RAW format is a digital image format for digital cameras and some smartphone camera apps. While RAW capture produces much larger file sizes, it offers the uncompressed image files favored by professional photographers.
As an uncompressed format, RAW offers many notable advantages over a compressed file format like JPG.
If the camera format is set to raw, no processing is applied, and therefore the file stores more tonal and color data. With more data stored in the file, there is more processing flexibility than a JPEG can offer.
Better detail and dynamic range: If you have a high-end camera with a large megapixel count, you will see a noticable difference between the camera's RAW mode and JPEG mode. RAW provides far more image information, allowing you to capture more detail and greater dynamic range from your camera sensor.
More flexibility for editing: When you transfer images from your camera's SD card to a hard drive for editing, you will appreciate the image quality you get from RAW data. Whereas JPEG files are processed by the camera (resulting in a loss of color data), RAW files are unprocessed and contain more color data for you to work with during the editing process.
More creative control: When you save files using lossy compression, as is the case with the JPEG format, you have fewer options in terms of tweaking brightness, contrast, white balance, colour saturation, and tonal range detail. If your goal is to be creative, you'll get better results manipulating RAW images.
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