Drop in IQ while converting from RAW to JPG

[dev2k8]

Hi ! I'm a newbie and i like shooting in RAW format. However, i notice that everytime i use Canon's software to convert and save, i notice a drop in IQ in the Jpeg format. Is this normal? Or is there another software you guys are using like CS3 or something like that? Thks for reading!

[TroyP]

Im a Nikon user (D90). I shoot in RAW and use Adobe CS3 to open/edit RAW. It has a much better plugin.

[ExplorerZ]

nv use canon before, but at what quality do you save ur jpg as?

[phan_vinh_nguyen]

How can you define the "quality" of a RAW file? Because the data in RAW file is basically not yet interpreted to be viewed on screen or printed on paper, therefore cannot compare to Jpeg. The image of RAW file some softwares show is just a sample, one way of interpret the data only, and not reflect the "quality" of RAW file at all.

[Rurouni]

You should google up on the comparisions between the popular RAW convertors online (e.g. Aperture 2, Lightroom 2 etc). Some do better than others

[dev2k8]

i'm not too sure whether there's a choice of jpeg compression cos the option is just "convert and save". It's one of those digital photography software from Canon's original CD that comes with the cam. Just that whether or not you pp anything on the RAW pic then convert and save, the end result is just not the same...the sharpness,colour saturation etc. I've yet to compare whether if I take in large Jpeg format will it be better off but I still prefer RAW as the options are wonderful!

[Rashkae]

no matterwhat, you will always lose some level of detail. Jpeg is a compressed format.

[Tumbleweed]

Originally Posted by dev2k8 i'm not too sure whether there's a choice of jpeg compression cos the option is just "convert and save". It's one of those digital photography software from Canon's original CD that comes with the cam. Just that whether or not you pp anything on the RAW pic then convert and save, the end result is just not the same...the sharpness,colour saturation etc. I've yet to compare whether if I take in large Jpeg format will it be better off but I still prefer RAW as the options are wonderful!

I believe the software you are using is the Canon Digital Photo Professional. When you want to convert the RAW file to another format you press Ctrl-D and the Convert and Save window will appear. In this window you will see "Quality Setting" and "Image Quality" if you had chosen JPEG as your format of choice. For maximum quality, set the image quality value to "10".

However for the best quality, I suggest you save it as 8-bit or 16-bit TIFF files which are lossless files but you will end up with larger file sizes. Try it out!