sRAW – episode 226

sRAW

I have been testing out the sRAW option in my Nikon D810 and wanted to know more about it. So like most people I turned to Google and got articles and blogs all about sRAW or small RAW. Furthermore, some bad press kept showing up on the subject. All these photographers out there complaining and ripping the idea of sRAW apart. They go on about how bad it is and how much you lose by skimping out and using sRAW to save a near useless amount of space. Well, it’s my turn to go off the deep end and rant about the sRAW options out there. Again, I did some testing on my Nikon D810 and I will do the same on my Nikon D750 to see how it compares.

Ultimately, and like a photographers work, the proof is in the pudding. What do you do with your images? What do you need your images to do for your specific customers and industry? Will you need all the resolution at a later date so why not do it all right now with the max RAW options? You will have to be the judge of all that. Like I say all the time: “know your gear”, and that also goes for know what your gear is being used for. I will admit, this is a fast paced and somewhat confusing subject with a lot of numbers and lingo being used throughout the episode. Bear with me and many even listen a couple times if you want to get all the details. The main 3 things to know are these:

14 bit uncompressed RAW – 73MB

12 bit compressed RAW – 30.5MB

sRAW – 11 bit compressed – 27MB

Finally, when talking about RAW compression options I love how Nikon states it in the user manual for the Nikon D810: “Uncompressed, images are not compressed; Lossless Compressed, no effect on image quality; Compressed, with almost no effect on image quality.” Makes compression look like a joke. Take it or leave it… everything will be fine.

Happy Shooting!

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