RAW vs JPEG: How I saved this photo that was over 2 stops off, thanks to the RAW file

Every photographer needs this video. Also a huge thank you to Jared for sharing this information for over a decade. I took Jared's advice when I got my first real camera and shooting raw + jpeg saved me when I took photos at my grandmother's 90th birthday. The jpegs turned out awful and I had no idea what to do with the raw files. After my grandmother's death several years later, I was able to go back and find the raw files, and develop one of them into an amazing portrait of her that now hangs in almost all of my relatives homes. It saved the day, and allowed me to capture a great moment with a very special person to us. Thank you Jared!

New photographer. Just got Canon 6D mkii. Should I shoot raw to learn or jpeg?

Your JEPG edit looks better. The RAW sky is too underexposed. I have seen this when using your Skittles preset, it underexposes quite a bit.

If you need fast turnaround shoot RAW+JPEG. Send the JPEG off as the example while you edit the RAW file.

Looks like you ruined that raw file

Does anyone know if the Canon l lenses and the cn-e rf only differ in their housing or are they two total different lenses? I had the 24 and 35 and the image they produce are so organic that I was wondering.

Another advantage of raw files is noise reduction. With Adobe Lightroom's AI noise reduction, which is only available for raw files instead of JPGs, you can achieve much better performance at high ISO levels compared to JPGs.

Great informative Video! Loved the black and white version of the picture! Looks very moody!

But what do you think of JPEG XL ?

RAW is the only way to go for me, unless you're in a controlled environment where you have time to make adjustments for exposure. I can shoot 2 stops underexposed and still get a good image shooting RAW with my Nikon Z8

I usually love black and white for the drama but in this case I think the color adds a lot to the wow factor!

ok, I agree that raw is better than jpeg. Do you have a video on what and how to handle a raw file from the camera to the final edited image? What do I do with raw that is on the card?

I'm confused "Shoot Raw" which I do and I understand why. But in another video, you made in a Nikon z9 you were shooting 120 frames/sec and you had to be shooting jpeg????

RAW > JPEG 😎

color is nice but the B&W looks more dramatic

I think Jpeg is much better...

Years ago I went to a photography seminar where the instructor said that there are two kinds of photographers--those who shoot raw and those who will eventually shoot raw. I was in Africa this year for two weeks and had several shots that were save by shooting raw because my shutter speed was wrong or something else happened (those pesky gremlins). But thankfully those shots were save for my work as a wildlife biologist. I shoot raw on the CF card and jpeg on the sd card which I know can be an issue if for some reason the CF card gets corrupted but didn't have a laptop, just an ipad and processing through that was slow. Great video. And I like both the color and B&W, they both have their +'s and -'s.

aside from a couple reasons to shoot jpeg, and this goes for video too. IMO it makes no sense to not shoot in the best mode your camera can produce.

Yeaaa the raw file was actually better. It was technically overexposed but the high key effect on the original looked much better than the edit.

The black-and-white is dope!!!!

Care to share a comparison of a properly exposed photo that did not need 'saving' so we can see that when you know how to keep your camera settings as they should be, there is effectively no difference

To be honest, i shoot jpeg because i have nowhere to put raw files and edit them

It's a minimalist image, subjects placed in the middle of the frame can work occasionally but most of the time looks boring. You'll create more of a story by putting most of the dead space in the subjects direction of travel or eyesight. Middle of the frame works better of they're heading towards you

I like your content, and I know that you do it forever - but the way you enunciate „fro knows PHOTO”, and especially „photo” is extremely off-putting and yucky.
Like a nails on a chalkboard.
It’s so uncomfortable, that I have to skip those parts of your videos.
Everyone knows your website by know - you don’t need to differentiate each word in it to such extent, any longer.
And it’s 2025 - not only it sounds bad, but it’s also cringe and goofy.

Outstanding video - outstanding example! I'm a convert to RAW, up until about 5 years ago I never even realized the difference and shot everything in jpeg! Now, I shoot about 95% RAW and only shoot jpeg in non-critical situations. It's made a world of difference, and when I edit those jpeg files, I often find something lacking. You're doing a real service, Jared, thanks!

