Ditch RAW+Jpeg bracteted for RAW alone?

Well will a light meter get me better results than just studying the histogram?

Hard question although there is already a good light meter inside the camera though so why not use that one?

One thing to keep in mind is that the histogram you see with RAW files on your camera and the actually image you see is a JPG preview so don't go on the information you see there as 100% accurate but more as an approximation.

No, you're right, stick with the camera. (I just want something shiny and new.) I'll try and take some photo's tomorrow instead.

What's your point Anvh? That articles says exactly what I said (except in more detail) - it gives you more detail, but it doesn't give you more exposure. From that detail, you can extract different looking pictures, but you can never stop a clipped image from being clipped.

But they say it can.

An image is less prone to being clipped in the first place when shooting RAW rather than JPEG as the dynamic range is greater.

Of course it can still be clipped, so exposure level has to be kept within a certain range. It's just that that range is a bit larger with RAW. (It's safest to assume just "a bit" rather than "considerably" with the K-7).

Yes good one Pete, that's what it said

Sometimes it helps to say the same thing in a few different ways

And eventually it might sink in, for me.

Just to complicate things....

When looking at the histogram on the camera after capturing the shot this actually represents the processed jpg image, not the RAW data - this is regardless of whether you are shooting RAW or JPG. If you only check the brightness histogram its also possible that one of the colour channels could be clipped - so alway check the RGB histogram too!!

What this often means in reality is that if you shoot RAW and use the histogram to check & then adjust exposure in camera you'll nearly always end up with more dynamic range than you thought when processing the RAW in Photoshop etc.

Just in case I've not explained this well...this guy definitely does..

http://www.ronbigelow.com/articles/camera-histogram/camera-histogram.htm


Simon

On Bracketing.
What suits each person will differ. I am quite happy shooting single shots and sometimes "manually bracketing" by taking a second safety shot with EV-1 or even -2. The number of times I feel I need to do this is way less than my total number of shots.

On RAW vs. JPG
I shoot only RAW since image management takes me enough time without worrying about duplicate JPGs. But don't forget the amazing Pentax feature of being able to develop your own shots in-camera. I did this just last week to get some results ready for sharing. I made a quick selection of my few best shots and cooked them as I wished. Then I handed over the memory card and said "just grab the JPGs" (since most people couldn't do anything with the RAWs anyway).

In this way I was able to present only my best shots and do some important processing (eg. B&W conversion) before anyone else saw them.

Depends on what you want.

I personally use Raw+Jpeg, on a 16 Gig card storage space for me is not an issue.

But my Sony Bravia Television will not display Raw, only Jpeg.
Kindest regards,
Peter

Peter, only rich enough for 8GB cards at the moment. I fill one up easily in a walkabout session. Each stop a few different POV's and compositions, each one bracketed and RAW+, doesn't take long. I was really glad I was on raw that time as I got a cracker and a few half decent images.

I'm not convinced with the K-7 jpeg processing, it needs tweaking in a way I never used to with the GX10. But my standards may have increased with time.

I might wait to see what the new SDHC have to offer. I might be mistaken but there is a super fast SDHC as well as the new SD format.

Wow. I know when I started with digital I shot like crazy, but now a given outing does not come close to filling 8GB. In fact I only need cards that big when on holidays in special places (eg Andalusia). Generally when I pause for a pint or coffee I trim my previous shots of obvious rubbish, so when I get back home I have fewer to process.

The limitation currently is the processing speed in the Pentax bodies. Other brands do better in this regard... if you pay big bucks.

If I go specially out to take photos I normally come back with 250 photos but it can easily be more.
The most I made in one day was 711 photos during an endurance auto race in Zandvoort.