Best quality photo for Birds photography: Lossless , Uncompressed?
- Thread starter Gishy
- Start date
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
I shoot tons of birds. But for me this holds true for just about everything - if you're going to take the time to capture the image then give yourself all the information you need to turn the capture into a photograph. Max the camera out provided it can still perform (ie. write to the card) acceptably. With the D500 I have no worries with that. What are you shooting with?
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I'll offer a dissenting opinion, but a qualified one.
My D5500 fills its buffer after only 4 or 5 shots when shooting RAW in continuous mode. When I made my first attempt capturing hummingbirds in flight this past summer I quickly discovered why BIF people upgrade to the D500. However switching to .jpeg allowed me to pretty much glue down my shutter button and it would keep firing for as long as I liked. I may have given up the ability to process with as much detail as had I shot RAW. On the other hand, I got a bunch of pictures. I got zero with my 4/5 shot bursts.
I honestly don't think the quality suffered all that much, either:
So I guess my takeaway is this: if you have an entry level camera and need longer continuous shooting bursts, .jpeg might be preferable to RAW in that you'll probably get more shots off. But yeah, if I had that D500 I'd be all-in on RAW also.
My D5500 fills its buffer after only 4 or 5 shots when shooting RAW in continuous mode. When I made my first attempt capturing hummingbirds in flight this past summer I quickly discovered why BIF people upgrade to the D500. However switching to .jpeg allowed me to pretty much glue down my shutter button and it would keep firing for as long as I liked. I may have given up the ability to process with as much detail as had I shot RAW. On the other hand, I got a bunch of pictures. I got zero with my 4/5 shot bursts.
I honestly don't think the quality suffered all that much, either:
So I guess my takeaway is this: if you have an entry level camera and need longer continuous shooting bursts, .jpeg might be preferable to RAW in that you'll probably get more shots off. But yeah, if I had that D500 I'd be all-in on RAW also.
To be fair, your use case is sort of beyond what the 5500 is designed for.
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Dangerspouse
Senior Member
I'm not sure I understand what you mean, but I guess that's irrelevant. I was just relaying what my .jpeg vs. RAW experience was when BIF shooting. The OP didn't mention what kind of camera he has, so in case it's an entry level one like my D5500 I thought I'd pass along the benefit of my experience. I hope it was helpful.
Your comment is useful and I wasn’t being critical. Since we’re in the D500 the assumption is the OP’s question relates to that camera. The limitation you mention is more about the design of the camera you’re using than a ‘con’ of using RAW format. Nevertheless, your point that RAW format consumes a lot more memory is valid.
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Dangerspouse
Senior Member
You know what? I'm an idiot. I clicked on the topic when I saw it came up in the right hand "New Posts" column without even glancing at what folder it was in. So in light of that, your criticism is a fair one and I retract my original response. It has no bearing on the OP's situation, you're right.
I swear to god, I'm starting to think my wife's comments about my brain may be correct after all....
Andy W
Senior Member
I use RAW 14 bit compressed.
You may not want to share that with her. :encouragement:
You may not want to share that with her. :encouragement:
Dangerspouse
Senior Member
Don't worry. I'm not THAT stupid. :cower:
I think what the OP is really asking about is not RAW but the Lossless Compressed, Compressed or the uncompressed as the giving the most detail/information. With my D500 I do not notice a difference on a 4k monitor between lossless compressed or uncompressed unless I am cropping more then 100%. For this I always shoot lossless compressed to save drive space.
