NEF (RAW) processing.

If I take a photo in RAW is it ok to change the RAW file to jpeg using the NEF (RAW) processing in the retouch menu rather than messing about with NX2?

I am a lazy bugger and do it this way rather than opening ViewNX2.

Its your file you can do what you like with it but if you plan on retouching it I would be keeping it in RAW as long as possible.

Cheers Scott.

You can do what you like. But, why would you want to edit your photo on a small, low res screen? Far better if you do that on a larger screen. I really don't see how you can do fine tuning on your camera. If you want to just do a straight conversion, well, what was the point of shooting RAW in the first place? If you are going to edit, do it on a computer.

I am never totally satisfied with my shots so I keep an external drive (local to my pc) for all my Raw files. My Lightroom library uses this drive also. Any converted to JPG are put on a network drive so my wife can get to them from her Desktop/Tablet/Laptop. Lord knows I have to keep the wife happy.

If you are never going to use the raw files, you might as well shoot jpg only. However, if you normally like shooting raw and just need a quick jpg now and then to email or upload, go for it. The camera DOES NOT destroy the raw file, it just generates a jpg and leaves the raw file alone. I don't think you can do a batch, only one conversion at a time.


I find the function confusing though because it gives the jpg a new file sequence number. For example if you have a 1234.nef file you get a 1235.jpg (or whatever the next available sequence number is). If you have several very similar shots on the card, it would be hard to identify which nef file was used to produce the jpg.

I only ask as all the magazines etc tell you to shoot RAW-Nef yet mine are fine in jpeg and I think they look better when I sharpen then image (Shift + S) in a program called IRFANVIEW which to me is the dogs whatsits and free.

If you are not interested in processing raw files, which can be another hobby in itself, then by all means shoot jpg and don't worry about the magazines. You can get into your picture control settings and tweak up the sharpness or colors a bit for all shots, possibly eliminating your Irfanview step.

MAMF said:

I only ask as all the magazines etc tell you to shoot RAW-Nef yet mine are fine in jpeg and I think they look better when I sharpen then image (Shift + S) in a program called IRFANVIEW which to me is the dogs whatsits and free.

Click to expand...

The sharpening in IRFanview *IS* shockingly good.

What you gain by shooting in RAW (over JPG), in a word, is latitude. Simply put, there are ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more information contained in a RAW that is lost forever when converted to JPG. All that additional information gives you flexibility in adjusting things like White Balance, Exposure and Color. If you don't need it, great... Keep shooting JPG. But that's the simple answer; RAW files simply have a lot more information in them to work with.
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MAMF said:

I only ask as all the magazines etc tell you to shoot RAW-Nef yet mine are fine in jpeg and I think they look better when I sharpen then image (Shift + S) in a program called IRFANVIEW which to me is the dogs whatsits and free.

Click to expand...

Just remember this: editing JPEGs is destructive; meaning, each time you edit the JPEG file, you lose some "information" and you will never be able to gain it back. RAW is loseless; meaning, you don't lose the information. You can always go back to the original file. If you are happy with the results you are getting, then by all means keep doing what you are doing. If, however, you want to get the most out of your file, shoot RAW. There is far more information in a RAW file that you can play around with and it is non-destructive.

Here's a nice video showing JPEG generation loss. We usually don't edit and save that many times but it demonstrates quite well what happens to our photos.