RAW vs JPEG

[H@rry]

I have read that it is always better to take pics in RAW and then process them in another app. If I took the pics in JPEG format the camera "makes its own decisions about colors and such". I've been taking pic on my Nikon in NEF format and then using IrfanView to batch process them to JPEG because I PP in GIMP that won't read NEF format.

My question: Is IrfanView doing about the same thing as the camera would be doing if I simply took the pics in JPEG format?

 

[kenbennedy]

Yes, on the whole it is. Most of the time when you do the conversion in software rather than on the camera, you have a great deal more data and info at your fingertips, and are afforded more flexibility in pulling information into the converted file. The raw file simply has more information and data from the sensor. Most people want to not lose the original/raw data, and if you only take .jpg files straight from the camera that data is gone forever. You could save time by taking raw + jpg, but at the expense of needing storage space. It happens regularly that software improvements/updates will let you pull more data (lift shadows, recover highlights, eg) from old raw files. Hope this helps.