Tannin
Storage? I am Storage!
For no particular reason, I just wasted/spent an hour posting in a different place, with the topic, of all things, yet another variation on that hoary old perennial theme, raw vs JPG. This one was a little different, however, insofar as it was less vague than most and focused on the question of what to usde for action photography. So, with apologies for the cross-post, here it is:
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For action, always JPG. The thing with action - the thing that the "always shoot raw" crowd comprehensively fail to understand - is that it is unpredictable, and that the most likely thing to happen immediately after a peak moment - i.e., immediately after you have fired off a series of shots - is *another* peak moment.
With action photography, the slower things get, the slower things get, and the more excitement there is, the more likely it is that there will be still greater excitement still to come.
Action rule 1: never, ever, let your buffer get full, because you can spend a whole day or a whole week waiting for something good, and when it happens, you very often find that something else follows it right away, and then another thing.
I am saying "with action", but seeing as the only action I shoot is wildlife, maybe I shouldn't generalise. Nevertheless, it's most certainly true with wildlife, and my casual observation of other sorts of action (sport in the main) suggests that it's true in other fields as well. And let us be clear about our meanings here: if the sort of sport you call "action" photography can be predicted well enough for you to always know what you are going to be clicking your shutter at next, and never once have wished you had more shots in your buffer - then it isn't action at all, it's just things that move fast.
ACTION is things that move *unpredicatably* - a game of football that rises above the precictable formula and turns into a heart-stopper, a crowd that suddenly takes on a life of its own (can we say "Rodney King?), or in my case a mixed-species feeding flock that turns up out of nowhere and presents you with 30 different birds and ten different species all at the same time. If you count up all the birds you will see over the next two hours, you are seeing most of them *right now*. The feeding flock has accepted you as part of it and they are up close and personal. This is the moment you live for. You shoot, shoot, shoot, for if you miss this moment you might wait another year or more to find another one.
There is nothing - but NOTHING - worse than having a wonderful moment like this arrive, and half way through your buffer goes full and you can see that golden moment slipping away while your buffer crawls its way into the flash card.
You owe it to yourself. JPG every time.
If you get your exposure or your white balance wrong and miss shots, then that was because you were not skilled enough at your craft. You need to practice more, and vow you will do better next time. Work at your craft. (I'll let you know when I have mastered the craft myselft. Well, maybe I'll let your great-great grandson know, assuming I'm still around in 2142.)
Still, at least you have a reasonable chance of rescuing some of the shots in PP, though it can be difficult with a JPG. Look at it this way: if it's too far out to rescue the JPG, would the raw actually have been any good? Really good? Or are we just talking a "JPG unusable, raw is so-so" situation? Most of the time, it's the latter, and so-so is not what any of us are after.
On the other hand, if you miss shots because you insisted on shooting raw and your buffer went full, then that's because you were too dumb to suit your method to your task.
-------------------------------
For action, always JPG. The thing with action - the thing that the "always shoot raw" crowd comprehensively fail to understand - is that it is unpredictable, and that the most likely thing to happen immediately after a peak moment - i.e., immediately after you have fired off a series of shots - is *another* peak moment.
With action photography, the slower things get, the slower things get, and the more excitement there is, the more likely it is that there will be still greater excitement still to come.
Action rule 1: never, ever, let your buffer get full, because you can spend a whole day or a whole week waiting for something good, and when it happens, you very often find that something else follows it right away, and then another thing.
I am saying "with action", but seeing as the only action I shoot is wildlife, maybe I shouldn't generalise. Nevertheless, it's most certainly true with wildlife, and my casual observation of other sorts of action (sport in the main) suggests that it's true in other fields as well. And let us be clear about our meanings here: if the sort of sport you call "action" photography can be predicted well enough for you to always know what you are going to be clicking your shutter at next, and never once have wished you had more shots in your buffer - then it isn't action at all, it's just things that move fast.
ACTION is things that move *unpredicatably* - a game of football that rises above the precictable formula and turns into a heart-stopper, a crowd that suddenly takes on a life of its own (can we say "Rodney King?), or in my case a mixed-species feeding flock that turns up out of nowhere and presents you with 30 different birds and ten different species all at the same time. If you count up all the birds you will see over the next two hours, you are seeing most of them *right now*. The feeding flock has accepted you as part of it and they are up close and personal. This is the moment you live for. You shoot, shoot, shoot, for if you miss this moment you might wait another year or more to find another one.
There is nothing - but NOTHING - worse than having a wonderful moment like this arrive, and half way through your buffer goes full and you can see that golden moment slipping away while your buffer crawls its way into the flash card.
You owe it to yourself. JPG every time.
If you get your exposure or your white balance wrong and miss shots, then that was because you were not skilled enough at your craft. You need to practice more, and vow you will do better next time. Work at your craft. (I'll let you know when I have mastered the craft myselft. Well, maybe I'll let your great-great grandson know, assuming I'm still around in 2142.)
Still, at least you have a reasonable chance of rescuing some of the shots in PP, though it can be difficult with a JPG. Look at it this way: if it's too far out to rescue the JPG, would the raw actually have been any good? Really good? Or are we just talking a "JPG unusable, raw is so-so" situation? Most of the time, it's the latter, and so-so is not what any of us are after.
On the other hand, if you miss shots because you insisted on shooting raw and your buffer went full, then that's because you were too dumb to suit your method to your task.