Can't believe he managed to get this shot of the whale in the clouds. Such a rare sight out there on Safari.

That one makes a nice windows wallpaper :p

Imo you cut the exposure down far too much. For me your edit looks dull and muddy. I agree the jpg looks worse in quality, but I’d bet a less aggressive edit wouldn’t have caused all the issues it now has.

Full disclosure: I shoot JPEG sometimes but mostly shoot RAW. The JPEG's can work okay in some cases, but there is no denying the benefits of RAW.

I dont understand why we still have no HDR capable “universal” photo compression format, and why we cant export as heif from lightroom mobile (which heif has extended dynamic range capability). Licensing is a bitch.

The fact that no social platform will support raw format because of file size is clear, but the major social platform has supported HEIF uploads for a long time now and uploads from iOS (HEIF) has been an upgrade over jpeg uploads. I took tons of photo from my camera, transfer to my phone, edit it, export to jpeg (because there’s no HEIF export) and then when I compare it to my phone’s photo, it got shoved under the rug. Like what the hell 🙄

why does the jpeg look better than the edited raw lol

Not sure my r6 has a jpeg setting 😂

Black and white

i like the color version, also (and this may just be my monitor), I think it might look good too a quarter stop brighter.

Given that no highlights were blown and had no motion blur, he did great, he exposed to the right and avoided lots of noise. Darararara...

Not gonna lie, apart from the sensor dust the original shot looks pretty cool. Kinda digging the overexposed sky look here. Makes it feel even more vast than the darker edit

So betweeen the two, every time I try to work with a RAW file, I end up with a massive magenta grain on the file that I either can't remove, or to remove the magenta grain, it ruins the photos itself...

I am shooting in JPEG+RAW generally(or have started to recently), so I've currently stuck with JPEG

The issue may be the camera I have itself, a ZV-E10 I.... I've been running up against its limitations constantly and having to get around them in various ways by improving technique, getting creative with comp, and more glass, but eh.

RAW files probably are better in aggregate, but at the moment I really can't use them so, it's still JPEG for me for the time being.

I shoot RAW!!
I liked the B&W version

I have never found an identical photo that is great in RAW but crap in JPEG on a computer monitor. As if shooting RAW is going to make you a better photographer. Lol

Photo is great. RAW is the best way to go allows for more correction if shot off a little. I shoot RAW shooter 96% of the time. I like the B&W best color is Ok but B&W just gives it a gray feeling when you see the print.

This is a terrible example of JPG vs RAW because 99% of people will prefer the JPG here.
Jared messed up by keeping the RAW image under-exposed.
Also HEIF is about to replace JPG and the image quality is a lot better.

Jpeg files matter.

Finally, something I wholeheartedly agree with. Shame phones can't always do RAW (Camera2 API, level_3), but then we only get "maybe" 2 stops of DR before noise gets nasty with a phone I borrowed for the purpose. Still, that is worlds better than whatever JPG it could ever dream out. I would certainly take advantage of RAW if I get to have a real camera, much more it would probably be a really old one...

If you know what you are doing and have a good gear, raws are useless. I have Canon m6ii, shoot jpegs only and get great results. Raws were useful in the beginning of digital photography era.

Troy is a lucky to have a friend like you, I bet he learned a lot about photography on that safari!

Color or BW? I would take this one and go BW if only for the simple reason that the zebras don't change 😀

Photographers covering sporting events or the Olympic Games usually shoot in JPEG because the priority is getting the photos to the agencies as quickly as possible. They can't afford to waste time editing RAW files.

Great vid Jared, one I'm sharing with my college basic digital photo students. I hear the same arguments (especially from Fuji film simulation shooters ) and my response is the same as yours: Learn to edit. Digital has come so far from 20+ years ago when we HAD to shoot JPEG because card capacity wasn't large enough and processing RAW was in its infancy. I share with my students WHY JPEG is occasionally necessary — namely deadline-oriented shooting — and teach them an editing workflow/sync that outputs JPEG files rapidly that far exceed JPEG in the camera.

I've never shot in anything but JPEGs. Just me doing me...