RAW vs JPEG Side By Side Comparison

RAW vs JPEG, which one do you shoot in. Learn the differences in quality and how to choose the right one for you. Shooting in RAW or JPEG can make a difference in your photography workflow.

Hello everybody. My name is Charles. If you’ve ever wondered, when should you shoot RAW? When should you shoot JPEG? What are the differences in quality? When should you shoot both? All of these questions, I’m going to answer in this video.

What is a RAW Image? RAW vs JPEG

So what is a RAW image? A RAW image, also known as a digital negative, is an image file that contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from a digital camera sensor. Every bit of image information captured by your camera sensor is saved and stored in the RAW file with no processing of any kind. In fact, the files are so raw that we can’t even open them normally on a computer like we can with JPEGs and other file types. They can only be opened in a program like Camera Raw or Lightroom or Capture One where we can then process the photos in any way we choose.

What is a JPEG Image? RAW vs JPEG

So what is a JPEG image? JPEG files are processed right within the camera. How exactly they are processed varies from model to model. While color temperature and exposure are set based on your camera settings when the image is shot, the camera will also process the image to add blacks, contrast, brightness, noise reduction, sharpening, and then render the file to a compressed JPEG. As soon as you capture a JPEG, it is ready for use and supported by a wide range of devices. If you need to quickly send it to someone or upload it to a social media networking site or alternatively print it out, copy it, or simply view it on a computer or another display.

What Are The Differences In Quality

So what are the differences in quality between working with JPEG and RAW files? First, a RAW file is a higher quality. That’s because when you shoot in RAW, you record all of the data from the sensor. When you look at the RAW file in a camera, it will look the same like a JPEG file. It will have a picture profile the camera was set to. Once you get the photos into an editing software like Lightroom, the JPEG will look better than the RAW file. Your RAW file will look worse. So it’s really going to expect that you’re going to do some post-processing afterwards. But one thing that won’t change is that a RAW file will always be significantly larger than the same image saved as a JPEG. RAW files take up more space on your camera’s memory card, which means the card will hold fewer photos than if you were shooting JPEG. JPEG images contain far less data, which significantly limits their dynamic range and recovery potential.

So here’s a JPEG file, straight out of the camera. The settings that were applied make this photo look pretty good, except for one thing; here in the center, it looks like it’s still overexposed and those highlights are extra strong. So if I come over here and try to adjust the highlights, what it does, and this is a JPEG keep in mind, you see this banding up here in just trying to correct the highlights. So this is what we’re talking about when we say that there’s not very much information left to make adjustments once you bring it into a program like Lightroom. You get results like this in just trying to correct the highlights. This means that if you manage to overexpose or underexpose an the image, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to recover that data. Now here’s the RAW file of that same JPEG that we just looked at, but we have plenty of information with the RAW file. So I can come over here and do the same thing. And notice how I’ve changed the highlights and brought in this area here in the middle. You can see the definition, the highlights were brought down. We can add shadow information. So we’re able to recover all those adjustments. We can do whatever we need here to make adjustments. We have a lot of leeway as far as information that we can make adjustments here, in this case in Lightroom.

This kind of goes to show that a RAW file, when used properly, when exposed well, is just going to retain quite a bit more information. So you can do a better job of pulling back your highlights and balancing out the image and lifting shadows. It gives you a lot more flexibility in that area in terms of the overall dynamic range and exposure. Hey, if you’re getting value out of this so far, hit that like button.

Whenever you shoot JPEG, your in-camera picture style settings are going to be applied to the image. You’re going to get in-camera processing. So we have a kind of complete range of customizing that is just based on whatever camera that you’re using. This is why an in-camera JPEG is naturally going to look a little bit better than a RAW file. When you import the RAW file into Lightroom, you will see whatever you might have applied in the camera. None of that gets transferred into the RAW processing application unless you’re using a brand-specific RAW processor. If you’re using Lightroom or Capture One, whatever your in-camera picture style is when you’re shooting RAW, that doesn’t get passed over when it comes in.

So the RAW file keeps the underlying exposure and your temperature and your tint settings. In-camera processing matters when you’re shooting JPEG, not so much when you’re shooting RAW. None of that transfers over, but it change the way that it’s going to show up on your LCD. So just keep that in mind. If we’re going to shoot JPEG, we need to make sure that we dial in the exact exposure and exact white balance. When you’re shooting JPEG, it’s very important to get those things precise.

When you’re shooting RAW, we have a little bit more flexibility and you can shoot more for the intention in post, leaving room and information there. And also if you happen to mess up white balance, it’s okay. You can fix that in post. Although ideally, you want to get that right in the camera as well. But we have more flexibility. So when should you shoot RAW or JPEG or both? Well, one question would be, are you going to process the images? Are you shooting portraits or landscapes? Well, most professionals are generally going to process their work. They also want the most information possible. And a lot of serious amateur and hobbyists, they’re going to do the same thing. They want to process each image. So bottom line is, if you want to process your images, shoot RAW. It’s going to give you the most flexibility, it’s going to give you the best quality, and the best potential flexibility in post.

So another question might be, do you want flexibility in post down the line? Let’s say you need some of the images right now but you also want flexibility in post because you want to post-process and get the best images possible later. If that’s the case, I would shoot RAW plus JPEG. Just keep in mind that it’s going to slow the camera down a little since it’s writing two separate files, and it’s going to use a little bit more memory a little bit quicker, so have a little bit larger card and expect more memory to be used. But what this will give you is processed JPEGs that are done in-camera, where if you need to send these off or use these for Instagram or social media right away, they’re available to you. And then you’re also getting the RAW files that you can potentially process them later and have a different set of final images, let’s say for portfolio or printing purposes. So if you need flexibility now and you also want the best possible file for later editing and usage, shoot RAW plus JPEG.

So next, if size and speed is a consideration in your workflow, like say if you do sports photography, you might have to deliver the images using wireless transfer. Shooting in JPEG gives you a small file for transfers. JPEG is suitable for shooting in bursts. So shooting JPEG is the right choice in those situations. And what they’re doing is they’re dialing in their camera picture style settings. Everything is dialed to a T where the camera’s doing the necessary processing.

So if you’re shooting any events, like a family event or a trip to the zoo or something where it’s more or less for fun, in that case, just shoot JPEG. There’s no need to worry about processing all these images in RAW. Just dial it in the camera and let your camera process it for you and be done with it after you shoot. Maybe all you need to do is delete a few images then you can send them off. So just shooting for fun, sometimes just shoot with the JPEG.

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