mm and get great photos if I can hold the camera still. So I am going to set the camera to JPEG and get better at taking photos with this camera. Found that information on UHH offered by Lillian Stokes.

I will leave my Ti5 on raw since that is where I have the best results processing the photos from that camera.

saxman71 Loc: Wenatchee

I don't know if you are crazy. You've posted no photos on this forum to give us something to go by. When UHH members post statements like this I always go to the photo gallery to see their work. Alas, I found nothing posted by you. Your jpeg photos may be phenomenal but there is no way for us to know.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

Several Sonys

harleridr Loc: S.Texas

Hi
I shoot both JPEG and raw. I'm 80 years young and really don't like using digital darkrooms. I try to get it right in the camera first. I guess that is because I started with 35 mm film first.
Harle

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

SONY has raw editing software. I don't know if it will meet your requirements or work with your cameras, but it may be worth a look.

https://imagingedge.sony.net/en-us/ie-desktop.html

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

No. There are plenty of folks who haven't a clue about raw files, and others who just don't want the hassle or time or equipment involved.

There is nothing wrong with either workflow. Use the right tool for your job.

Many professionals have perfectly good reasons to record JPEGs. Other professionals have perfectly good reasons to record raw files. So why should enthusiasts and hobbyists and amateurs be any different?

The question is, can you get the results you want, or at least results that accomplish your image-making goals?

It has been said (half jokingly) by many wise, old professionals that, "Raw is for rookies, JPEGs are for professionals." At first blush, that statement causes many less informed people to issue a battle cry of, "You're a moron! You don't know what you are talking about!"

What it means is, raw files have a lot of latitude that can be very forgiving of minor errors in exposure, white balance, and other parameters you might not set right on the camera if you don't know every menu setting and what it is for, or if the photographic situation cannot be tamed.

Professionals generally DO know what they are doing with JPEGs. We know how to expose within 1/6 of a stop, nail the white balance under most types of lighting, and produce files that display nicely on screen or print well on paper. In short, we know our way around the equipment, and use a lot of finesse when working behind the camera. But we know the limits of our equipment and processes, too!

I use both workflows. When I need ultimate quality or flexibility for creative results, or the light is changing rapidly and uncontrollably, I work from raw files.

When I need an image immediately, or when the budget is low, or the downstream workflow will not accommodate raw files and the time to process them, or the light may be controlled and consistent, or there's a "SOOC JPEG ONLY" policy involved, I am likely to record JPEGs at the camera.

There is great freedom and utility in knowing your camera's pre-processing controls as well as you know your post-processing software controls!

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

True dat.

True dat.

OK, you never shot one jpg, but raw is your preference. That's the same as saying I prefer sunflower seeds to peanuts, but never ate a peanut.
I edited jpgs solely from mid 90's until around 2013, then spent a few months with raw. Eventually I decided I didn't need raw for a large variety of reasons, but while my reasons are just my preference, they are based on experience, not on a wild guess. It may be you absolutely would prefer raw but unless you are very proficient at editing both, your preference is based on a whim.

My experience is that while raw does of course have some socially redeeming value, it is over kill for a very, very large number of hogs.

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

I have turned countless raw files into jpegs (be it for social media, emailing, or whatever), so I do have experience with both and know how each behave and that's the reason for my preference!

suntouched Loc: Sierra Vista AZ

I can most always identify images taken in Jpeg mode "relying on getting it right in the camera" without any correction afterwards- blown out highlights, too much contrast, dark shadows, harsh colors, dull colors, poor exposure, incorrect white balance for starters. If the image is taken at the perfect time, in the best lighting conditions with the wisest settings then a Jpeg works. But unfortunately most photographic opportunities don't happen in aforementioned conditions and often don't look as we had imagined the scene straight from the camera. Under less than perfect conditions it's much easier to manage a Raw format than Jpeg.

anotherview Loc: California

ACR presents another learning curve. I viewed ACR that way when I became more serious about developing my photographs. So I can understand the reluctance by others to take up this photo-editor.

From experience, though, I can say that ACR presents a most powerful photo-editor. I bring up my photos in ACR first and work on them there. Then I bring them up in the full Photoshop where I do selective edits like setting the mid-gray point. By this approach, I can bring out the potential of my pictures.