Do Photographers Actually Want RAW Information Anymore?

Every time a model new digicam comes out, it’s important to anticipate software program to replace and have the ability to course of the RAW recordsdata. These digital negatives are fairly useful and far totally different from the JPEGs which can be produced. RAWs comprise a of information and are very similar to shopping for your personal components to make one thing like a cake or curry. On the opposite hand, the JPEG is like shopping for it from a restaurant and bringing it to a celebration. But today, JPEG modifying in apps is simply so good, it’s exhausting to conceive whether or not or not we actually want RAW recordsdata anymore. Sure, RAW recordsdata could make issues simpler; however so can in-camera presets and figuring out how one can gentle. For years, I’ve been telling photographers to do extra in-camera and do much less in post-production. And in 2025, I believe we’ve actually gotten to a spot the place you don’t really want post-production anymore in lots of instances. Even in case you do, the modifying that’s obtainable for JPEG recordsdata could be very, superb.

I’m a journalist for a residing who assessments cameras, lenses, and so forth. But on the facet, I achieve taxable revenue from taking pictures pictures. Typically, I shoot occasions. I’m very distinctive in that I’m legally blind and I discover methods to make my pictures look completely totally different from what you’d see anybody else make. It typically entails lighting, in-camera preset recipes, particular white balancing, handbook exposures, lens filters, and particular handholding methods. I work actually exhausting to make pictures that generative AI couldn’t make simply as a result of there isn’t sufficient of the work on the market that exists. I imply, how would one immediate for the kind of work that I make?

Photographers all have their very own distinctive methods of constructing pictures. Lots of it entails countless post-production, typically for days or for much longer than it took to shoot.

These days, almost something that you simply’d wish to do in Lightroom or Capture One may be performed in-camera. RAW recordsdata assist us out after we can’t make one thing occur in-camera. Today, nevertheless, almost something may be performed in-camera except for some very particular technical colour adjustments.

RAW recordsdata are nice in that means. However, most photographers don’t do insanely technical modifying.

More photographers ought to shoot for the JPEG and solely depend on RAW recordsdata once they really want to. But usually and conditions today, most pictures we see don’t require RAW recordsdata.