I've always shot RAW+jpeg, mostly because I don't do alot of editing, usially I just use the iamges from my camera, but on the occasions I feel creative I always have the RAW to mess with if the mood strikes.
@@sdspeedy1probably the A7RIV file sizes. 61MP jpegs can be around 30-40MB. I have the A7RIV and have to compress the jpegs even more for posting online. The raw files are on another level, around 1GB of data, which is why I've been thinking of shooting compressed raw + jpeg instead of raw + jpeg. 😂 I still need to do more research on compressed raw vs raw though.
I think you missed a video there.. In one of the videos, James explains how you can get the presets and it's this video: th-cam.com/video/8y_ICvrKElY/w-d-xo.html 😊
Once again, a fresh perspective that you don't hear all that much! Good job mate! I'm not part of the "in-camera" cult or anything, but I like shooting JPG+RAW as somewhat of a nerdy challenge to myself; I found that by trying to get the shot I want in the JPG as sort of a goal to achieve, I slowed down my shooting and started taking more care in composition, light, etc.
Even as a novice photographer I was highly recommended to shoot raw based on, I guess, the desires of the person who was teaching me about cameras; however, after watching his video juxtaposing a raw and jpeg together in the same frame on a good computer monitor, I really couldn't differentiate the image quality advantage in the raw, even after post-fixing, that much. I think it best to adopt the idea of shooting raw and jpeg at the same time. If the jpeg appears pleasing and does not need touch ups, then go with what's going to save you time. I like the idea of shooting in both formats and believe I will do this for a while.
Editing raw is just better for editing. Say you took a picture of some trees. Under the trees are super dark, but the leaves are almost white from reflecting the sun. Raw would let you edit the dark area and make it visible without turning it into a blob. And it would let you bring back some of the color in the leaves. But you are correct if the photo looks nice in jpeg just use the Jpeg and be done with it.
There are cases where raw is more useful. For example, I'm a black and white photographer. If I want to change how colors are represented, I can carry around color filters and fiddle with them, dodge and burn the jpg or adjust sliders on the raw black and white conversion. The raw option is easiest so I shoot raw+jpg for the times I need it
You know when you have come full circle when after spending ages editing your raw file, the original jpeg looks better. The algorithms that camera manufactureres use these days are so good that most of the time I can get what I like by just adjusting the saturation and contrast just a bit and its done. In fact, I have an old Canon G6 and the jpegs are so good in normal light, I hardly change them.
@@kencur9690 99% of the people that use a camera are not real photographers and don't need to shoot raw for one simple reason, they don't know how to edit the photos.
@@ademosthenes4911 and then there's that 0.5% who are real photographers and actually take a good photo to begin with, using old school, traditional principles. You know, the ones who actually understand how light works and how to capture a moment, instead of heavily relying on sliding some bars to achieve something similar.
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Educational, humorous, and probably the most important parts... genuine and humble. Of all the other youtubers I've watched, even though you are leaps and bounds more professional than I am, and quite possibly most of your other viewers, you are down to earth and relatable. You give us a real-life perspective of what photography is like. The only negative is my own beard envy, but that is something I can't help. What I can help is my photography, and you have been a big part of that improving that. Cheers.
This is a one of the most fundamental truths of dealing with your images ! I see hundreds of amateur and even advanced enthusiast. and 'expert' photographers MASSIVELY overworking their images !!! This is a breath of fresh air , by my eye . Thanks for saying this AND for posting it !
I shoot in Jpeg for exactly the reason you said regarding its like shooting with film. If I shot in RAW I would just take lots and lots of photos knowing that I'd be selecting the best and then editing it. Shooting in Jpeg makes me take my time with each shot. I do counterbalance (or atleast try) the fact i'm shooting in jpeg by using my camera in completely manual mode and manual focus. My photos feel much more personal when I do it this way.
This video and your opening comment about people who are watching it later seems like as good a time as any to write a comment - I am working my way through a lot of your old videos having recently (re?)discovered photography as a hobby. I recently found your channel and learned a lot in a short time. Love the content and the style of delivery - feels authentic/genuine compared to some others where it feels like they're on some kind of permanent sugar/caffeine hype! Feels a bit silly to say "keep up the good work" on a four year old video when you also just dropped a new one and so have clearly done so... Keep up keeping up the good work maybe?
I shoot RAW and jpeg. I’m not the best at photo editing, especially skin colors. Sometimes I just can’t get a raw file right and the jpeg offers a better starting point. Great advice all around!
i came to realise that my "workflow" is really relaxing when i'm just shooting my pictures, sending a few of them to my phone, quick edit in snapseed and then instagram or flickr or whatever i wanna do with it. and i'm always happy with the results, and then some months later i'm using the raw in capture one, spend two hours on the same pic , stressing me out, and compare it to the old one made with snapseed and i like it better !
Good one. I used to do something quite similar, shooting RAW+JPEG and having the JPEG file as reference as you've shown. But at some point I noticed that on some cameras (Canon in my case) there's an embedded JPEG baked into the RAW file as well, and if you open the RAW file in an image viewer that's what you'll be seeing, so unless you really want the JPEG as a quick backup publishing solution (which is another legit usage sometimes), you might as well shoot in RAW only. Happy new year :)
Basically if you don't plan on doing a ton of editing, shoot jpeg. If you plan on doing a ton of editing like bringing back a ton of shadows or highlights, etc., shoot raw.
