I did at first, but then I decided that unless I am shooting something important, I just use fine jpg and it saves a lot of time and work and comes out just as good.
I haven't shot JPEG in most of a year, and not going back. RAW gives me much more flexibility. I expose "to the right", so the additional dynamic range offered by the RAW file is a real, tangible benefit. It's also great to be able to tweak WB prior to converting to JPEG.
I find the RAW workflow every bit as easy as a JPEG-based workflow, perhaps easier when all is considered.
I always shoot RAW with my Rebel, and JPG with my S1 (because it can't shoot RAW). With my G2 (now dead), I also shot RAW.
If you shoot RAW, besides being able to adjust white balance and exposure, you can sharpen it using the best software and techniques on the computer, without sharpening the JPEG artifacts as you do with a JPEG. You can sharpen it as appropriate for the output destination.
Also, when interpolating up for printing, you are not enlarging noise.
For small web pics at 640x480, that doesn't make much of a difference. But I am now less happy with my S1 when I try to work with a photo at full size and I see those artifacts. I put it on low sharpening, but in fact that doesn't help much, because it's still compressed coming out of the camera (and I presume they sharpen before they compress, as they should).
So I shoot RAW when I can. What you need to find is good workflow software. Using something like Bibble or Breezebrowser, worst case, you could process all the files at once, using default settings. It only takes a couple minutes of processing, and then you could archive the RAWs to CD. But I think you'll find, like me, that you adjust each picture individually. With Bibble, you are simply walking through a browser-like tool, changing settings, even cropping, and then the actual settings are applied when you drop the set in a queue, so they are processed in the background, all at once. If you keep the settings file, you can later go in and change it, and it will use the original RAW file for the next processing.
Try downloading the trial of Bibble and using it for 30 days, or RAW Shooter Esssentials (which is free, forever, though it doesn't let you crop). I think you'll be sold on the workflow.
I always shoot RAW now. Using RAW Shooter Essentials adds no time to my workflow over jpg and completes many of the steps I would have done previously with the jpg file. After converting I find that there is very little work left to do, maybe crop, a little level/curve adjustment and resizing. That is it.
I keep hearing people say that in RAW there is no camera manipulation. But since the sensor only sees things in shades of black and white (or grays), then isn't the camera really still doing some manipulation to convert it to color.
I keep hearing people say that in RAW there is no camera manipulation. But since the sensor only sees things in shades of black and white (or grays), then isn't the camera really still doing some manipulation to convert it to color.
Yes, there is some in camera manipulation. There is even some compression as I do not believe that either canon or nikon uses true lossless file format.
But there is a clear difference in the level of manipulation and the results and the abilites you have to work the shot later.
