The Raw Deal

When shooting with DSLRs, you will notice an image format mentioned, raw. You may wonder what this is if you are new to this format. Raw refers to a type of image that DSLRs use to record images. When looking at a raw file, you will notice that the file extension is not the same as the name of the format, differing from jpegs and gifs. The actual extension will vary from camera maker to camera maker. Sometimes it will change even between camera models from the same brand. This is because there is no standard file format so each brand has their own proprietary format that there cameras use. The differing formats should not cause problems for you to view your photos as there are many programs that can view most raw formats such as Adobe's Creative Suite. Camera companies also include a cd with the codec to view images or can be downloaded from their website.

The main problem with raw will be when you want others to view them on other computers, such as on the internet. Raw is not an internet friendly format because of the proprietary nature of the files to they must be converted to a format that anyone can view such as jpeg, png or gif. You may wonder why shoot in raw in the first place if it would be easier to shoot in jpeg.

Jpeg is an 8-bit format meaning that each pixel's color is determined by a number made of ones and zeros 8 digits long, giving 256 different color options. Raw uses 16-bits of information resulting in 65,536 points of information for each pixel. This means 256 times the information in raw versus jpeg.

Alex Chi 2011©

The quality difference will be noticed most in value gradients of your photos. In the photo above, you can see in the statue's cheeks and forehead do not have smooth transitions of colors. There are sharp transitions of color usually called color or chroma stepping. Usually this will not show in photos straight from the camera but one you start editing your photos, this will start showing up in your photos as you make your adjustments. Raw is considered a lossless format and will keep the original info and save changes separately. Information is then not compressed or changed as it would have in jpeg.