GREAT VIDEO! I shoot JPEGS 90 percent of the time and edit in Lightroom..RAW files take up too much space on the memory card and my computer! Keep up the great work!
Given how good in-camera processing is nowadays, to me, working with RAW files is just so much like hard work. Photoshop can give me just about all I want, if I need to process a JPEG. On top of that, inevitably, unless I'm going for some weird effect instead of recording reality, my processed RAW file tend to look just like my JPEG.
Terrific advice James, as always, so generously given and always with a good helping of humour which is always appreciated. Hope 2020 is a fantastic year for you both. Best wishes, David
I've actually thought about this before! Sometimes I sit for ages trying to perfect my photo in Lightroom, only to come back to it and realising the colors are waaaay to saturated. A technique I've been using goes like this: no matter how cool an effect might look like in Lightroom, turn down the effect at least 20% of what you find yourself satisfied with. If you still think the effect is too weak after a while, you might consider cranking it up again.
I have learned the same thing. I tend to use a lot of effects on my photos and I find if I go too far on any single one, the final image will end up looking pushed too far. Now I dial the effect to where I like it then dial it back slightly before applying it. In the end the subtle changes add up to a much more pleasing final image.
My brain will get used to the extra saturation I made in one picture then the next picture I wil add even more saturation. Now I try to limit how long I edit my photos so my brain won’t adjust to the added saturation.,
After a terrible day, the best way to end it off is by watching James Popsys! Thanks for ALWAYS putting a smile on my dial, you're only helping to grow my love for photography 📸 love your Apple setup by the way #DreamSetup
Nice one James. I have been in that situation where I have been so engrossed in editing images that some can look terrible! Good advice to have that JPEG as a reference point and take it from there.
Even videos like this with content that that don’t offer me new knowledge I always watch all the way trough at least once. Because the delivery is always fun to watch. And the the fact that all your videos consistently gets over a third the views of your subscribers ecco that statement. That statistic about your channel is among the best in class and means you got a consistent group of followers that actually what he’s your stuff😉 Great stuff sir✌🏽
Happy New Year James. This the first great video from you in 2020! This tip is a helpful, juicy nugget of info from a seasoned photographer. Thank you.
You got one thing right, now, when this video has appeared on my suggested videos, is certainly nothing like new year. Despite the current circumstances, great video!
Great video, you made a great point and I'm also one of those people that get sucked into the photos too much. I normally have to wait till the next day to finalize my edits
In my opinion jpgs look so good I've been unable to edit the RAW image and make it better. It's not that I can't edit a jpg image, just not as much. But as you said RAW may actually allow too much editing. One of the most common positive comments about RAW is pulling things out of the shadows. But it seems to me that if things are in the shadows, perhaps they should be dark! I've tried editing RAW quite a few times and always revert to jpg. At most I set the camera to jpg+RAW in case there is an image or two out of 500 that I may want to spend more time on. Even then the jpg usually looks pretty darn good.
I've always shot both RAW and Jpeg. I like to change my aspect ratio to suit the subject and if shooting b&w images I like to see the image in b&w as I shoot. I always process my images later when I'm not as excited about a trip or the images and the Jpeg having all the aspect crop and other data helps to remind me what I was thinking when I took the image.
I started out with Jpeg, and to be honest I did'n know what I was doing back then, although I did'n mind about my photos that much because what I would do back then was to take as many photo as I could, select the images I need, then I would later edit and upload those edited Jpeg files to social media, and I continued that for nearly 2 years until I went completely to RAW. It was rather fun when I started out like that because I truly enjoyed what I had and what I could do.
I like to make everything right with exposure out of the camera and dont want to edit my pictures so much afterwards, so for me JPG is better And you can do so much with JPG's in edding, for me that is more than enough
Excellent points. It is very easy to get too overly active in "reforming" a picture. On the other hand, the artistic element may be what you want and the jpg might confuse the process.
Great vid, I get into all sorts of debates about this on various forums, and now with your permission I would like to refer them to this. My Lumix and Mr Nikon are never going to make a camera that does n't produce excellent J pegs. In my experience if I have nailed the settings for a shot i have found its very difficult/time consuming to better that shot editing a Raw file. But this method of keeping the J peg in sight is a great idea.
I shoot raw and jpeg simultaneously; mostly for expediency (sports). If the photo is needed urgently and the jpeg is reasonably exposed it's ready to go out the door.
Nice idea, shall definitely give that a try. Have shot raw+jpeg for a while already, but more because for some straight forward shots the jpeg version is good enough (or as good as my LR skills could produce), so might as well use them and focus time on those few shots that genuinely need the options available from the raw file.
Have never heard of these uses before for JPEG which are amazing pieces of applicable advice to my photography, and I already shoot RAW + JPEG. Thank you do much!
I really love your channel and I find you very genuine and true to the cause. I appreciate your honesty and way of describing a few things. Well done and trust that I am a loyal supporter and also love Lumix and have a G9 of my own haha. Maybe one day will shoot together..do some workshops or something..you would be successful
I always wanted to be welcomed into the new year by James and oh my God is happened. It actually happened. Happy shooting in 2020. Take lots of photos and get out more !!!
