Are jpegs still terrible? 

I rarely edit RAW anymore since I switched to Fuji. I do shoot RAW+JPG, but rarely touch the RAW. Used to love doing editing - and spent ages doing so when I shot Canon and Sony.

JPEGs were never terrible, so no, they are not still terrible. Editing RAWs is clearly superior, but JPEGs offer a wonderfully simple workflow for those of us who would prefer to edit as little as possible!

I started out shooting raw+jpeg because so many people said you have to shoot raw but I realised after a while that the perks of shooting raw are useless to me because I hate editing and find it incredibly boring so now I shoot jpeg and that works great for me.

I’ve been shooting like this now for 5 years. Have not missed editing one bit. And I find the challenge of getting it done without manipulation really enjoyable. Doesn’t always make life easy, but it’s refreshed my view of photography and reinvigorated my love for it.

Ever since I've had digital cameras, I've always shot RAW + jpeg at the same time. It's often easier to review images quickly from the jpegs, and then delving into the RAW files to produce final versions. I spent much of my working life shooting images for instant consumption at functions/church fairs etc, and jpeg is really the only way to go in those circumstances.

All really nice photos: maybe it's just my personal taste but I prefer the jpg versions of your images (but then I tend to use the film simulations in my X-Pro2 so it's what I'm used to). I normally shoot jpeg + RAW onto different cards so if I want to mess around more with an image I'll fish out the RAW.

Not sure if it's RU-vid or watching back on TV/Laptop, but the jpegs seem much cleaner than your raw edits, the edits looked overexposed, not sure if I'm the only one seeing it that way or if it's just my preference. Thanks for the video though, always appreciate your content!

I’m a Fuji shooter. I love the idea, and I have really tried to shoot JPG by tweaking the settings, I have tested a whole lot of recipes, but I always end up going back to raw. In the right conditions, the jpg´s look great, but then you turn around, and you should have used another recipe, or the highlights are burnt out or something. I find it better to tweak the raw files afterwards.

Just found your channel a few days ago and after watching this video, I’m a subscriber. Love how you can give the viewer a good chuckle in all of your videos! I especially love how you included an actual view of how much more detail the RAW file includes. The complete opposite of when you tell a Facebook group you shoot JPEG 🤣 Fantastic video and look forward to seeing more content from ya!

Like many have mentioned, I usually shoot jpeg+RAW with my FujiFilm X100V to give me the best of both worlds. I find that a good portion of the time I just use the jpeg with minor edits, but I like having the RAW when I'd like to edit a bit further.

love the videos james, i am just beginning my journey in turning my digital photos into prints. wishing you the best

Good video as usual. But I did miss one important reason why JPG alone is not wise: the ability to 'go back' and make different edits of your image. In our line of work (weddings) we make 'normal' edits but also the carefully adjusted b/w conversions, sometimes couples want a very specific edit (cinematic, aged, whatever) of a few images and you simply can't do that properly if all you have is the JPG. You need the RAW. So yes, while in some cases a JPG might be sufficient, it's just a very good idea to have the RAW file as well for "just in case...". Taking up "so much room" on your memory cards? Nah. Cards are cheap these days and a 40 euro card will keep you busy in JPG and RAW all day, easily. We shoot thousands of images on a wedding day using maybe 2 128GB cards per camera (well, times 2 of course, since we use dual slot bodies)

Haven’t been recommended your videos in months. Glad to see YT putting you back in my feed.

James, when switching film simulations with the screen closed you can program the blank button just above your “Q” button to be your custom setting selector. Then using the rear facing dial you can scroll between C1-C7. Another trick is to put your film simulations in the top left of your Q menu so that when you select the Q button while keeping the screen closed it defaults to that space which then you can use the slider to select your sim.

Great video James, pleased to see the X-Pro 3 getting some screen time. It inspired me to try the RAW files on my old X-Pro 1, and today I (thanks to a different video) managed to "unlock" all of the Fuji film simulations in Lightroom. I now have Classic Chrome and Classic Neg etc. available for my old X-Pro 1 RAW files - and very happy with the results! Cheers and keep up the great videos.

