RAW or JPEG? Which is Better?

Hello everyone, welcome back to Pixel Viilage and I am Radhakrishnan. Pixel Viilage is the place as you know  where you can come and expect the most complex of the photography subjects explained  in the most simplest form. At least that's what our endeavor is. So, if you have not already subscribed  to our channel, please hit that subscribe button and also hit that bell button, so that you know  every time we upload a new video. Now, the subject for today is probably as old as the digital photography  itself. Raw or JPEG. Though this is been one question that is been extensively discussed in various forums  and videos and on all possible places, people still have this question in their head popping up every  now and then. We in Pixel Viilage, have a very definite opinion on whether RAW is better or JPEG is better.

But at the same time, I don't want to force my opinion on to you. Instead I would like you to look at a  small experiment that we are going to do here and understand it, assess it and evaluate it for yourself  So, what are we going to do? We're going to set up a small shoot, I am going to hold a color chart in my hand  and request Nikhil to take a photograph of me and we will look at that photograph on the computer and  analyze it and hopefully at the end of the video, we will have an answer. And as they say, seeing is believing.

Over to the set-up.

So, this is our simple set-up and for this demonstration, I have to make this light a little more contrast here.

So, can we switch off the key light that we are working with. Good. So now as you can see the light is become  very contrast. I have this color chart, which I'm gonna place at front of me, facing the light, so that we  can see what is happening to the colors as well. So Nikhil, can you come and take a photograph?  Okay, thank you Nikhil. Uh.. you can move the camera. Lets bring the light back in.

So, what we did was, we took two images, a RAW and a JPEG Fine with similar settings and we have it in  the computer and lets look at those images. The images were shot using a D810 which is a 36 megapixel  camera and both images were shot with exactly identical conditions. In fact, we shot the RAW  and the JPEG together, in one setting. So, we are now looking at the JPEG now, and this is the RAW  When you look at it, side by side, well there is not too much of difference. But let me tell you a JPEG is  shot as an 8-bit image, but the RAW can be shot at either 12-bit or 14-bit. A JPEG which is shot at 8-bit  can record only 256 levels of brightness, whereas, a RAW image which is shot at 14-bit can record upto  16,384 levels of brightness, which obviously means that the RAW can record many many times  of information in comparison to the JPEG which is shot at 8-bit. So that's one. So, clearly from the beginning  itself the RAW is winner by many miles. Now, coming to the next one. A RAW file contains data from the sensor  as it is, it is not an image just yet, you need to send it through a software to decode the data and send it as  an image in front of you, whereas JPEG goes through an in-camera processing, it applies all the filters and  corrections and settings that you have set in the camera already. Which means what you're going to see as a  JPEG image right in front of you, which of course when I am looking at now, is an already processed image  and there is very little room left for me to do any further processing. Whereas the RAW is like a negative  If you understand the film world, its like a negative for you, you can use it and print it the way you want it  which means, here a RAW image can be processed in a way which you want it. Of course it also has certain  restrictions, but it allows you much more elbow room to process. Let's look at a simple example. Now, I told you  in the beginning that we are going to purposely shoot the contrasting image. So, let us look at the  this particular image, here, the shadow is gone really deep and to correct this shadow obviously  Capture1 Pro allows you to do a shadow correction, by pushing up the shadows, yes, now I have gone to almost  90% of the correction done. But still there is no more information here around my collar  Let me switch to the RAW  okay. Now, this RAW, at this point, no corrections applied, let me make this same correction  okay, I am going to open it up and see the amount of information that you have retrieved already. correct  Lets see it side-by-side. The one of the left is your JPEG and one of the right is your RAW. Same corrections  applied to both images gave you a different feel altogether. Now lets see what happened to the  remaining part of the image. Lets look at the JPEG. Can you see an ugly banding happening here, which is  really really dirty. Now lets look at the RAW in the same way. Definitely there is so much more information  in the shadow, whereas this is the best I could open up, but still there is so much of mug in the shadow and  some ugly banding happening already everywhere. Whereas, with the RAW image the transition  from shadow to brightness through the mid tones are very smooth even now. Now, lets look at the highlight  Now, this is the brightest part of the image and this one is the brightest part of the JPEG. Now, what I am trying  to do is to retrieve, get some more information in the  highlight area. Its not really burnt, its well within the 255  but still, let me see how much I can retrieve. So, first let me try and do that with the JPEG. So, the highlight control  and yes, a lot of information is brought back in the JPEG. Now, look at what is happening to the RAW image  when I do the same correction. The control or that correction is much more natural. Now, if you look at both  these corresponding places, let me give it to you at 200%, okay, that's 200%. Look at these two areas.

where there was highlight earlier. I pulled it but you see the decolonization here? Its because this software is  trying to artificially trying to fill in making lots of calculation, trying to fill in all those details. Whereas here  it is very smooth, the operation was so easy for the software to bring all those information back in  there is no change in color, its still that bright gray. Now, let me go back. Now, you can see the difference  its like my favorite word, Day and night! So, as you can see, correcting your shadow area is much easier with  your RAW image than with your JPEG image. So, it is very evident from these two images. Okay, next, is the  picture style. Picture style is again bonded as I told you earlier, it is processed in the camera, so any corrections  that you do to it, is not really going to go down well, with the image. Whereas, correcting your sharpness,  your clarity, and your structure and all those controls are much more easier with the RAW image than with the JPEG image  The next important point to be noted is that JPEG gets shots in a particular size, whereas, because the RAW is  shot as data, while processing, you can increase or decrease the size, according to your requirement.

Not that JPEG will not allow you to do that but, beyond a point, the quality starts deteriorating drastically.

Another important disadvantage in shooting with JPEG is  that you have to pre-determine the color space that  you are going to work with. Whereas in RAW, you have that freedom to select your appropriate or decide  a color space while doing the output. Let me add one more interesting benefit to the RAW shooter.

The RAW image stays in-destructive, in spite of making so many corrections and adjustments,  over it, whereas, if you make corrections and adjustments to a JPEG image, you will have to burn  that correction into it, you cannot really go back unless you save it, as a new file, which means every time you  you go back to your original file, you have to remember and make all those corrections all over again  With regards to RAW, all those corrections will stay as layers and layers over it, you can add, remove, change  do whatever you feel like, at any stage of the operation. So, do you still have doubts? Let me try and explain to  you in a real idiot-proof way. Okay, what we have here are two bottles of milk. One is whole milk the other  is skimmed milk and obviously, you know that qualitatively, the whole milk is much better than  than the skimmed milk. It contains lots of nutrients, and tons of by-products. Of course there is a lot of people  who would consume skimmed milk for a reason. In our case, the whole milk represents the RAW and the  skimmed milk represents the JPEG. Well, the advantage with raw milk is that I can add water to it and  convert it into skimmed milk, like I can make, JPEG from a RAW. But, not vice versa. So, who would require  the skimmed milk which is equivalent to lets say JPEG. People who do not really require too much processing  People who have to reproduce image in a GIF like a journalist on the filed who has to capture the news item  and send it to the publisher immediately. A lots of people who use topical items or for internet. They all  may not require JPEG. And to the rest who will like to extract the best out of your camera and create those stunning images  whole milk is the way, sorry, RAW file is the way to go. Bye for now.