In short, start with an artistic decision: you want snapshots of higher quality than your smartphone. A form of photorealism that is in the range of what the "profiles" in the camera can do. If you do portraits, groups, parties, you may want to do JPEG + raw so as to be able to share the JPEG shots with people immediately. With better cameras, the algorithm used to generate the JPEG summary from the raw shot is usually better than from simpler devices, including smartphones. JPEG quality can be influenced a lot by selecting the least compression or the highest quality. Use an electronic viewfinder set so as to show the ultimate exposure, so you can make corrections based on what you see there. Use camera profiles in order to influence the JPEG conversion and other qualities to your taste. Experiment with setting the camera to manual when you make a series of shots in the same circumstances (not for flash). (Make a couple tests shots in different directions, window in background or not, different light-dark relation frames.) This helps getting shots where people's skin tones are the same in all shots and perceived natural. (Manual includes white balance.) If the camera can do JPEG + raw, you can still save the raw shots and see if you can improve on the camera's JPEGs, or make artistically motivated changes: cropping, perspective, color changes, saturation or desaturation, create HDR-feel images, composites, filters, layers, etc.
Watching in February 2021 to keep me entertained in lockdown... James your welcome to 2020 words, who would have thought it would turned out like this.
I think the processing the camera does should be distinguished from the file format JPG. The file format itself does not do the processing but the camera itself, and it depends on the camera (and its firmware) how well the processing is done. Jpeg just takes the processed image and reduces the size by throwing away some data less essential to viewing the image (but is not optimal to edit).
shooting raw is safer. in case you fuck up the exposure. sometime if i'm working on something that don't require me to rush for deadline, i will do as much correction in raw and edit in jpeg.
That's a good tip James....having the JPEG version available when working with the RAW file. I have a dual monitor setup so this should work well. I'll check this out right after I finish watching this video. Cheers and Happy New Year.
"Happy new year! It's 2020!" It's like watching a slow motion train wreck. Brutal! Great tip to use a JPEG as a reference! Can't believe I haven't done that.
Great video. I have to say that I find three things are highly overrated by most TH-camr: 4k, log and RAW. Its OK if you are a professional user but its totally overkill and cumbersome for 95% of people. I actually find your video colors very natural and beautiful and I understand you shoot 1080p and do not use any LUTs or colograding. Panasonics video colors are amazing out of the box. Why change it? And the 4k hype is almost ridiculous when you concider how good 1080p can look(if done correctly) and that most people watching are looking at 720p or at best 1080p anyway. And RAW photos: Yes, in rare circumstances you can save an over/underexpose picture or make it look better but with a mirrorless camera you can easily make a jpeg picture look very good out of the box. I shoot Nikon D5600 and Ricoh GR III and their jpegs are amazing. Keep up your good work.
I'm just learning photography, but half year ago I stopper shoot raw only for one reason. I realized, when I shoot raw, it makes me lazy. Dark, overexposed, bad white balance, ect... not a big deal,you can correct it post. It was fun to "repair" my mistakes at home, but half year ago i've find, myself lazy. My spent time for photography was half or less, than I spent in my room, post working on my computer. Since it, when I shoot jpeg only, I am much more concentrated, to do all that things correct. It's harder, but with that comes so more. Now i'm giving myself time, to look for the best composition, the best light, ect..., what you can't do in post. It's strange, but I feel, this method made me better. Your point about the jpeg is a part of reslity is great. Thank You!
Here i am 3 years later and watching this vidio 😅 Truly amazing man! Your work and your way of explaining is so suiting and easy to understand. Love my journy on watching every single vidio
I like your approach to this "Enthusiastically editing"-theme. I had to smile (several times actually, during these entertaining 7 minutes) becaus you are hitting the nail on its head with your video here. Like your style too! You have a healthy and un-complicated view of photography. Subscribed! Best regards from Norway Thanks for the entertaining 7 minutes!
I have often thought about shooting RAW plus jpeg then I look at my jpeg camera settings (G9) and think “should I tweak saturation settings etc or just stick to default neutral settings.” I suppose starting with everything set to zero is the best starting point. Good info.
This seems like a workaround. I usually tend to spend a lot of time editing my photos to the point they don't look anything like the original (which is the look I'm going for). Instead of shooting jpegs though you can hit the '\' key to see the before and after of the edit. This saves some time in the edit.
I think what he is saying is the jpeg is processed and looks real so keep that as a reference- before and after would show you the unprocessed raw file
Totally agree about the editing thing, in regards to having a "cool down" period. I take images I really like and go home excited to see them on the screen, but the emotional highs of having shot it haven't worn off and i'm not being as objective with the edit as I should be (plus I REALLY want to post it asap). Sometimes what I do is set an image I liked as a desktop wallpaper so I'm forced to look at it more. Eventually over time I'm able to objectively see what I don't like about it, like a subtle but noticeable color shift in the wrong direction, or having too much or not enough contrast.
Thanks James, I never realised about the reference photo - I'll give it a go. I tend to shoot Raw + Jpeg for two reasons. 1) I can quickly upload the jpegs at events for speed and use the raws for printing. 2) When zooming in on the back of the camera to check focus, you get a much more detailed image than when you just use raw on it's own - try it...
I only shoot jpeg on the basis that I like use my skill taking the picture. Plus the only editing I do is cropping. If I don't like my results I try to learn from them for next time.
I know one photographer that doesn't even look at his photos for 6 months. He does this so he will be more objective about which ones are good. I can't do it, but I do see the value in it.
