The first photo is by far the best, the remaining are over processed and look unnatural.

RAW captures save the maximum amount of photographic information the camera can capture, it is like film in that respect.

RAW is best for two types of photographic situations.
1. You are the type of photographer who sets the camera on "Full Auto" and accepts whatever the camera decides to capture.

2. As the photographer, you have way too much time on your hands and can afford to spend hours in the digital darkroom.

In today's modern digital cameras we have the very latest in JPG compression tools, and they will compress an image to a reasonable file size and preserve most of the critical image information.

If you spend a reasonable amount of time setting up the camera for a good exposure, you will spend a lot less time on the computer correcting camera errors in exposure captures. The advantage of digital today is instant feedback on your capture. Once reviewed on the LCD panel you can correct for poor exposures on the spot, not weeks later when the processed film is returned from the chemical processor.

Try it your self. Make a series of test photos using both RAW captures, and JPG captures. Make sure you use a standard subject set-up for all tests. Try using a Child's toy doll as the subject. Take a couple of shots in RAW using center spot focus, center spot exposure metering, Aperture Priority (Av), and ISO = 400.

Now take the same photos with the highest resolution in JPG format. This time take the time to set the camera White Balance to Auto, and then a few of the other settings (sun, clouds, shade, flash,indecent, florescent).

Compare all your captures and decide what will be best for your needs.

Michael G

When shooting nature and animals, generally there is no need to hold down the shutter and take 6-8 frames per second. Not only does continuous motor drive shooting produce many useless shots, it does not train you. Knowing your surrounding, knowing your animal, and knowing your composition and exposure can create a better picture with only a few clicks at most.

I shot picture below with, as I recall, with a total of three frames. "National Geographic" liked it and published it.

In the second shot of the crow attacking the hawk, I used my motor drive in the way we used to discuss its purpose: motor drives, back in the days of film, kept your eye on the viewfinder, without the hassle of using your thumb to wind the film camera to the next shot. Motor drives allow you to follow action, and shoot only when the time is right. This crow/hawk shot occurred above my Daylight Shooting Stage, and I was simply flexing my old, manual focus skills on an ancient, pre autofocus anything 300/2.8.