Professional Photography in Deoghar, Jharkhand by
Skilled, Expert, Artistic & Creative Photographer-
Ranjan KM

1. What is a NEF/RAW Image?

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A NEF/RAW image (also known as a "Nikon Electronic File or digital negative”) is an image file that contains unprocessed or minimally processed data from a digital camera’s sensor. Similar to raw food ingredients that need to be prepared and cooked before consumption, a RAW image also needs to be post-processed in software before it is ready to be printed, shared or shown on a display device. Unlike JPEG files that can be easily opened, viewed and printed by most image-viewing / editing programs, RAW is a proprietary format that is tied to a specific camera model. Therefore, in order for the software to be able to work with a NEF/RAW file, it must be compatible with the particular camera the RAW image was captured with. Post-processing RAW images can yield greater dynamic range (with better highlight and shadow recovery options), superior colors and in some cases can even provide more detail when compared to JPEG images.

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1.1. Advantages of NEF/RAW Format

1. Far more shades of color. Compared to an 8-bit JPEG image that can only contain up to 16.8 million colors (256 tonal values for Red, Green and Blue channels), a 12-bit RAW image can contain up to 68.7 billion colors (4,096 tonal values per color channel). Stepping up to 14-bit RAW images increases RGB tonal values significantly to 16,384, which boosts the potential to 4.4 trillion colors. And some high-end cameras are even capable of recording 16-bit NEF/RAW images, which results in 65,536 tonal values per color channel, resulting in mind-boggling 281 trillion colors. If you are wondering about the difference between this number vs JPEG, that’s 16.8 million times larger!

2. Wider dynamic range and color gamut. A RAW image contains wider dynamic range and color gamut compared to a JPEG image. For highlight and shadow recovery when an image or parts of an image are underexposed or overexposed, a RAW image provides far better recovery potential compared to JPEG.

3. Finer control and adjustment potential. When a RAW image is generated, all camera settings, including camera-specific and manufacturer-specific information (also known as image metadata), are added into the file, along with the NEF/RAW data from the image sensor. The metadata is then used for demosaicing and NEF/RAW conversion process, which is what converts an otherwise black and white RAW image to color and applies particular gamma correction, white balance, brightness, contrast, and other adjustments. This means that the NEF/RAW image itself remains unmodified or “non-destructive” – you can make changes to the image later in post-processing applications like Lightroom and Photoshop.

4. Can adjust color space after image capture. Similar to white balance, color space (such as sRGB or Adobe RGB) is not saved into NEF/RAW images either, which means that you can change it to any color space later on.

5. NEF/RAW images are lossless. Unlike JPEG, RAW images typically utilize lossless compression (unless specific “lossy” NEF/RAW compression is selected), meaning they do not suffer from image-compression artifacts.

6. Better sharpening potential. No image-sharpening is performed on NEF/RAW images, which means that you can use better and more complex sharpening algorithms for your photos.

7. Proof of ownership and authenticity. Unlike JPEG images that can be easily manipulated, NEF/RAW images can be used as evidence of your ownership and authenticity of the photograph. If you saw an alien and have a NEF/RAW image to prove it, nobody would be able to argue that you manipulated the image in Photoshop.

8. Process and Edit Files to Your Standards. NEF/RAW files are designed to be processed to suit the tastes of the photographer. This capability gives immense freedom to adjust images as photographer/editor see fit according to the situation.

9. Get Better Prints. Because of the finer gradation of tones and colours you’ll get better prints from NEF/RAW files.Even though more and more people are shooting digital, great prints are as important as ever (maybe even more so, due to their relative rarity!) You’ll also get less banding, which is really yucky on a print.

10. It’s the Pro Option.   Professionals should be providing their clients with the highest quality possible. Issues like banding and blown highlights are big deals when you’re offering your clients printed products. Achieving proper colour balance, and choosing the right colour space for the situation are critical as well.By shooting NEF/RAW you take control, and are able to manage these problems to create the best results possible.

11. NEF/RAW Verdict: NEF/RAW is best when image quality and control over the final result are the most important factors.

 

2. What is a JPEG Image?

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JPEG is an image format that utilizes lossy compression for storing and displaying digital images. Due to its high compression efficiency, it is the most popular and the most adopted image format today, with most display devices and software having built-in capabilities to read and display JPEG images. Different levels of quality (typically in percentage) can be applied to compress JPEG images, which impacts the overall quality and the final size of the image. Lower quality conversion results in higher compression rates, smaller files and compression artifacts.

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2.1. Disadvantages of JPEG format

1. Lossy compression. The “lossy” image compression algorithm means that you will lose some data from your photographs. This loss of detail, especially in highly compressed files, might result in posterization issues, as well as visible “artifacts” around subjects that might be visible to the naked eye.

2. JPEG is 8-bit. The JPEG image format is limited to 8-bits, which puts a hard limitation of 16.8 million possible colors. This means that all those other colors that your camera is capable of recording are essentially discarded when the image is converted to JPEG format.

3. Limited recovery options. JPEG images contain far less data, which significantly limits their dynamic range and recovery potential. This means that if you manage to overexpose or underexpose an image, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to recover that data.

4. Camera settings impact JPEG images. Since cameras fully process JPEG images, any camera setting that can damage the resulting image will be irreversible. For example, if you apply too much sharpening to your images, you will not be able to “unsharpen” them later.

5. Advanced High End Post Processing & Editing Not Possible with JPEG. Post-processing can increase compression artifacts each time image is saved. JPEG records 256 levels of brightness, and RAW records between 4,096 to 16,384 levels! This is described with the term “bit”. JPEG captures in 8bit, and NEF/RAW is either 12bit or 14bit. That’s what that bit business means!The effect this has on your images is huge.Those additional steps of brightness let you make more adjustments (exposure, blacks, fill light, recovery, contrast, brightness) to your image without a significant reduction of quality, because there’s more levels to work with!

 

Why Do I opt to shoot in RAW?

Whereas many/most photographers shoot in JPEG?

 

Many photographers shoot in JPEG for the reasons mentioned below:

* JPEG editing does not require Pro Grade Editing Training.

* Shooting in JPEG and editing it later is less complex, easier, does not   require separate tools & pro software & less time consuming.

* JPEG files are smaller, compressed and take up less room/space on       computer and memory card.

* JPEG files/photographs can be printed without any post-processing.

* JPEG files/photographs can be easily & directly shared with customers  for       selection without any editing efforts. RAW files/photographs cannot be     shared with customers due to it's file format algorithm and it needs to be   edited and converted to JPEG before sharing.

* JPEG files/photographs are supported by all image editing softwares so no     extra expenses incurred or extra time to devote in advanced editing.

 

Wrap It UP!

Hopefully this look at RAW and it’s benefits has cleared things up as to Why I SHOOT in NEF/RAW !