The processing of JPEGS has never inspired me really. I use to do this exact thing but it was kind of a waste for my personal work flow. I tend to edit my images over a couple days though, because my preferences really depend on the mood and I might want to change an edit 1, 2, or 3 days later until I can’t think of more ways to improve it. So I just stick to shooting 100% RAW now, but for beginners I think this is a great thing to consider, I agree.
dual monitors also works for having two photos up at the same time.. tiny bit more costly but if you are a PC user and not a mac user... it works wonders.
Depends upon the camera and also what you want to do with the image. RAW to .jpg is best done with DxO PhotoLab 3. Do you own tests. Lightroom is for when you want do to loads of other manipulations.
As little as 10 years ago the image processors on the cameras were quite primitive and we needed the power of a computer to post-process them. Nowadays as you said, the image processors (e.g. Lumix Venus Engine) have "had lots and lots of work put into them by the camera manufacturers", are very powerful and specifically attuned to the camera system. To the extent that the generic photo crunchers are now falling behind on the camera's capabilities and functions. Yes, do shoot raw+jpeg, but if you need to do a lot of fixing-up, maybe the photo ought to be binned. If the jpeg looks bad, the raw will be too.
I have what I call "The phone test" that I do before I even think about showing or sharing anything. Once I'm done with an edit, I'll move it over to my phone and look at it there. Changing perspective and looking at an image in a different format and context really helps me notice any issues like exposure, white balance, etc. that I may overlook when I get engrossed. Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, chances are that anyone looking at my work is looking at it on a mobile device, so knowing it looks good there helps. :/ And I'm a huge fan of using reference view. If I'm doing a tricky or important edit, I'll make virtual copies in Lightroom and try different things on all of them and I can swap between views easily to decide which one(s) I like.
Great advice James and I say that with 30 years of pro experience. I've also been a Photoshop user since version 2 ( early 90's ) and I realised early on how easy it is to lose perspective as you work on an image. I once shot a portrait of a woman and she asked me if I could remove a few wrinkles ( she was 55-60 odd ) - sure no problem. So off I go softening a bit here, retouching a bit there... She comes by to pick up the file, takes one look, and shouts indignantly, "FFS you've made me look 25!" I had totally over done it - as you retouch the image, the "new" image becomes the point of reference, so you take it a little further... You need to walk away, and let the brain recalibrate! And having a jpeg as well, provides a static point of reference. Cheers
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“Welcome to 2020” is a bit mad watching in May as we slowly watch the world fall to pieces
It's getting wilder by the day.
august 4th commen here, CAN CONFIRM! D:
hm
I come from the future. Just you wait. ;)
Fml just set me back to 2020.
I've always shot RAW+jpeg, mostly because I don't do alot of editing, usially I just use the iamges from my camera, but on the occasions I feel creative I always have the RAW to mess with if the mood strikes.
@Brandon S mine are only like 20mb, the buffer on my a6400 is pretty good so I don't really notice but I can see your point if your raws are 80mb.
@Brandon S lmao, how do you even get 80 megabyte photos I shoot 24megapixels 14Bit RAW and each files is under 30 megabytes
@@dallasgrant 80MB?!?
@@sdspeedy1probably the A7RIV file sizes. 61MP jpegs can be around 30-40MB. I have the A7RIV and have to compress the jpegs even more for posting online. The raw files are on another level, around 1GB of data, which is why I've been thinking of shooting compressed raw + jpeg instead of raw + jpeg. 😂
I still need to do more research on compressed raw vs raw though.
But then I can’t wear a “I SHOOT RAW” tshirt everywhere I go! Lol
Sure you can. You still shoot RAW.
You can always add (in small print) "but I process my images with the help of the JPG" :-)
BAHAHAHAH! Or you could get a shirt that says "I shoot whatever the hell I want to shoot!"
Do you want to look like Jered Polin at all?
I would buy that shirt and under that I would write ‘every great once in a while’
Mike The Finder
That is such an Americanly silly thing to do.
It’s like wearing a T-shirt saying....”I drive a BMW”
I was surprised to see presets in your link list, but then clicked and got a good laugh. Well done! 😂
haha, cheers :)
Had to go look 😂
I can't put them in the cart though 🤔
I think you missed a video there.. In one of the videos, James explains how you can get the presets and it's this video: th-cam.com/video/8y_ICvrKElY/w-d-xo.html 😊
I'm buying that. It's a good deal.
Be careful, some prince will buy it one day 🤣
Once again, a fresh perspective that you don't hear all that much! Good job mate!
I'm not part of the "in-camera" cult or anything, but I like shooting JPG+RAW as somewhat of a nerdy challenge to myself; I found that by trying to get the shot I want in the JPG as sort of a goal to achieve, I slowed down my shooting and started taking more care in composition, light, etc.
Nice! and thanks :)
Even as a novice photographer I was highly recommended to shoot raw based on, I guess, the desires of the person who was teaching me about cameras; however, after watching his video juxtaposing a raw and jpeg together in the same frame on a good computer monitor, I really couldn't differentiate the image quality advantage in the raw, even after post-fixing, that much. I think it best to adopt the idea of shooting raw and jpeg at the same time. If the jpeg appears pleasing and does not need touch ups, then go with what's going to save you time. I like the idea of shooting in both formats and believe I will do this for a while.
Editing raw is just better for editing. Say you took a picture of some trees. Under the trees are super dark, but the leaves are almost white from reflecting the sun.
