I don’t shoot RAW with my Fujifilm X100F. I rely on camera-made JPEGs.
Wait! Don’t click the X in the corner! Let me explain.
Those who shoot JPEGs have been unfairly stigmatized. It’s kind of crazy. You will find on message boards, social media posts, and in the comment section of websites this argument that RAW is for pros and JPEG is for amateurs.
And it’s not true. Or not completely true. But it’s touted as if it’s common knowledge.
There are many professional photographers who don’t use RAW. Perhaps they don’t have time to mess with it (constantly off to new assignments or their photos are needed immediately). Maybe their clients demand straight-out-of-camera JPEGs (think photojournalists). Or they simply like the look of their camera-made JPEGs (mostly, this is Fujifilm users). Whatever the reason, there are many pros that prefer JPEGs over RAW. No, really, this is a fact.
And vice versa. There are plenty of amateurs that shoot RAW because someone on the internet said that they should. They don’t know what they’re doing or why, but they’re doing it anyway because they don’t want to be thought of as amateurish.
So if professional photographers are using JPEG and amateurs are using RAW, what does this do for that argument that RAW is for pros and JPEG is for amateurs? It shows that it is poppycock–empty words by people who try to make themselves seem superior.
“But, really, you should learn how to use RAW,” someone is saying in their heads right now. If that’s you, here is something you should know: I’ve been shooting and editing RAW files for a decade. I’ve shot tens of thousands of RAW exposures. I know all about RAW. I might even have more experience with it than you. So stop.
It’s ridiculous that I have to qualify this before I even begin to type the rest of this article. But if I don’t, everything else that I want to say will be dismissed. People will tune out.
Digital Film
Sitting Large – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F
With the X100F, Fujifilm has elevated the camera-made JPEG to a whole new level. They made several significant improvements. They added a new monochrome setting and film grain. This is a big deal!
Before I get ahead of myself, I want to talk a little about how Fujifilm rethought the whole camera-made JPEG concept. They approached it differently, and it shows in the results.
You are probably well aware that Fujifilm was a popular film manufacturer well before digital photography was big. They still make film. The soul of the company is analog film photography.
Fujifilm took their knowledge and experience with film and applied it to their digital cameras. They designed and programmed that analog soul into their modern cameras.
Hair & Lips – Ogden, UT – Fujifilm X100F
You can see this in how they process digital noise. It looks completely different on Fujifilm cameras. They did their best to make the noise look less digital and more organic, more like film grain.
Fujifilm also came up a neat little trick for maximizing dynamic range. Basically, the camera underexposes to prevent clipped highlights, then increases the shadows and midtones to the appropriate level. It’s very seamless, but the results are far superior to the narrow dynamic range found on typical camera-made JPEGs.
Because of things like that, Fujifilm JPEGs are better than everyone else’s. I call it Digital Film.
RAW Because You Have To
KeyBank Building – SLC, UT – Fujifilm X100F
But camera-made JPEGs don’t have to stink. Your camera could be programmed in such a way that the strait-out-of-camera JPEGs look like how you would make them look if you shot RAW and post-processed them on your computer. The technology exists. Camera makers just haven’t included it in their products.
If the JPEGs produced by your camera matched the look of your post-processed RAW files, why would you continue to shoot RAW? Why wouldn’t you save a whole ton of time and money and shoot JPEG instead?
The Fujifilm X100F is the first camera that I have ever used that I feel produces JPEGs that match how I would edit my RAW files. It creates in-camera the look that I want. That’s why I don’t shoot RAW. That’s why I am now a JPEG only guy.
Consistency
Lightning Strikes Antelope Island – Layton, UT – Fujifilm X100F
When you shot film, you exposed a whole roll of it, typically 24 or 36 exposures. All of the images you captured had a consistent look because they were captured using the same film. When you embarked on a project, you used the same film for the entirety of that project.
Even thinking long term, my images had a consistent look because most were captured with one of a handful of different films. Over the course of years, even decades, there was a uniformity to the look of my pictures.
Ilford Harman Technology – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F
I think it’s better to have a consistent look that you can easily recognize. Especially within projects. It shouldn’t be all over the place. It looks incoherent if its inconsistent.
By shooting JPEG and relying on the Film Simulations found in the X100F, I can get back to the consistent look that I achieved as a film shooter. I have a few custom recipes that I use, and because of that there is a uniformity that my pictures lacked for a long time.
Authenticity
Haugen – Farmington, UT – Fujifilm X100F
But there is a point when a photograph loses its authenticity. Its not hard to move from photography into graphic design or digital artistry. Photography is less believable now than it used to be.
I get asked often, “Is that how it really looked? How much did you Photoshop this?” People look at photography as a mix of reality and fantasy. They don’t take it at face value anymore. It lacks truth, it lacks authenticity.
Man In The Straw Hat – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F
Many news outlets have begun requiring that only straight-out-of-camera JPEGs be submitted. There have been too many examples where some photograph in a big story turned out to be significantly edited. Now many news outlets want only what the camera captured, no manipulation please! This is to save the integrity of the genre, which has lost significant credibility.
Shooting JPEGs allows you to answer, “This is how the camera captured it. I didn’t use Photoshop or any other software. This is straight from the camera unedited.” This isn’t for bragging rights. There is value in creating authentic pictures, and this is becoming more true every day.