Hey, what's up? I just wanted to swing by and give you a huge shoutout for your latest video - it was seriously awesome and so helpful! Your content is always spot-on, and I love how you share your knowledge with us all. Sending sunny greetings all the way from Spain! Wishing you a fantastic day and just wanted to let you know that your hard work and dedication definitely doesn't go unnoticed. Keep crushing it!

Really enjoy your videos James. From my own perspective, I lack the knowledge and confidence with editing RAW photos, I do shoot both and look forward to investing time in learning the editing art!!

Thanks James - informative and enjoyable video and very helpful.

Honestly I thought the sooc jpegs looked great! But to your point, if you shoot raw and just select the corresponding profile, you get very similar results but with more leeway to edit. This video just makes me want a fuji even more lol.

Learnt a lot from this, thanks! I definitely preferred all the Provia jpegs from the Fuji than the edited RAW; they just look more natural. However, in very high contrast situations, shoot RAW. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Im not a real pro because I dont usually sell my pictures, but if your jpegs aren't good enough for some mild editing,...raw wont save you😝

I started shooting jpegs only about 6 years ago, I was surprised how flexible the files were if you were intending to go for the natural reality look. I think most photographers who aren't trying to do a big colour grade like spring for autumn, or orange and teal, can get by happily with jpegs. The only caveat being, you have to shoot for the natural end result in camera. If you bake in some trendy style like an incorrect white balance for effect, you are limited in how much you can do about it. I know that a lot of people have more fun editing than shooting, but I do think this straight out fi camera jpeg style is a great way to generally improve your eye for finding a scene in the moment though.

I almost always shoot JPEGs, and I'm almost never disappointed. They provide me with enough editing latitude to get to pretty much where I want to be. Also I hate editing:P.

One of the things I like the most about Fujifilm cameras is that you can select different dynamic ranges. Most of the time I shoot DR 100% but sometimes using 200%, 400% or even just going for Auto can really help a photo come to life.

You're on fire James. Wish you were around years ago when I was learning, you have a knack for explaining and demonstrating very technical things for anyone to understand.

You can apply the settings on the import screen also. I shoot RAW + Small JPEG... mainly because if I want to share something quick on social media... I have a have an image that will work in that small form factor..... BUT... the important thing is that the import defaults to whatever the picture profile the camera was on when it took the photo (the setting is Develop Settings in Lightroom and on mine it is defaulted to Camera Settings). I often shoot in Black and White (it's a good learning tool because it can help you focus on composition rather than be distracted by color) and I sometimes forget to make them not B&W when importing...

Great video! Such a beautiful location!

I shoot joeg and raw on my x100v and depending on the shot I'll decide which I use later on I do think the recoies make a big difference and if you have the right recipe it's awesome

I've had Fuji for a long time but I really like your Ricoh raw edits. Definitely tempted to get it one day. Would like to see a comparison with the Ricoh and the Fuji X100v

On X-Pro 3 I have set the back wheel to open up the menu for jpeg profiles (could be used just for selecting film simulation too). It’s really fast and easy to change between them while using the viewfinder.

Since switching to a Fujifilm I still shoot raw but simply select one of the ‘camera matching’ simulations in Lightroom, maybe very slightly adjust highlights and shadows and editing done in a couple of clicks. The process is far easier and my images seem better. The Fujifilm colours are pretty amazing I think 📷👍

Really useful video, thank you. I’ve shot Fuji now for nine years and very often - even in dramatic light - find myself preferring the look and feel of out of camera jpegs, especially for landscape.

Good topic. Since entering the RAW world, I have no desire to shoot otherwise. I do love that Photoshop gives you a RAW filter to work with jpegs and work on weak areas. I have all my old film photos scanned and the results are amazing.

Hi James, as a Fuji user I use a combination of Raw and film simulation: I shoot Raw ans jpg as well but with a dedicated film simulation (original Fuji or adapted by myself). During LR import you can choose to use the camera settings inc. film simulation. So you will see a Raw already with the simulation and then you only need a few (depending on your scene) adjustments to get the final Popsys photo. So you can edit your photos but with less effort ...

Totally agree. Great video as usual!