Raw would let you edit the dark area and make it visible without turning it into a blob. And it would let you bring back some of the color in the leaves.
But you are correct if the photo looks nice in jpeg just use the Jpeg and be done with it.
There are cases where raw is more useful. For example, I'm a black and white photographer. If I want to change how colors are represented, I can carry around color filters and fiddle with them, dodge and burn the jpg or adjust sliders on the raw black and white conversion. The raw option is easiest so I shoot raw+jpg for the times I need it
You look really like gerard butler lol.
Interestingly, I am watching this in the new year, just 3 years later. And oh how innocent 2020 seemed at the time...
You know when you have come full circle when after spending ages editing your raw file, the original jpeg looks better. The algorithms that camera manufactureres use these days are so good that most of the time I can get what I like by just adjusting the saturation and contrast just a bit and its done. In fact, I have an old Canon G6 and the jpegs are so good in normal light, I hardly change them.
Exactly.
“YoU aRe nOt A rEaL pHotOgrAphEr!”
@@kencur9690 99% of the people that use a camera are not real photographers and don't need to shoot raw for one simple reason, they don't know how to edit the photos.
@@ademosthenes4911 and then there's that 0.5% who are real photographers and actually take a good photo to begin with, using old school, traditional principles. You know, the ones who actually understand how light works and how to capture a moment, instead of heavily relying on sliding some bars to achieve something similar.
@@kencur9690 and i'm sure that 0.5% need videos like this to teach them how to do their work.
hi, Gerard! are you going to do another movie like the 300? you are awesome in that movie!
Nice
My thoughts exactly🤣
😂😂
Thats what i've been thinking the whole time that where i've seen this guy
Bob dad version
I thoroughly enjoy your videos. Educational, humorous, and probably the most important parts... genuine and humble. Of all the other youtubers I've watched, even though you are leaps and bounds more professional than I am, and quite possibly most of your other viewers, you are down to earth and relatable. You give us a real-life perspective of what photography is like. The only negative is my own beard envy, but that is something I can't help. What I can help is my photography, and you have been a big part of that improving that. Cheers.
Thanks so much mate, and if it's any consolation the beard is itchy as hell!
Rarely do I edit photos but to crop. Makes me a better photographer knowing this is my shot...no edit.
This is a one of the most fundamental truths of dealing with your images ! I see hundreds of amateur and
even advanced enthusiast. and 'expert' photographers MASSIVELY overworking their images !!!
This is a breath of fresh air , by my eye . Thanks for saying this AND for posting it !
Thanks for watching :)
I shoot in Jpeg for exactly the reason you said regarding its like shooting with film. If I shot in RAW I would just take lots and lots of photos knowing that I'd be selecting the best and then editing it. Shooting in Jpeg makes me take my time with each shot. I do counterbalance (or atleast try) the fact i'm shooting in jpeg by using my camera in completely manual mode and manual focus. My photos feel much more personal when I do it this way.
This video and your opening comment about people who are watching it later seems like as good a time as any to write a comment - I am working my way through a lot of your old videos having recently (re?)discovered photography as a hobby. I recently found your channel and learned a lot in a short time. Love the content and the style of delivery - feels authentic/genuine compared to some others where it feels like they're on some kind of permanent sugar/caffeine hype! Feels a bit silly to say "keep up the good work" on a four year old video when you also just dropped a new one and so have clearly done so... Keep up keeping up the good work maybe?
I shoot RAW and jpeg. I’m not the best at photo editing, especially skin colors. Sometimes I just can’t get a raw file right and the jpeg offers a better starting point. Great advice all around!
i came to realise that my "workflow" is really relaxing when i'm just shooting my pictures, sending a few of them to my phone, quick edit in snapseed and then instagram or flickr or whatever i wanna do with it. and i'm always happy with the results, and then some months later i'm using the raw in capture one, spend two hours on the same pic , stressing me out, and compare it to the old one made with snapseed and i like it better !
Good one.
I used to do something quite similar, shooting RAW+JPEG and having the JPEG file as reference as you've shown.
But at some point I noticed that on some cameras (Canon in my case) there's an embedded JPEG baked into the RAW file as well, and if you open the RAW file in an image viewer that's what you'll be seeing, so unless you really want the JPEG as a quick backup publishing solution (which is another legit usage sometimes), you might as well shoot in RAW only.
Happy new year :)
Basically if you don't plan on doing a ton of editing, shoot jpeg. If you plan on doing a ton of editing like bringing back a ton of shadows or highlights, etc., shoot raw.
GREAT VIDEO! I shoot JPEGS 90 percent of the time and edit in Lightroom..RAW files take up too much space on the memory card and my computer!
Keep up the great work!
Given how good in-camera processing is nowadays, to me, working with RAW files is just so much like hard work. Photoshop can give me just about all I want, if I need to process a JPEG. On top of that, inevitably, unless I'm going for some weird effect instead of recording reality, my processed RAW file tend to look just like my JPEG.
Depends on the camera software too. Mine sharpens everything too much in jpeg
Terrific advice James, as always, so generously given and always with a good helping of humour which is always appreciated. Hope 2020 is a fantastic year for you both. Best wishes, David
Cheers David, much appreciated :)
I've actually thought about this before! Sometimes I sit for ages trying to perfect my photo in Lightroom, only to come back to it and realising the colors are waaaay to saturated. A technique I've been using goes like this: no matter how cool an effect might look like in Lightroom, turn down the effect at least 20% of what you find yourself satisfied with. If you still think the effect is too weak after a while, you might consider cranking it up again.
