About to make the leap on my 1st major camera in 20 yrs. Can afford a camera that offers Live View and RAW shooting along with what else I am getting.
Can anyone explain in more basic terms how these benefit a photographer? I have done alot of reading, just can't grasp the whole benefit.
Thank you, Nancy
I don't put a lot of stock in live view. Use the viewfinder; you get a lot better feel for the shot, especially the lighting.
Shooting RAW is just fine, though I don't bother. Nearly all of my pics are for use on the web (including on Flickr), so I downgrade their pixel density dramatically to make them viewable on the net. (I shoot for pics that are around 50k-100k in heft for Flickr, less for the websites I do; 640X400 or so in size.)
Better still would be to get yourself a copy of Photoshop Elements and learn how to use it. You'll find yourself addicted!
I don't use live view either - I use a view finder. I even bought a P&S with a viewfinder to complement my DLSRs.
Everything I shoot is done in RAW. I like controlling the final product rather than letting the camera do it. The camera does an ok job with white balance, sharpening, contrast, etc., but I shoot mostly at extremes of lighting situations so I prefer to control it myself. But, I often do it for money and make larger prints.
As Lynn said, if you are using it for web only, use .jpg. At it's smallest setting it will allow you to get 4X the images on one card and onto your hard drive. I'm always running out of space shooting in RAW.
2008 Ford F250 diesel
2013 Keystone Sprinter 277RLS
i also use the view finder, not the LCD screen. I think having the camera up to my eye makes for a steadier shot..
mine will save in RAW, but I just use JPG ... For what we do with our pictures (share online, scrapbook , even 11x8.5 prints ) it is plenty good enough for us..
enjoy, they are fun cameras.... my view is go less expensive on the camera itself, so you have more money for lens'... even a low level DSLR is more useful with a couple of good pieces of glass, than a really high even body with just the stock lens..
mikestock wrote: I too am waiting for someone to explain "RAW" in a little more detail. I don't normally use RAW either, but only because I don't understand it.
All digital cameras tweak the images in camera, light balance etc. then compresses it into jpeg. In RAW format it takes the image and keeps it as is no compression no tweaking. You do that later with something like Photoshop.
A RAW image can be as much as 15 times larger in size than a jpeg, not dimension but megabit wise.
So 'live view" is just looking thru view finder not the LCD screen? I thought it had to do with mirror. .. and if it has to do with the mirror, what is the advantage ?
And so RAW means it takes it as the camera is in 'auto'? Without you adjusting anything?
Sorry for not understanding yet ...
Live view is viewing via the LCD, not through the ocular viewfinder. (My wife's camera has only an LCD view. She's constantly asking to use my camera instead, which has only the small ocular viewfinder.)
RAW basically means an unprocessed image. Like one of the others pointed out, unless you're into printing large images (for example, professionally or commercially), there's not a great need for RAW.
Lynn
nancyjerry wrote: So 'live view" is just looking thru view finder not the LCD screen? I thought it had to do with mirror. .. and if it has to do with the mirror, what is the advantage ?
And so RAW means it takes it as the camera is in 'auto'? Without you adjusting anything?
Sorry for not understanding yet ...
Offline
Online
