What is the advantage of using RAW when taking photos with a digital camera?
A quick background on what RAW format is will help clarify it’s advantages/disadvantages. There’s a lot of processing that needs to happen to the data that’s captured by a digital camera sensor in order to create the finished viewable or printable image (which is usually but not always in jpeg format). This processing adjusts for things like color balance, sharpness and other factors. This processing is typically done in-camera by the camera’s electronics and software. A RAW format file represents the image data before in-camera processing happens. By using a RAW format file, you can control how the post-capture processing happens, without being reliant on how the camera interprets or processes the image. So, the advantage of using RAW is more control over the image’s appearance. This disadvantage is that RAW file sizes are larger than in-camera processed jpegs, and that you need to take the time to do the RAW to jpeg conversion yourself.