Conclusion
Yashica Rangefinder & Fujicolor – South Weber, UT – Fujifilm X100F
As I was driving away, I thought that this is how it should be every time. In the past I would have spent a day post-processing the pictures. But since the straight-out-of-camera JPEGs look so darn good, I felt more than comfortable delivering them to the client unedited. And this person contacted me twice afterwards to tell me just how pleased he was with the pictures. “They were perfect,” he said.
I save so much time and money by not shooting RAW. There are plenty of good reasons to choose JPEG instead, all of which I laid out above. All of the photographs in this article that were captured using the X100F are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I just wish that there wasn’t such a stigmatic attitude towards it. But times are changing, and technology is advancing, and I think that the lowly camera-made JPEG will see new life in the upcoming years.
I have been shooting JPEG for a while with mi X-100F too. I got some nice shots, and it is somehow liberating, knowing that there is not much you can do to change a picture after it is taken.
I still shoot JPEG when I go to a BBQ Party and take some shots here an there. Everybody wants to have their Picture and they don´t care if its technicaly perfect. The consistency you talked about is also very important in such a case.
So, for some street photography, family photography and “documentary” stuff JPEGs are fine, and almost “the way to go”. BUT! I personaly cannot live with that Limitation when I am looking for a “fine art” look.
I have a relatively recient example:
I took in Madison Av. in NYC. I remember it amazing: Golden light, deep shadows and to my eyes, a not blown-out sky. The camera didn´t remember it like that though!: No golden light, flat boring gray shadows, and the sky was totaly blown out. No highlight detail at all! There was nothing I could do even with the in-camera RAW processor.
I opened my photo in capture one (any software would do), played around with the colors, brought down the Highlights, threw in some deeper shadows, and got a beautiful Image which I printed at about 30″ diagonal. It looks amazing.
If I only had the JPEG I would have probably deleted it. But I actualy enjoyed the process of bringing that photo back to life!
Neither are you an Amateur for shooting JPEG nor are the RAW shooters idiots for wasting their time shooting RAW. There is a place for both.
Keep up with your blog, I am enjoying this a lot! Thank you 🙂
Thank you, David, for the thorough and thoughtful comment! I do sometimes shoot RAW+JPEG just so I have the RAW backup, but I try hard to get it right in-camera before exposure. A few times I have used the in-camera RAW converter, and late last year I briefly played around with the new X RAW Studio, but outside of that I haven’t post-processed a single RAW file in the last five or six months. And, as you put it, it’s liberating! As you also said, there is nothing wrong with RAW, either, and there is certainly a time and place for it. Thanks again!
I like you have shot raw since ca 2000. And now I rely on the in-camera jpegs. I echo many of the reason you related in the article. The sheer simplicity of treating the camera as film is fun and freeing. I guess, having faith that images will turn out good is a big leap considering how Lightroom/Capture One is the great processor in the sky. And having that faith in in-camera processing makes for a very different experience, especially so many years knowing post processing was the next step.
What made me change? After comparing side-by-side raw-jpegs…I noticed subtle color shifts that the raw were producing and I could not figure a way to repeat exactly as jpegs. I could get close, but maybe the color transitions were slightly different or contrast was off….I began to think WOW Fuji actual knows…I surrender!!!
Thanks for the great write up, keep up the good work!
Thanks, Anthony, for your comment! I do think Fujifilm “gets it” while other camera makers just think if you’re serious you’ll shoot RAW. With Fuji cameras, with RAW, you spend more time trying to get the files to look like the camera-made JPEGs, and it makes sense to “surrender” and rely more on the camera and less on post-processing software.
I only shoot in jpeg with my X-e3. For a very simple reason that I do not get better results in post-processing than jpegs. taken out by my camera. Now if I was professional I will take photos in Raw and JPEG because in France only the possession of the Raw file confirms the property of the photo.
That’s a big reason why I rely on the camera-made JPEGs. They look so good, and I found myself preferring them to the RAW files that I spent several minutes working on. Thanks for commenting!
I just wanted to comment as a novice and avocational photographer. I only use the X100F for personal enjoyment and since I’m traveling in Asia after retirement, to capture the moments I find. I only shoot JPEGs because it seems simpler to me to learn. The X100F produces beautiful JPEGs but I also have come back and looked at some and knew some editing would make it better. But that’s a learning experience for me. I stay longer in each place I visit so I go out every day in a new direction in Hanoi. I don’t think shooting in RAW would work for me. Perhaps I want the immediate gratification and learning. Having only JPEG files at the end of the day seems easier for a newbie like me. Perhaps one day I will shoot in RAW or RAW+JPEG. I kinda doubt it though. When it becomes more work than fun, I doubt I would continue. I don’t use the camera to make money or satisfy reviewers or submit my photography anywhere.
Yep, Fuji jpegs are awesome, I love them. Moreover now w/ the latest cameras you have even the possility to tinker w/ the on-board Fuji engine via X RAW Studio sw. I would love to try one of those gems but my X-E2 doesn’t want to leave me yet 🙂
I really like the X-E series. Enjoy your camera, it’s a good one.