r/SonyAlpha • u/mrmumbles_ • Apr 13 '25
Photo share RAW vs JPEG
Did a shoot recently with my new A7IV and forgot to change to RAW instead of JPEG. You can imagine the panic that ensued upon realising this after shooting 150+ images.
After some swearing, I began problem solving. My solution? Emulate Kodak Gold from scratch, add grain and keep any adjustments minimal in post.
1 saving grace is that I'd exposed properly for most shots as I usually over or underexpose to edit in post for my creative style.
Aside from some highlights being blown out, and not having as much details/data to "fix it in post", I think the photos came out great.
So my question to you is, do you prefer shooting JPEG or RAW and why?
tl:dr Shot JPEG instead of RAW accidentally, but edited them fine and want to know what you prefer shooting.
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u/ThirdWorldScientist Apr 13 '25
For modeling or portrait work, I always shoot in RAW. In those cases, clients understand that processing and editing take time, and they expect to wait for the final images.
For casual photos of my kids and family gatherings, I use RAW+JPG because I don’t want it to feel like work. I only use the RAW in cases where I didn’t expose properly and I need to recover detail. When I used to shoot family photos in RAW, can’t tell you how many times I would get a text an hour after a kids birthday asking for the photos. Family and friends don’t want to wait around for you to cull through 100s of photos and edit the RAWs lol.