Getting the Best Results From a Digital Sensor — JPEG vs RAW and Exposure and Noise
These new articles apply to any type of digital camera, being particularly instructive in several ways:
- How misleading a camera histogram can be.
- How grossly underexposed the “correct” metering might be.
- The greatly increased noise from “correct” but sub-optimal exposure.
- The huge loss of dynamic range with JPEG.
- The incredible versatility of push and pull with RAW.
Added to the DAP workflow articles:
It was a bit of a challenge to fully present this work, but I think it was worth it. In it, I capture some measure of what I do in the field, and how I can get very high image quality out of even small sensor cameras.
At a glance
Below, it is easy to see why RAW is hugely preferable to JPEG (this is a camera RAW + JPEG pair shot with one press of the shutter), with RAW having generous headroom by comparison, and far higher image quality due to reduced noise:
RAW capture (left), exact same JPEG capture (right)
Mosts cameras mislead for RAW, leading users to underexpose for inferior image quality.
