RAW vs JPEG

gcm89

New member
Ok, so I have a few questions. From my newbie understanding and logic, I have gathered that RAW is the way to "shoot." It seems that it allows you to achieve more when it comes to the post-processing phase. From what I understand, JPEG files are already altered on your camera and you can't do as much when you import them into a post processing program.

So here's where it gets interesting and confusing for me.

I followed the advice of some of my fellow Nikonites and downloaded GIMP because I am currently using Iphoto and it doesnt seem to offer much or really change my images like I'd like it to. I am sure some, if not most of this is the fact that I am new and learning. Now, GIMP does not allow you to edit RAW files (which is what I was shooting in because it seemed logical to me). So, should I stop shooting in RAW until I can afford to purchase a better editing software like Lightroom? Or should I move over to JPEG and use GIMP until I can afford something different?

Thanks for the tips in advance!

-George
 

Dave_W

The Dude
Re: RAW vs. JPEG

GIMP is a very powerful program and unless you're willing to put the time into understanding how to use it, you won't get the most out of what it offers. I would strongly urge you, as a new photographer, to use Lightroom for your editing. It is extremely intuitive and will give you professional results.

Lightroom offers a 30 day free trial with full functionality. Why not download it and see if it brings out the "look" you're trying to achieve.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
Re: RAW vs. JPEG

As for shooting RAW, I believe you should continue. You can always convert a RAW file to a JPEG however you can never convert a JPEG to a RAW file. So what do you have to lose?
 

RockyNH_RIP

Senior Member
Re: RAW vs. JPEG

GIMP is a very powerful program and unless you're willing to put the time into understanding how to use it, you won't get the most out of what it offers. I would strongly urge you, as a new photographer, to use Lightroom for your editing. It is extremely intuitive and will give you professional results.

Lightroom offers a 30 day free trial with full functionality. Why not download it and see if it brings out the "look" you're trying to achieve.


And Lightroom handles Raw files for him too!

Pat in NH
 

gcm89

New member
Re: RAW vs. JPEG

Thanks for the tips. I did not realize that Lightroom had a free trial. I'll have to download it later and start using it. I don't know if its me but I noticed that Iphoto does not do a very good job in processing. I posted a photo of mine on here and a few of the other users did their own edits on it and it made it a lot better. I noticed in Iphoto it makes me photos seem more grainy. Again, maybe this is me just sucking at photography lol
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
One of the issues you need to understand with RAW files is, non-destructive editing. That means LR saves your changes in XMP files... which do NOT alter your original RAW file...

As you learn how to do different things, you can always go back to your original RAW file and make those changes...

​You might learn/understand something 2 years from now... and you can go back and edit your RAW files and produce totally different results...
 

co2jae

Senior Member
Re: RAW vs. JPEG

Probably Iphoto being bad more than you. I found IPhoto to be very lacking in what I liked to do for processing. I use the VIEW NX that came with my camera and I like it for now as I am new and learning. My friend gave me an expensive, professional program and I get lost with all the different options. I have found the best way to get good pictures is to take better photos. Practice your shooting skills and your post processing wont be needed as much. I do prefer shooting RAW now for manyof the reasons already listed after shooting mostly JPEG fine for the first 6 months or so. Good point about raw files being saved and returning to them later on for editing with new techniques learned. Has happened to me once or twice already :)
 
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gcm89

New member
One of the issues you need to understand with RAW files is, non-destructive editing. That means LR saves your changes in XMP files... which do NOT alter your original RAW file...

As you learn how to do different things, you can always go back to your original RAW file and make those changes...

​You might learn/understand something 2 years from now... and you can go back and edit your RAW files and produce totally different results...

Oh ok. That makes sense and I did not know that. I've only been on this forum a few days and already have learned a lot. I'm sure ill be re-visiting some of my own images years from now and to be able to re-edit them would be important.
 

Pretzel

Senior Member
If you were willing to mess with Gimp, you should look into LightZone as well. It does a lot of the things LightRoom does, but as of yet is a free opensource with a slightly smaller learning curve.

www.lightzoneproject.org

Granted, I recently purchased LR 5, as it's much easier to work with (for me) after having tried the trial version, and the wealth of online tutorials is HUGE, but I've still been messing around with lightzone for the MAC as well. It does quite a few things well, plus, being open source, there are a lot of add-ons/extensions, and right now, the community is doing a LOT of YouTube tutorials, etc. on their own.
 

Skytalker

Senior Member
Another alternative to GIMP or LR is Capture NX. Like LR it is not free but it also has a 30 days trial period.
Quality-wise this is the best software for Nikon basic editing. Once learnt and on a good computer it works very well.
 
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