Interesting thanks. Yes, more on image quality and what it is as you mentioned would be good

For anyone considering the Ricoh, getting good exposure is aided by the histogram. It's really well implemented (wide and detailed and easy to see, while not obliterating half the scene). At least, it is on my first gen model. I'm a big fan of Ricoh's positive film and dynamic black and white filters. Positive film is quite warm, but I really enjoy it on dull days in the outdoors. I can't get anywhere near the colours it produces when editing RAW (which is my default approach).

I like to shoot RAW+JPEG with my Fuji xt4. The reasoning being, especially since it's mirrorless, I have a copy of what I saw through the viewfinder that I can then reference when I'm editing the image. Plus, most of the images I don't want to spend time editing end up looking nice enough to post to social media especially with the Fuji film simulation setting.

Great video, the comparison of the same image jpg V raw. Really brings home why you shoot in Raw. I always shoot both, best of both worlds.

When I discover a new feature, like Topaz Denoise or DeepPrime in DxO PL, I like to go back and see how it affects old pictures. A lot of those functions work best on RAW, so there are a lot of pictures I’d like to use ‘modern’ processing on and (re)print them, but they were taken before I stopped being stingy and bought larger cards and switched to RAW. Nowadays I see RAW as a form of future proofing and just deal with the increase storage load.

On the Fuji, if you shoot JPEG+RAW, you can rough "edit" the photo in-camera and have it export new JPEG renderings to the SD card. Useful if you want to adjust your JPEG settings after the shot. I always shoot both, even when I intend to edit the RAW. It allows me to automatically transfer JPEGs to my phone for easy review, fast sharing, and last resort backup copy that automatically syncs to the cloud.

Personally, I like when cameras have good in camera jpeg processing, but not for actually utilizing the JPEGs. Rather, I like to just to be able to better visualize the end result in the viewfinder. I find it much more satisfying an experience to be able to look through the viewfinder/back screen and see something that is already pretty close to the edit i'll want to do rather than the dull colors that you'd often see otherwise. Also, nice when you take a photo of someone and they immediately want to see the result so you can show them something a bit closer to what you were imagining when taking the photo.

Camera hack: Shoot RAW... then process the RAW file in camera during playback. You get to see how each film simulation and adjustment would look for that file.

Great video as always James! Didn't know about the profile selection in Lightroom! what a hidden gem. Quick question please, when you are out with your family for the day and you take your camera with you, roughly how many shots do you take? I feel like I annoy my wife and young son bit.

As a Fuji shooter I constantly use JPG + RAW and I actually love the film recipies. I often prepare a few recipies, besides my favorites, when I go out shooting depending on the conditions/style I'm aiming at. I mostly use them for sort of an inspiration to work on my RAW later. I often cycle between a few profiles when taking a shot to see how it would look like with different edits and make adjustments right there in the field. I can check whether a photo I'm taking will work for the style that I want to capture by just applying the right recipie and seeing if it has any potential or not. I know that maybe many of you, who more advanced in editing department than me, can imagine the end result vividly when you press the shutter. But to me it is a great help to have it visualized before I even start to edit. I never use the JPGs in the final editing though, but if it turns out very well to my taste I copy the style with edits and make even better fine adjustments on my RAWs. Oh and tip for Fuji JPG shooters - for those of you that use the histogram to protect your exposure (I do) it will only protect your RAW exposure, it is based on the sensor readings not currently selected film simulation. So after applying various film simulations your highlights/blacks might end up beeing crushed anyway. You can even see this effect in action by playing around with camera color profiles in lightroom yourself.

With the fuji, if you shoot RAW+JPG then you can set LR to automatically apply the film simulation you chose in camera to the RAW on import. LR will also apply the in camera crop, so if you were shooting square you get a full RAW with a square crop in LR.. So best of both worlds.

Great looking location, lovely shots

Fully agree with you. JPEG&RAW. I am very careful about highlights/shadows, and in the main for social media use JPEG with a click or two. But when I want portfolio shots I will edit the RAW and export to JPEG under a very low compression. But then of course somebody looking at your work, at 2200hrs with True Tone on and the brightness down to 3 will still critique the work as being badly exposed…..

The reasoning you gave is exactly why I shoot jpeg+raw. I’d say about 1/10 of the images are worth keeping as a raw file for possible further editing / publishing. In 9/10 cases they are nice memories to have but nothing I’d consider publishing.

