Shooting in RAW vs JPEGA cameras RAW filename extension differs
for each brand (NEF for Nikon, CRW for Canon etc.) however they are
all essentially the same. A RAW image file name is an uncompressed
data of whatever it may be youve just shot. They are very large in
filesize, higher in dynamic range, and much more editable than
JPEG.
JPEG on the other hand is a widely recognisable file format,
most devices can read it and does not require special programs to
open it compared to RAW, it is small in filesize and could be even
further compressed to a smaller size. However JPEG is not as easily
editable as RAW.
Here is a screenshot of a comparison of their file sizes, of the
same image. As you can see the NEF file (RAW) is almost 7x larger
than its compressed counterpart, though this may not be big
compared to the storage spaces now available, several number of RAW
can accumulate huge amount of space. RAW is also a file format not
widely used in the web despite its superior quality compared to
JPEG. This is an important aspect to take into consideration when
uploading images on to the web.
A program specifically designed for the brand of your camera or
DSLR is normally provided, however there are other programs that
are fully capable of editing your RAW images. This one provided for
Nikon is called ViewNX2 as you can see it has different adjustments
to the right to correct your image to your specific taste.
This program also presents the metadata of the image taken.
Metadata contains all the information about the image, such as time
and date, brand and camera used, lens and f/stop, image resolution,
ISO settings and shutter speed.
By manipulating the different aspects of the image youll be able
to increase the overall appeal of the images, the adjustments to
the images are, exposure, contrast, brightness, highlight
protection, shadow proctection, and then cropped to remove the
negative spaces.
Here the RAW files is being converted into JPEG, this will
compress the file, into a smaller size.
JPEG as a file format for photographs is good enough, as long as
you keep the resolution at a relatively large scale. In fact JPEG
is the file format most photographers would convert their RAW files
to because it has the perfect balance of file size and quality. To
summarise this, it is better to firstly shoot in RAW format because
it will be give you better editing capabilities compared to JPEG.
After you have edited your image you can then convert it to JPEG
for upload to the web.