Sounds good :)
I have learned the same thing. I tend to use a lot of effects on my photos and I find if I go too far on any single one, the final image will end up looking pushed too far. Now I dial the effect to where I like it then dial it back slightly before applying it. In the end the subtle changes add up to a much more pleasing final image.
My brain will get used to the extra saturation I made in one picture then the next picture I wil add even more saturation. Now I try to limit how long I edit my photos so my brain won’t adjust to the added saturation.,
I came in doubting this video but I think this would have helped a lot when I started photography for the first time. Nice video man :)
Thanks :)
@@JamesPopsysPhoto We'll I've just started, so I appreciate the content!
interesting Idea - it's similar to the idea that people should listen to a reference track when mastering (or maybe mixdown-ing) audio.
After a terrible day, the best way to end it off is by watching James Popsys! Thanks for ALWAYS putting a smile on my dial, you're only helping to grow my love for photography 📸 love your Apple setup by the way #DreamSetup
Nice one James. I have been in that situation where I have been so engrossed in editing images that some can look terrible! Good advice to have that JPEG as a reference point and take it from there.
Cheers Steve :)
So THAT's what the RAW + JPEG function is for! Great tip, thank you!
Even videos like this with content that that don’t offer me new knowledge I always watch all the way trough at least once. Because the delivery is always fun to watch. And the the fact that all your videos consistently gets over a third the views of your subscribers ecco that statement. That statistic about your channel is among the best in class and means you got a consistent group of followers that actually what he’s your stuff😉
Great stuff sir✌🏽
Thanks so much mate, really appreciate it :)
What a great idea! Happy 2020 to you and Emily.
Thanks Wendy :)
Happy new year James and Emily.
Hope you have a great 2020, and looking forward to what you get up to.
Cheers Richard - you too! :)
Well, that intro has aged like some fine milk.
Happy New Year James. This the first great video from you in 2020! This tip is a helpful, juicy nugget of info from a seasoned photographer. Thank you.
Thanks so much :)
You got one thing right, now, when this video has appeared on my suggested videos, is certainly nothing like new year. Despite the current circumstances, great video!
All excited about welcoming everyone to 2020. If we only knew 😂
Great video, you made a great point and I'm also one of those people that get sucked into the photos too much. I normally have to wait till the next day to finalize my edits
Great tip James actually never thought of this nor have we seen anyone else ever mention anything about it. Cheers 👍
In my opinion jpgs look so good I've been unable to edit the RAW image and make it better. It's not that I can't edit a jpg image, just not as much. But as you said RAW may actually allow too much editing. One of the most common positive comments about RAW is pulling things out of the shadows. But it seems to me that if things are in the shadows, perhaps they should be dark!
I've tried editing RAW quite a few times and always revert to jpg. At most I set the camera to jpg+RAW in case there is an image or two out of 500 that I may want to spend more time on. Even then the jpg usually looks pretty darn good.
Very good advice! Thank you! I have definitely ruined shots with too much editing. I will use your technique religiously from now on!
I've always shot both RAW and Jpeg. I like to change my aspect ratio to suit the subject and if shooting b&w images I like to see the image in b&w as I shoot. I always process my images later when I'm not as excited about a trip or the images and the Jpeg having all the aspect crop and other data helps to remind me what I was thinking when I took the image.
I've started importing images using AUTO in the develop module as a preset. It's been a great starting point for me to work from.
I started out with Jpeg, and to be honest I did'n know what I was doing back then, although I did'n mind about my photos that much because what I would do back then was to take as many photo as I could, select the images I need, then I would later edit and upload those edited Jpeg files to social media, and I continued that for nearly 2 years until I went completely to RAW.
It was rather fun when I started out like that because I truly enjoyed what I had and what I could do.
congrats on the 100K subscribers james!!
Happy new year 2023.
I like to make everything right with exposure out of the camera and dont want to edit my pictures so much afterwards, so for me JPG is better
And you can do so much with JPG's in edding, for me that is more than enough
Excellent points. It is very easy to get too overly active in "reforming" a picture. On the other hand, the artistic element may be what you want and the jpg might confuse the process.
Great vid, I get into all sorts of debates about this on various forums, and now with your permission I would like to refer them to this. My Lumix and Mr Nikon are never going to make a camera that does n't produce excellent J pegs. In my experience if I have nailed the settings for a shot i have found its very difficult/time consuming to better that shot editing a Raw file. But this method of keeping the J peg in sight is a great idea.
No problem, thanks for watching :)
I shoot raw and jpeg simultaneously; mostly for expediency (sports). If the photo is needed urgently and the jpeg is reasonably exposed it's ready to go out the door.
Nice idea, shall definitely give that a try. Have shot raw+jpeg for a while already, but more because for some straight forward shots the jpeg version is good enough (or as good as my LR skills could produce), so might as well use them and focus time on those few shots that genuinely need the options available from the raw file.
Cheers Keith :)
Really great info here, James!
Have never heard of these uses before for JPEG which are amazing pieces of applicable advice to my photography, and I already shoot RAW + JPEG. Thank you do much!
Another great video James. What I do is create a virtual copy in lightroom, then auto adjust the virtual copy and then use that as the reference.