Well presented and solid, fair, mature advice.

Done a job recently of a barbershop on an xpro2, shot standard jpeg (cause I also don't like the film sims...) and then edited those files. Loved the process and the final look. No need for RAW most of the time!

Very glad youre incorporating Fujifilm cameras and shooting JPEG into your videos. Happy owner of several Fujifilm cameras. Maybe you can work on developing your own custom film simulation / recipe to share with us.

James, set the rear display to show the "film simulation". Then program the button next to the "Q" button to select film simulation. Now any time you want to change the film simulation, press the button and toggle up or down with the joy stick. No more flipping the screen up and down..

Man, I love your composition with okd/unique buildings and natural elements

I think there is merit in the jpegs and in your raw edits. This is a very interesting video-thanks for making it!

I shoot RAW+jpeg on my Fujifilm X100F whenI use it as my primary travel camera. I've set some custom recipies and love having the results without having to sit at a computer editing (I do enough of that with my job!). It is nice to have the RAW files however, just in case the scene requires it (or I got my settings wrong!). A question for James (and anyone else here) is that whilst I love my X100F I would love somehting with a bit more to it (image quality, weather sealing etc). I have looked at the X100V but am currently leaning towards the X-Pro3, as it seems to have everything I want in the X100V but with interchangable lenses. So my question is.. Is the X-Pro3 a good upgrade from the X100F over the X100V? And what lenses do you use/recommend for travel/street photography? Many thanks to anyone who answers/helps 🙂

Shooting only jpg from time to time is helpful to learn how to review pictures and settings while shooting on location. I did one year of jpg only when I got Fuji X100T and my photography improved a lot. I still do that for fun, but I also learned how to have great jpgs on Canon.

I bought the X100V 2 month before and the film simulation is amazing with this cam and the jpeg locks very great. Same with iso3200. For instagram enough. But shoot jpeg and raw to have a option to get out more of the image if i want.

i find as a beginner shooting in jpeg gets you a good idea of what you like shooting (style/colour/object) everything because the picture already looks good for a beginner but once youve found what you like shooting i would switch to raw.

Try editing in-camera with the Fuji. Shoot raw only then double tap Q to flip it into a jpeg or if it's a real zinger try a few different film sims/recipes. Makes zapping them over to your phone super simple because you can only zap the jpegs so just select all then import.

Great video as always. Can we have an iPhone comparison also please?

Can’t speak for Ricoh files, but in Capture One you have access to all of the Fuji film simulations that are available on the particular camera that the image was taken on. It remembers whatever profile you had chosen and automatically applies it to the RAW. It also allows you to switch to other various film simulations if you want to see what the image looks like with a different profile. Of course, it also allows you to just have the blank RAW if you’d like to do your own editing. If I’m not mistaken,l though, there are some things that are baked into the RAW, such as if you had your dynamic range at 400, or if you had added grain, etc.… that’s why you have to be careful if you’re using a film simulation from some thing like Fuji X weekly. A lot of those are pretty heavy handed with the effects. Anyway, just wanted to throw in the fact that you can also apply this simulations to the RAW images, not just the JPEGs. Thanks for another great video, James! Cheers!

Maybe it's because I spent so many years (mostly) shooting slide film before digital took over, but I shoot the biggest JPGs exclusively and perform modest edits. The time involved and expense (computer, software, etc) of editing RAW hasn't appealed to me (yet). Perhaps it will eventually.

The Ricoh seems like a great camera. There is the WG industrial version (weather sealed, drop resistant) is but I think had a 1" sensor

Unfortunately I'm also chiming in to say I preferred the JPG files here. The raw edits looked overexposed

Hey James, you should be out with your M-11 and 35mm or 40mm lens. You will really enjoy that. A 28mm Voightlander would be good also!

I personally cared for the jpeg photos the best. More my style I suppose, and I’m colorblind…thank you for that, James! Great shots! One thing I don’t hear anyone talking about when it comes to jpeg vs raw…my local camera shop who also does printing, will only accept jpegs for printing. Just something else to consider….love the channel James, watch all the time.

How do you feel about the 40mm focal length? I couldn’t get along with it.. it never felt wide enough. More often than it didn’t feel tight enough. However 35mm sometimes feels too wide, but not wide enough, however I love 35mm more than 40, weirdly.

