Paolo Ferraris

Oct 17, 20192 min

RAW vs Jpeg. Benefits & Drawbacks

Raw vs Jpeg, Pros and Cons. For those of you who are still non-believers in the RAW format, let's have a quick recap of the benefits (many) and the drawbacks of shooting in RAW mode.

Pienza, Italy. Edited RAW file.

Benefits of the RAW file vs the Jpeg file

  • Raw files have way more color shades than Jpegs.

  • Color gamut is wider.

  • Raw or Jpegs for portraits? Contrast, Saturation, Sharpening, and noise reduction are not applied in-camera: You get to decide the extent of such treatments in post-production.

  • RAW files are recorded in lossless compression, meaning you don't lose information while saving the image.

  • Color space can be changed in post-production.

  • White balance can be changed in post-production and it's not saved, embedded into the file's color profile.

  • Editing raw vs jpeg. Large processing of the data, such as correcting huge exposure mistakes, results in fewer visible artifacts when done from raw data than when done from Jpegs.

  • Changes made to RAW files are non-destructive.

  • Images with very high dynamic range are more easily and more effectively edited in RAW mode.

Pienza, Italy. Unedited RAW file.

Drawbacks of the RAW file vs the Jpeg file

  • File size is bigger.

  • Without post-production RAW files look dull, not very sharp, not very contrasty and with muted colors.

  • RAW file formats don't have a standard like the Jpeg so you have to update your editing software in order to read new and upcoming formats from different camera manufacturers.

  • RAW files require post-production and post-production means more work and more time spent in front of the monitor of your computer.

Raw vs jpeg the real story

We don't live in a perfect world but the verdict is in and it definitively favors the use of the RAW file format!

#rawvsjpeg #photography #photographers


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