Cheers David, nice! :)
I really love your channel and I find you very genuine and true to the cause. I appreciate your honesty and way of describing a few things. Well done and trust that I am a loyal supporter and also love Lumix and have a G9 of my own haha. Maybe one day will shoot together..do some workshops or something..you would be successful
Your tip about using JPEG as a reference should be standard in the community, thank you!
Good tips! Any belated happy new year!
It’s strange to see people in early 2020. They have no clue what’s coming
Clever! I’ll try it!
Cheers Dave :)
Well shi*, James.... what a welcome that was to a WONDERFUL YEAR!
I always wanted to be welcomed into the new year by James and oh my God is happened. It actually happened. Happy shooting in 2020. Take lots of photos and get out more !!!
Cheers Steve :)
One of the best bits I've seen on the subject. Very useful. Thanks.
Thanks so much :)
In short, start with an artistic decision: you want snapshots of higher quality than your smartphone. A form of photorealism that is in the range of what the "profiles" in the camera can do. If you do portraits, groups, parties, you may want to do JPEG + raw so as to be able to share the JPEG shots with people immediately. With better cameras, the algorithm used to generate the JPEG summary from the raw shot is usually better than from simpler devices, including smartphones. JPEG quality can be influenced a lot by selecting the least compression or the highest quality.
Use an electronic viewfinder set so as to show the ultimate exposure, so you can make corrections based on what you see there. Use camera profiles in order to influence the JPEG conversion and other qualities to your taste.
Experiment with setting the camera to manual when you make a series of shots in the same circumstances (not for flash). (Make a couple tests shots in different directions, window in background or not, different light-dark relation frames.) This helps getting shots where people's skin tones are the same in all shots and perceived natural. (Manual includes white balance.)
If the camera can do JPEG + raw, you can still save the raw shots and see if you can improve on the camera's JPEGs, or make artistically motivated changes: cropping, perspective, color changes, saturation or desaturation, create HDR-feel images, composites, filters, layers, etc.
Watching in February 2021 to keep me entertained in lockdown... James your welcome to 2020 words, who would have thought it would turned out like this.
Thx , James. That's a simple but rather very useful advice. Without the JPG one tends to lose reality and over decorate RAW.
I love your sense of humor and content but the Jurassic Park comment really made me love this channel even more. I feel the same way!
I think the processing the camera does should be distinguished from the file format JPG.
The file format itself does not do the processing but the camera itself, and it depends on the camera (and its firmware) how well the processing is done.
Jpeg just takes the processed image and reduces the size by throwing away some data less essential to viewing the image (but is not optimal to edit).
I really don’t regret subscribing to this Guy
2022 here damn what a year 2020 was shud have enjoyed it while it lasted 😅
shooting raw is safer. in case you fuck up the exposure. sometime if i'm working on something that don't require me to rush for deadline, i will do as much correction in raw and edit in jpeg.
I should be welcoming you , seeing how I am in Australia , and therefore got to 2020 before you.
Have a brilliant new year.
Cheers Anthony!
Great tip re using the JPEG as a reference - will be trying this for future portrait shots!
Excellent video, never thought of using JPG's that way and I will definitely start doing that now!
Oh and happy new year :-)
I'm an amateur photographer and even more amateur photo editor. I will try this! Thank you very much for the video.
That's a good tip James....having the JPEG version available when working with the RAW file. I have a dual monitor setup so this should work well. I'll check this out right after I finish watching this video. Cheers and Happy New Year.
jpeg or raw won't determine if your photo come out good or not, it's just a decoder, I use jpeg exclusively and I don't see any reason to use RAW.
Another very helpful video and have a great 2020!
Cheers John! :)
"Happy new year! It's 2020!" It's like watching a slow motion train wreck. Brutal!
Great tip to use a JPEG as a reference! Can't believe I haven't done that.
Great video. I have to say that I find three things are highly overrated by most TH-camr: 4k, log and RAW. Its OK if you are a professional user but its totally overkill and cumbersome for 95% of people. I actually find your video colors very natural and beautiful and I understand you shoot 1080p and do not use any LUTs or colograding. Panasonics video colors are amazing out of the box. Why change it? And the 4k hype is almost ridiculous when you concider how good 1080p can look(if done correctly) and that most people watching are looking at 720p or at best 1080p anyway.
And RAW photos: Yes, in rare circumstances you can save an over/underexpose picture or make it look better but with a mirrorless camera you can easily make a jpeg picture look very good out of the box. I shoot Nikon D5600 and Ricoh GR III and their jpegs are amazing. Keep up your good work.
I'm just learning photography, but half year ago I stopper shoot raw only for one reason. I realized, when I shoot raw, it makes me lazy. Dark, overexposed, bad white balance, ect... not a big deal,you can correct it post. It was fun to "repair" my mistakes at home, but half year ago i've find, myself lazy. My spent time for photography was half or less, than I spent in my room, post working on my computer. Since it, when I shoot jpeg only, I am much more concentrated, to do all that things correct. It's harder, but with that comes so more. Now i'm giving myself time, to look for the best composition, the best light, ect..., what you can't do in post. It's strange, but I feel, this method made me better.
Your point about the jpeg is a part of reslity is great. Thank You!
Super useful video that. I have been taking photos a long time but never ventured into RAW but now I understand why.
