"What does RAW mean?"

Babzy wants to know: What does RAW mean and is it a program or a lens or a type of camera or a setting on the camera and what does it do and what is it good for and why do we need it? (That's just one question because there is only one question mark. HA)

Instead of typing this all out, I found what someone else had written. It's not exactly how I would have explained it, but it's pretty close. This comes from here.

"The RAW file format is digital photography's equivalent of a negative in film photography: it contains untouched, "raw" pixel information straight from the digital camera's sensor. The RAW file format has yet to undergo demosaicing, and so it contains just one red, green, or blue value at each pixel location. Digital cameras normally "develop" this RAW file by converting it into a full color [RGB] file, and then store the converted file in your memory card. Digital cameras have to make several interpretive decisions when they develop a RAW file, and so the RAW file format offers you more control over how the final JPEG or TIFF image is generated."

Do most people need it? No. Most people will never have a need for that kind of fine control over the images they are taking. Though most do, not all professional photographers shoot in RAW - it's a personal preference based on a few things such as how "accurate" the JPEG files are when produced straight from the camera, how "accurate" the picture you shot was, and how much time you want to spend post-processing images (post-processing = digital negative development, and converting the files from RAW to JPEG can take a very long time even on a fast computer). Also, because RAW file formats are not standardized across the industry, and are sometimes encrypted by the manufacturer, they cannot be used by certain photo editing or managing software. This is problematic if the program supplied by the manufacturer is too limited to satisfy your creative desires, in which case you're stuck 'processing' them to JPEG or TIFF anyways before you can hack away at them with a photo editing suite.

RAW files are substantially bigger than JPEG and other file formats, often twice as many MB, which means you will require a lot more memory both on your camera's card and your computer's hard drive, especially if you plan to 'keep your negatives.'

The dirty little secret about RAW files is this: RAW is especially good for is fine-tuning, especially if you screw up the exposure in the first place. You can (sort of) re-create the settings like white balance and saturation that you really wanted MUCH more accurately than if the file is in 'demosaiced' JPEG format already. I shoot in both/either JPEG and/or RAW, depending on lighting conditions and the occasion. For example, on a dark rainy day I'm shooting portraits, it's going to be done in RAW. If I'm shooting my kids in the yard stomping in mud puddles, rain or shine, I will shoot in JPEG. My wedding formals are always shot in RAW (except that one time I forgot to flip the settings - HOLY PANIC when I got home.... thank goodness the weather was good and the lighting cooperating that day and my pictures turned out perfectly in JPEG anyway... *whew*); wedding ceremonies and receptions are usually shot in JPEG.

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