I've had a Fuji X100V for a couple of years, and I think I've used a film sim jpeg as my final image maybe a handful of times. I shoot jpeg and raw, just for the sake of redundancy. But I only ever use the film sims as an inspiration for future raw edits my own style. I think that if you're comfortable with what the sims bake in, there's nothing wrong with shooting jpegs. I just like having the ability to come back to an image at a later date and do something completely different with it. Edit: Also, high capacity memory cards are dirt cheap these days.

I think its more about the workflow. I shoot RAW + JPEG (S), the small sized JPEGs will be uploaded to my phone via an SD card reader (could be with me anytime), while the RAW would sit in my hard drives and edit them when I feel like it. Edit: I also think getting the settings as good as possible in camera is necessary (slight underexposure is still perfectly fine), then you could make some minor edits on the iPhone's default editing app afterwards. For major edits like +1-2EVs or 1000K WB differences, editing RAW would still be the way to go. For client shoots, delivering great JPEGs for photo selection is also a good idea.

I shoot RAW+JPEG. With my Nikon cameras, I'm usually happy with the JPEG (with maybe a quick tweak to the exposure), but have the RAW available if I want to do more editing. Doesn't really cost much in terms of storage.

I like to shoot jpeg and do some light editing through vsco. Both ricoh and fuji. I've always found it frustrating to deal with raw files because it's so slow on my computer.

10:10 you can even set Lightroom to apply whatever profile you selected in-camera (just change to 'Camera Default' instead of 'Adobe Default' in your import settings)

I'm just a regular consumer and I always shoot Fuji RAW and export in camera the JPGs I want for direct use - sometimes the filmsim still needs editing. I keep then only precious RAWs that I might want to print one day or really need to recover highlights or shadows. It would of course be amazing if Fuji added that functionality in camera! Otherwise, I'd only like to be able to set the black/white point in the tone curve. Just in case I want to go for a faded look... otherwise I'm really happy not to see capture one so often anymore ☺️

All I can say is that I always shoot in Raw + JPG ever since I forgot to change the settings on my camera while only taking JPG photos, and went from sunny outdoor to a led light indoor. Everything inside turned blue. And there was nothing I could do about it when I realised it back home. Raw can save a lot of mistakes afterwards.

The absolutely very BEST JPEG image you can make in camera (Large, Fine) has already thrown away 3/4 of the totality of image information that hits the sensor before it records to the card. Drives me mad that so many folks obsess over pixel count and format (FX, APS-C or M4/3) and then brag about shooting JPEG 'straight out of camera!' like they are somehow mastering the craft of photography (which has ALWAYS included 'post processing' as an fully integral part of the craft.) Are JPEGs "SOOC" 'good enough?' Sure. If you are satisfied with 'good enough.' Me? I'll stick with shooting RAW and making the best images that I can with ALL of the available image information ...even last little photon...that I can get my hands on for the format I'm shooting with.

I think it depends what you want. James has a very clear colour style that is much easier to replicate post than in camera consistently across conditions. What I find harder to grasp is using raw to compensate for poor exposure or poor light, which used to be the key to the craft especially for those without access to skilled hand printing. Raw+post isn’t superior and neither is jpeg, it just depends whether you enjoy fiddling with a camera or a computer more.

jpgs for landscape photography? no, ofc not. But for street and docu photography, almost always. the ricoh had no business in your arsenal that day.

Interesting point of view. I normally shoot film, black and white. I do use micro 4/3. Olympus. Color. Not my favorite thing to do. I suppose I should use a program to fuss with the images like I do with an enlarger. 😊

Hey mate, where would I go about finding those profiles for the two click method?

What camera strap were you using? Looks fantastic !

