What file format do you shoot?

[sir pball]

As I posted here yesterday I've been digging through my archives and finding some gems. I pretty much always shoot raw; there is quite a bit of extra work to be done with the pictures after shooting, hence the term "developing" for processing them to JPG or TIFF - but I find that the extra power and flexibility of the toolset I use lets me get results like I absolutely can't with any in-camera settings, and further that I can use newer software and more experience to get the same results from six-year-old images that I can with the latest and greatest gear.

On the other hand, shooting JPG in-camera is much faster and more convenient; with Eye-Fi and ad-hoc wireless on my phone I can upload right from the field to flickr, and if I've done something like a wedding or party there's no annoying fiddling around with batch processing, waiting for 500+ photos to process, so forth and so on. Just bring the laptop, upload, and burn.

Discuss.

[Stevenmarc]

1. That's why we have a Raw/Jpg setting

It's the have your cake and eat it too setting, I can use Jpgs with my eye-fi card to send to the phone and have a file that gives me full processing flexibility.

[sir pball]

3. Natch..my card is too small

I have a 4gig eye-fi, it's too small to keep the NEFs from a full day. I suppose I could upgrade to a 16 but I'd rather spend the money elsewhere...generally when I'm using the eye-fi I'm not so concerned about quality as to keep the raws.

[Stevenmarc]

6. There's another reason

Why I shoot Raw/Jpg, because I process the majority of my work in B&W I set the Jpgs on B&W for chimping purposes then process the Raw.

[sir pball]

9. I'm a curmudgeon with b&w..

Ilford Delta, usually 100 or 3200...for me there's nothing better than silver on film for that. I do scan at high red and print with ink, but I'm always looking for a cheap enlarger. A good fiber-base print...mmmm.

[NV Whino]

2. RAW for the D300

My point and shoot doesn't have a RAW setting, but I use the highest resolution available. You can always downgrade, but can't upgrade.

[FreeState]

4. RAW

D90 I always shoot raw and post process. Wish my iPhone had the same option

[Stevenmarc]

8. Get the app 645Pro

It saves in an uncompressed Tiff format, it's as close to Raw as you're going to get on an iPhone. It's one of my go to photo apps with Snapseed and Adobe PS Touch for processing.

[sir pball]

15. TIFF doesn't have much on JPG though..

TIFF (at least the last time I used it, on my first Nikon P&S in 2003) has very slightly better color accuracy, but that's about it - JPEG Fine is indistinguishable to me unless it's a really vivid/saturated scene and I'm comparing them side-by-side. The detail lost by going to JPEG is probably less than the resolution of the lens and sensor in a phone; I'm not saying you shouldn't be using it if it works for you but generally there isn't that much of an advantage to TIFF, especially considering the obscene filesize.

[ManiacJoe]

16. The advantage of TIF is that it is a lossless format.

JPG uses a lossy compression algorithm. A few cycles of open-save-close will probably not be noticeable, but eventually you are losing valuable data.

Of course, if you are using 16-bit TIFs then you have the advantage of a larger color space, too. Down side is that the files are huge.

[sir pball]

17. Do any cameras actually shoot 16-bit TIFF though?

Off the top of my head I can't think of one - any camera with that kind of capability is going to be able to shoot raw instead. You're right about extended recompression cycles with a lossy format - but IMO that's "user error", there's no reason to be hacking up an image that many times. Edit once!

[Stevenmarc]

18. The file size

Argument is fairly irrelevant unless we are hopping into a time machine and going back to the days when a 256k memory card was around 80 bucks but these days the same money buys a 1TB external drive. Quite frankly, if someone is filling one of those puppies up with iPhone generated TIFF files they might want to drop the phone and head to a rehab facility.

iPhone workflow is a bit different from conventional camera workflow because there isn't a one size fits all app like Photoshop and can require multiple saves from multiple apps to accomplish your final result. This is why having a photo app like 645Pro that saves in an uncompressed format is a plus by removing an unnecessary Jpg compression out of the equation.

[justiceischeap]

5. I shoot RAW

That way I can actually go through all the shots from a day out and curate my photographs as I edit.

[ManiacJoe]

7. Depends on what subject I am shooting.

If I am shooting outdoor sports where I expect to end up with over 1000 pictures and will get the exposure correct in the camera 98% of the time, I will be shooting JPG since the files are smaller and the minimal post-processing will be quicker.

Indoor sports are usually shot in raw for the flexibility in the needed post-processing.

"Snapshots" get shot in JPG with lots of in-camera processing since I am not going to spend the time on them at my computer.

Landscapes always get shot in raw/NEF.

Everything else will probably be shot in raw also.

[alfredo]

10. Until recently, I shot RAW. JPEG is my choice now because Olympus JPEGs are good.

It's also quicker to toggle between color and black and white in JPEG.

[sir pball]

12. Nikon jpgs are very good

I can and will shoot JPEG if I'm doing something high-volume, especially for somebody else, but for personal consumption there's no in-camera way to get the look I want - I'm going to be processing them regardless of what format I shoot in so I might as well pick the best format to begin the procedure with. Certainly not criticizing what works for you, if you like how the pics come out that's what matters.

[alfredo]

13. Weight became an issue, so Micro 4/3 was a logical choice for me.

[Blue_In_AK]

11. I do jpeg

I'm lazy and don't feel like messing around with all the RAW stuff. I'm usually happy with my results and if not ... oh, well, there's always another day.

[alfredo]

14. +1