The RAW truth

If you are not already shooting RAW most of the time, then you may want to consider it. Here are some of the benefits you will get from shooting RAW instead of JPEG:

RAW – the digital film ‘negative’
RAW is often referred to as the digital equivalent to a film negative. The RAW format is the best image quality that a camera is capable of producing, because RAW files contain all the image data retrieved from the camera's sensor.

Another similarity to film negative is the fact that you can create an endless variety of output files from the original RAW file without affecting the original image data.

Prepare for the future
RAW software is constantly being improved with enhanced image processing algorithms. This means that you can process old RAW files in new software versions and get a better result e.g. two years after the original image was shot.

Maintain the original image quality
There is a misperception that working with RAW files is cumbersome and slow. This couldn’t be further from the truth, especially if you open you files in Capture One.

If you shoot JPEG files, white balance, sharpness, exposure etc. are applied to your image instantly. These settings cannot be corrected later on without affecting the image quality. So unless you files are perfect in the moment of capture, then the RAW format will provide you with many advantages in terms of image corrections and compensation post capture – and your enhancements will not affect the original RAW file, which means that you can always return to your starting point.