Shooting and Saving : Filetypes : Poll

[arthurking83]

..... I then just save that file using the same file number with the addition of a letter, "a" "b" "c" etc. It does not matter which format I am in as I just save and keep the original untouched.
.....

(assuming you're working with raw files)
Even if you actually saved the original using either the Ctrl-S(quicker) option or the File->Save option and saved the original raw file, you can always go back and re-edit this file back to its 'original state' if you like.
So don't be afraid of editing the raw file .. even if you think there is some importance in maintaining the original raw files pure integrity.

This is the beauty of raw files .. no matter what you do to them .. as long as you use that same software, you can mangle them to death .. and yet maintain the ability to restore them back to their original state if need be.

I'm curious as to the a, b or c suffix on the file name too tho.
If you're renaming the file, then by default you'd be saving to a new format .. unless your original format is tif or jpg of course, and you're saving to the same format, which makes perfectly good sense.

[Hamster]

I shoot in RAW, then import into LR where I do most of my editing. If I take an image to PS because I need editing tools I don't have in LR then I import back into LR as a TIFF when I've finished. If that editing is complex, such as an out of bounds shot, then I will probably save a PSD file to allow future editing when I spot some mistake or change my mind on something. If I want to print or send it somewhere like an AP competition then I export to an "export" folder, the contents of which get deleted fairly regularly.

[bricat]

I keep the original so as to compare any adjustments made as Mark L suggested. If I redo I can compare the different options. When I save, the file number of the photo comes up, ie. 6570. If I saved to that it would overwrite so I just add an extra letter/number. I don't go into options which bring up Tiff options etc. So it saves in the format with which it had been shot/saved, CR2(raw) or Jpeg. It seems to work for me cheers Brian

[MrQ]

So for the purposes of this poll, DNG is treated like all other RAW files.

So keeping edited DNG files from Lightroom would be "Saving : Keep RAW + sidecar file (non destructive edit : Lightroom etc)" for poll purposes??

It's an interesting poll and I just wanted to make sure my response goes in the correct spot.

[ameerat42]

I'd say so, MQ.

[ricktas]

So keeping edited DNG files from Lightroom would be "Saving : Keep RAW + sidecar file (non destructive edit : Lightroom etc)" for poll purposes??

It's an interesting poll and I just wanted to make sure my response goes in the correct spot.

yes it would, cause your original DNG file is not 'touched' as such, it is still there, with edits sitting on top of it. But the original DNG raw file is still there.

[Mark L]

Am a little surprise there aren't more voting for Shooting : JPG
It's a valid way to go for many people.

[arthurking83]

I think, yes and no(on the validity of shooting jpg)

1/. if you have a jpg only camera, then of course there is no other way.
2/. if you have a camera that can shoot at a higher quality setting, then why not. Apart from the more restricted space capability, (FOR MOST PEOPLE) there really isn't much in the way of negatives that makes shooting in a higher quality format.

** if you specifically need an extremely large buffer for long continuous shooting, that jpg shooting allows with many cameras, then you are not 'most people'. You are a specific type person with specific needs. **

Personally, the number of jpg only shooters to my mind seems a bit high, for a website that caters to photography devotees .. and the implication of that term devotee(or amateur, nutcase .. etc) would be that the individual would be seeking greater quality.
Much like a audiophile would seek greater quality of sound reproduction, or a (proper)car enthusiast would for their automobiles and so on ...

As people with a greater level of interest in photography than the average person snapping away with their smartphone, we generally tend to try to extract more from our images(ie. via convoluted shooting disciplines, and or extensive PP, etc).
Therefore shooting jpg, due to it's inferior quality output and/or limited malleability in PP, seems to be out of kilter as a choice of capture file type with any photography related site.

I think that realistically, the only reason we all use jpg, is for display/sharing purposes, and that's it.
It's the common language of the photography world.
Where we argue and quibble about settings, manufacturer brands, techniques, capture formats, processing techniques .. (the list goes on as to what we do argue/discuss/disagree on) .. the final output .. jpg .. is our only common link due to it's ubiquity and standardisation.
Hopefully one day all parties will also agree on other image file formats with natively higher quality properties.

FWIW: there is a possibility that the default image file type we currently view as indispensable or all pervasive(jpg) .. could be replaced with something else in the future (possibly bpg?) .. OR .. the jpg decoding system could be updated to reflect the want/need for greater qualities from the image format, but with the same level of commonality.

jpeg 9.1 is a new version of the jpg codec ... (remember jpg is not just an image type, it's an file codec, which compresses the data into a file and then decompresses the file to look like an image!!).
This updated version of the jpeg codec is going to include much higher quality options in the common jpg format.
currently jpg colour options are limited to 8bit, whereas the new codec will allow colour capture to be 12bit if desired .. and lossless compression.
ie. in the future jpg will be an actual viable alternative to raw(in this rendering quality and malleability) .. but of course raw files will still have an advantage in some ways.

For now, with the current jpg level of quality that jpg allows .. the effort of capturing an image of some value in the jpg format could be considered a wasted effort. Why go to the trouble to capture an image of value, but then limit what can be done with the image.
But in the future, this impending jpg format(if it's adopted by the manufacturers ) could be more than enough for even the most astute/fussy photographer.

Did you know that there are already higher quality jpg formats currently available for you to play with(not in camera tho).

M$(if you have a M$ base computery device have had an alternate(still jpg based) image format standardised for a few years now.
No one knows of it. M$ obviously do, but the issue is commonality/ubiquity.
If no one knows of it, they just don't know that they can use it.
Many image viewers/editors recognise the format, some do natively, others via a plugin.
The file format has a .jxr file extension. (JPEG XR!)

Of course you can't capture your cameras images in this format, as the camera manufacturers haven't programmed the codec into the camera's processor.
And that's all it takes .. some manufacturer to take the bold(yet simple) step of allowing the option for some alternate file formats.

I think of Nikon with this(probably other manufacturers too, I assume) .. but why on earth include TIFF as a file format option. Who the hell in their right mind would shoot a D800 in TIFF mode?
it's insane .. 200Mb files(as opposed to the regular 70-ish Mb files) .. you'd have to be mad too.

[s1l3nt]

Personally, I shoot in RAW. I save my raw file + sidecart file + JPEG version which goes up on my site I don't make a living from my photography (or any money for that matter) and don't really shoot as often as I would like too, so don't run out of space on drives...

[Mark L]

Personally, the number of jpg only shooters to my mind seems a bit high, for a website that caters to photography devotees .. and the implication of that term devotee(or amateur, nutcase .. etc) would be that the individual would be seeking greater quality.

Yeah, 'spose. There hasn't been as many beginners contributing to AP lately? Devotees start somewhere and before that I imagine jpg is where they start? And there's nothing wrong with that, for a little while.

[nimrodisease]

Generally speaking, I keep RAW, side cart file and JPEG. However IF I do any Photoshop edits then I will also keep a PSD/PSB.