RAW vs Jpeg

Enough of the general stuff, lets talk about something controversial today. RAW vs JPEG. Even if someone has just started out photography, he simply can't miss this. In fact, if there is something more polarizing in the photography world then Canon vs Nikon, it has got to be RAW vs Jpeg. Both have their own set of advantages and disadvantages and users of both camps swear by the advantages of their choice. But that doesn't mean that a starter should blindly follow a particular format without know about both first. After you come to know about them and know about all the features, advantages and disadvantages, you may decide which one you want to use. So, without further foreplay, lets jump directly into the topic in hand.

Image Credit-  Kurosawa Michiyo

RAW

What is RAW? One can define RAW as digital negative. It is not a image format like Jpeg. It is just the RAW sensor data which can be converted to any image format like Jpeg or Tiff upon further processing. In fact there is no standard format across camera manufacturers for RAW and different manufacturers use their own different format. Nikon uses .NEF, Canon uses .CR2 and .CRW, Olympus uses .ORF etc. What is special about RAW is, it  contains each and every bit of information that the sensor captures. Thats why the RAW files are large compared to Jpeg files. 

JPEG

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. It is a commonly used format for digital imaging. In fact, thanks to the internet, this is the most widely used image format. The main advantage of Jpeg over other formats is its compression. As a result, this is comparatively smaller than other formats. Each and every digital camera today supports jpeg and most of the compact cameras offer jpeg as its output. But as you can probably guess, such compression doesn't come without its own downside. Jpeg is a Lossy format, which means, the more the compression, the greater the loss in image detail. Though, I would not think too much about that at this stage because for web viewing or viewing images, even the small size jpegs won't create much of a problem.

Now, the definition part is over, we can move on to the far more important question a amateur  always faces, which one to use. Most of the professional photographers or advanced amateurs will advise to go for RAW. Reasons are many. Lets explore-

Advantages of RAW over Jpeg

• The first and foremost advantage is RAW images are very easy to work with in Post Processing as they contain every bit of info the processor has captured. This gives the photographer enormous freedom to work while PP. Editing Jpeg images, on the other hand, is a tricky affair. Because while compressing the image, a lot of info the processor has captured is thrown away for the sake of size.
• Salvaging badly exposed photos is possible in RAW, while its almost impossible in Jpeg. Normally, in RAW, over/underexposed images can be corrected up to four stops of light. Lets take a look at the following example-

This is a straight out of the camera image without any editing. As you can see, this is horribly under exposed and if this was shot in Jpeg, there is simply no way of salvaging this image. But as this was shot in RAW, I took the image to Photoshop, moved a few sliders and within seconds, I got this-

A perfectly usable photo, thanks to RAW. And this is not only limited to correcting exposure. Correcting White Balance and other factors are really easy in RAW, while not quite the same in Jpeg.

• A RAW file is completely untouched. This gives the photographer literally endless opportunity to tinker with the image. As no sharpness is applied to the file, an advanced user may apply more complex functions to sharpen his images rather than to rely on the camera to do the job. The same goes for Tonal range also. 
• It is what the most professionals use (Ok, thats not a very sound reason, I accept). But in some cases, having the RAW file is a definitive proof of being the creator of the image (like a negative) 

Advantages of Jpeg over RAW

• Usable right out of the camera. Unlike RAW, a Jpeg can be used straight out of the camera as the camera has already applied some preset algorithms to process the image. So, it is more punchy, contrasty and sharp directly out of the camera as compared to RAW.
• Size is much small as compared to RAW. Hence in certain conditions, it is a huge advantage over RAW. While a RAW contains all the image data, it is also huge compared to Jpeg. In conditions like continuous shooting, this is a great advantage.
• Immediately available. If you are in such a situation that you need the images immediately after the shoot, then shooting in Jpeg is the only option.
• It is widely used and supported. Hence you don't have to worry about not being able to view your images in future. But the RAW formats are mostly proprietary and we need special software from the camera makers to view them. Suppose 30 year down the line Nikon goes out of business or they decide to change their RAW format, you won't have any software to handle your old RAW files.
• It is good enough for most people. Sure RAW files are much easier to work in PP and they have more detail. But isn't it true that somewhere around 90% of all the photos out there are shot on cellphones and in Jpeg? If that can serve 90% of the population, then why bother about adopting a cumbersome workflow?

As we can see from the above discussion, there is no definitive answer on RAW vs Jpeg. It really depend upon the end user and his preferences. If I am a Landscape Photographer, I won't even think about shooting in Jpegs in my worst nightmares. I need that extra tonal range and data for editing my images. On the other hand if I am a journalist covering a war zone, getting the shots to the viewer is far more important to me than worrying about tonal range. So, its your call really. Do you faithfully edit each image before posting or printing them or you are among those who think that editing photos after clicking is a crime? Depending upon the answer, the choice will differ. So which one is your choice?