Karl Shah-Jenner <shahjen@iinet.net.au> wrote/replied to: >my undestanding of the shooting in RAW preference for many was that they >used this as a corrective tool after the fact, relying on full information >capture to compensate for having set the camera up poorly before shooting. >White balance anomalies and the like were easily correctable when all the >data is available to fiddle with. I guess I equate this to the shooter who >relies on the automation of their flash, light metering and focus to get the >shot right in a film based camera. Maybe I'm being too critical, I don't >know, but for me I have a distrust of relying on any auto functions to make >mistakes for me as I prefer to take the blame entirely when and if things go >wrong - at least I stand a chance of learning something ;-) But the RAW file can capture a much greater dynamic range. More whites, more shadows. Not to mention more colours. Taking the blame doesn't help an image. Learning is good, but not at the price of losing a really great image. RAW's not a perfect tool, we must still use our heads and judgement. We must still learn. One thing about this automation people are critical of. For me, it frees me up for more important stuff. I use it in my own way, where I can control it. It helps me with many shots because in a lot of nature shooting you just don't have the time to think or fiddle dials. Often the first quick shot is either all you get, or the best chance. I like to be ready for that moment by having all my camera controls setup like this: Servo Focus for moving objects, centre focus point selected, evaluative metering to allow instant shooting of any scene. And multi frame shooting ready to capture a quick sequence. These are my defaults. I adjust for other scenes of course, but always return my camera to this ready mode. Having said all that, I make good use of exposure compensation by reading the highlights (white bird expose less) and being ready to switch to manual focus should the need arise. My auto systems work well for me but it took me some learning to figure out how to use them.
