Sunday, April 13, 2008

How Important is RAW to You?

Björn's recent post "What Makes A Compact Camera Serious?" really drives home the fact that RAW mode is uncommon in the compact camera market. If one wants a compact camera with a sharp lens, manual exposure controls, and manual focus, there are many choices. Add RAW to the list of requirements, and the number of compacts on the list drops precipitously.

You might be able to guess, based on this post I wrote after Canon dropped RAW from the G7, how important RAW is to me. Nikon still doesn't have RAW in its high end compacts, and I know that they conduct regular user polls. Maybe the majority amongst even "serious" users don't care very much about RAW in their compact cameras.

How important is RAW to you? Please participate in the poll to the right, and let us know.

Addendum: The results are in. More than half of those participating consider RAW an absolutely necessary feature for an advanced compact. Thanks to all who responded!

1 comment:

  1. Bruce MApril 14, 2008 at 2:36 PM

    In the past year my desire for RAW file format has declined. The reason is Adobe Lightroom. The nondestructive editing of JPEG files combined with the excellent color correction controls make a big difference in my photography.

    I can save presets for a specific camera and various conditions, such as FX33 daylight, TZ3 night, etc. I can apply the presets on import, which gets 90 percent of my photos 90 percent corrected before I even see them on screen.

    Then I can take multiple passes through the photos, straightening one time, doing highlight correction another, etc.

    If you are considering buying a compact without RAW and want to use it "seriously," I strongly recommend Lightroom, or Aperture or Lightzone if you prefer. Nondestructive editing is the key feature.

    ReplyDelete