Cool video ... let me throw my 2 cents in. I am always shooting to raw .. absolutely always when I am shooting landscapes .. but then I've bough a fujifilm x100f and I've found that for some genres the jpeg doesn't hurt .. I was playing with that fujifilm x-raw studio but it turned out to be so molestatory slow and torturous to use that in the end I just stick with jpgs from my fuji and sometimes I do little edits (typically just improving contrast a bit with curves and sometimes bit with colors with L*a*b tool) .. ofc that sometimes I enable a raw in my x100f (I have it really disabled mostly) but I've found some weird liking in shooting JPGs with Fuji (I use CC 95% of time and Acros R in the rest, I don't use any other profiles)

G95 user here: I shoot raw+jpeg and do raw editing in camera only when the jpeg doesn't come out right. Shoot compressed raw if you are worried about space. Sometimes jpegs come out looking like a cell phone, and it's just not worth missing a good shot.

I really enjoyed this video, it feels like classic Popsys to me.

I recommend all RAW+JPG shooters a plugin called "Syncomatic" for Lightroom, it's a very useful plugin for us to sync culling and editing decisions between the Raw and the Jpeg files. It would be much faster to cull through hundreds or thousands of jpgs instead of thousands of RAWs, as it would be taxing heavily on your computer's performance. My workflow goes like this: On my camera, I set the camera to save both RAW and JPG, and the JPG is a

I find that i set up some *really good* recipes for my film simulation on the fuji, and the dynamic range I get in my final jpg is exactly what I want. I find the way the film simulation handles colour and texture is much nicer then lightroom or darkroom apps on the computer. The edit of the raw has always just ended up feeling lifeless. Even compared to *matching the profile* in lightroom. I can't seem to get the raw images to match what the jpgs have, and I've just given up on raw.

How were you finding editing/photoshopping the jpeg images? In terms of removing/cloning out distractions etc.

Could you tell which model your monitor for photo editing is?

If you still have your G9, I think you said on a recent vlog you have, I’d be interested if you tried jpg shooting with it. I find LUMIX jpg very impressive. I find just using the Photos s/w on Macs can do 90% of what I like too.

Nikon's firmware allows you to apply "jpeg processing" to raw images after shooting from the retouch menu, so you can choose your look after the moment has passed (or apply multiple and compare). You can also upload custom jpeg profiles to the camera. I can't say i've ever needed it, but it's good to know it exists. Its also worth noting that on many cameras shooting jpeg can significantly increase the ready to shoot cycle time while to does the processing. This can be made worse when using raw+jpeg on a slow sd card

Thanks!

loved watching this.

I think you might have missed "A"point. (Not "The"point) I have always shot Jpegs and then edited in Lightroom. It is a starting point for me as I am red green colour blind so the camera does all the heavy lifting. It works for me and I'll stay with it. Great video as always.

love seeing people rock an xpro3 in videos. awesome camera.

When I was shooting digital I always did RAW + JPEG. Nowadays with film it feels so much better

@3:55 and that's why it is more like our film days - what you snap is what you get, no cheating (or no safety net) - it changes how you take pictures. Or ensures you take photography more seriously.

May I ask, did you use Lightroom for processing Fuji files or something else? I'm in the middle of choosing the compact camera, and what I'm worrying about, is that Fuji files have worm-like artifacts, and Ricoh have a clean photos in LR.

I think if you're good about your exposures, like you don't need to adjust exposure and brightness too much in post, JPEG is perfectly fine. RAW will always give you more flexibility but I know quite a few people who shoot OOC JPEGs simply because it's faster and they're really good about getting it right out of the camera as much as they can and minimizing the need for post processing. I mean I shoot RAW+JPEG, so if I need to give someone a picture quickly (and the photo doesn't really need much editing or it can stand on its own out of camera) then I may just give them the OOC JPEG (but I will always keep a RAW file too just in case for later, but I usually only find myself needing to give OOC JPEGs to family and friends, and so post processing for them is usually not needed unless it's maybe a family portrait or something like that).

Nowadays I always shoot jpeg + RAW purely because I can set the aspect ratio and the color profile and see what I want to get before I take the shot and then I use that jpeg as a reference to remind me what I had in mind when I shot the image. I never process my images straight after taking them. I tend to load them onto my computer and let them sit there for a week or two or a month or two 😂before I work on a bunch of images at once. The computer side of things doesn't really excite me as you can probably tell and these days I don't need to rush to process images for anyone anymore so I just suit myself. If I was still working with my images then I wouldn't need to shoot both as I'd process them probably the same day as I shot them so I'd just shoot RAW.

What strap and lens do you use on the x-pro 3?