Question a Day | Raw to JPEG to Shooting Double
Q: I have been reading your blog some, and found the question about the RAW vs. JPEG images. Would you suggest double shooting? Ny Nikon has the option of RAW or JPEG or both. What would be the advantage of shooting both over one or the other? I have shot countless pictures in my life, but just recently decided to take it to the next level, and open a business. I still have SO much to learn about the technical aspect of photography. Thanks for your time, and willingness to share your talent!
A: Hi there! Thanks for the question!
The advantage of shooting both is just that: you’d have one of each so it’s almost almost like having the instant print (JPEG, doesn’t need converted) and then negative (RAW file) is stored away for safe keeping. It seems like an ideal situation at first.
The problem is your memory card in the camera; you’re going to need more storage because you’re taking double the images. Some photographers will shoot RAW and a small JPEG so they can quickly scoot those over to the client before they’ve been retouched and post-processed. This is common for commercial shoots.
In my personal life and my business, I’m not necessarily showing those instant shots so it’s not worth it to me to sacrifice space while shooting: I would drop from being able to grab, say, 250 images down to 130, per card.
If you’re shooting for around-the-house personal use, you’re good with a high quality JPEG, but could go RAW if you’re enthusiastic. For professional use, I would definitely recommend RAW, retouching in RAW and then converting out to a JPEG for final retouching before delivery to the client. And if you’re doing this, having shot both a RAW and JPEG file is redundant since you’d a) have to edit both exactly the same or b) since you have more control with the RAW file, you’re going to be converting it out to JPEG anyway so - double work? Why bother!
But that’s just my opinion, and you have to set up the workflow as best for you. Try it out for a week and see if you like it. The worst case scenario? You have double the pics, and have lost nothing in the experiment :)
Have fun!
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