Just watched this, happy new year from may 2021. Another great video, thank you
Here i am 3 years later and watching this vidio 😅 Truly amazing man! Your work and your way of explaining is so suiting and easy to understand. Love my journy on watching every single vidio
I like your approach to this "Enthusiastically editing"-theme. I had to smile (several times actually, during these entertaining 7 minutes) becaus you are hitting the nail on its head with your video here. Like your style too! You have a healthy and un-complicated view of photography.
Subscribed!
Best regards from Norway
Thanks for the entertaining 7 minutes!
I shoot RAW + JPEG because I can never decide which film simulation I like best even though it's always Eterna.
I have often thought about shooting RAW plus jpeg then I look at my jpeg camera settings (G9) and think “should I tweak saturation settings etc or just stick to default neutral settings.” I suppose starting with everything set to zero is the best starting point. Good info.
That greeting to the new year did not age well. We can just shake our heads and watch more videos. Thanks for your insights James.
This seems like a workaround. I usually tend to spend a lot of time editing my photos to the point they don't look anything like the original (which is the look I'm going for). Instead of shooting jpegs though you can hit the '\' key to see the before and after of the edit. This saves some time in the edit.
I think what he is saying is the jpeg is processed and looks real so keep that as a reference- before and after would show you the unprocessed raw file
@@ahmadayyan Nah imo for usage as a reference there is very little difference between an unprocessed raw file and a jpeg.
Totally agree about the editing thing, in regards to having a "cool down" period. I take images I really like and go home excited to see them on the screen, but the emotional highs of having shot it haven't worn off and i'm not being as objective with the edit as I should be (plus I REALLY want to post it asap). Sometimes what I do is set an image I liked as a desktop wallpaper so I'm forced to look at it more. Eventually over time I'm able to objectively see what I don't like about it, like a subtle but noticeable color shift in the wrong direction, or having too much or not enough contrast.
I know the feeling mate - nice solution! :)
Thanks James, I never realised about the reference photo - I'll give it a go.
I tend to shoot Raw + Jpeg for two reasons.
1) I can quickly upload the jpegs at events for speed and use the raws for printing.
2) When zooming in on the back of the camera to check focus, you get a much more detailed image than when you just use raw on it's own - try it...
Cheers Graham, nice!
Great advice. Never thought about using jpeg as my reference for my raw editing escapades.
I only shoot jpeg on the basis that I like use my skill taking the picture. Plus the only editing I do is cropping. If I don't like my results I try to learn from them for next time.
I know one photographer that doesn't even look at his photos for 6 months. He does this so he will be more objective about which ones are good. I can't do it, but I do see the value in it.
The processing of JPEGS has never inspired me really. I use to do this exact thing but it was kind of a waste for my personal work flow. I tend to edit my images over a couple days though, because my preferences really depend on the mood and I might want to change an edit 1, 2, or 3 days later until I can’t think of more ways to improve it. So I just stick to shooting 100% RAW now, but for beginners I think this is a great thing to consider, I agree.
Thatks 4 that. I now know what R and A stand for in LR. Good man.
dual monitors also works for having two photos up at the same time.. tiny bit more costly but if you are a PC user and not a mac user... it works wonders.
Happy new year James! Simple but great idea as per usual.
Cheers Richard :)
Depends upon the camera and also what you want to do with the image. RAW to .jpg is best done with DxO PhotoLab 3. Do you own tests. Lightroom is for when you want do to loads of other manipulations.
Nice one. Thank you. Great idea. Let's hope too that the Yarra Valley survives the horrid bushfires happening here at the moment.
As little as 10 years ago the image processors on the cameras were quite primitive and we needed the power of a computer to post-process them. Nowadays as you said, the image processors (e.g. Lumix Venus Engine) have "had lots and lots of work put into them by the camera manufacturers", are very powerful and specifically attuned to the camera system. To the extent that the generic photo crunchers are now falling behind on the camera's capabilities and functions.
Yes, do shoot raw+jpeg, but if you need to do a lot of fixing-up, maybe the photo ought to be binned. If the jpeg looks bad, the raw will be too.
I have what I call "The phone test" that I do before I even think about showing or sharing anything. Once I'm done with an edit, I'll move it over to my phone and look at it there. Changing perspective and looking at an image in a different format and context really helps me notice any issues like exposure, white balance, etc. that I may overlook when I get engrossed.
Plus, as much as I hate to admit it, chances are that anyone looking at my work is looking at it on a mobile device, so knowing it looks good there helps. :/
And I'm a huge fan of using reference view. If I'm doing a tricky or important edit, I'll make virtual copies in Lightroom and try different things on all of them and I can swap between views easily to decide which one(s) I like.
Great advice James and I say that with 30 years of pro experience. I've also been a Photoshop user since version 2 ( early 90's ) and I realised early on how easy it is to lose perspective as you work on an image. I once shot a portrait of a woman and she asked me if I could remove a few wrinkles ( she was 55-60 odd ) - sure no problem. So off I go softening a bit here, retouching a bit there... She comes by to pick up the file, takes one look, and shouts indignantly, "FFS you've made me look 25!" I had totally over done it - as you retouch the image, the "new" image becomes the point of reference, so you take it a little further... You need to walk away, and let the brain recalibrate! And having a jpeg as well, provides a static point of reference. Cheers
One of your best videos, it’s so true. Having the comparison is really important. Top work! 👍
Thanks so much mate! :)