Re: Best format question

Pat wrote:
On Sep 18, 4:03 pm, Peter in New Zealand
<peterbalp...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello. I am going to ask what is probably an incredibly basic question,
so please be gentle with me. I have been keen on photography all my
life, from my first Kodak Box Brownie in 1952, through to my grand old
SLR. Then I discovered digital, with which I am still very much a
beginner. I have a liffle Fuji FinePix A340 that only saves in JPG. For
about three years I have happily shot away and built up a collection in
this format. Recently I discovered that this format is prone to
progressive quality loss over successive saves. One or two of my images
show this, as they have been extensively worked on. I just love fiddling
with them on the computer.

Trying to research this issue I came to the conclusion that TIF might be
better for storage. Drive space is not an issue for me, so thre's plenty
of room for them. The thing is, my camera only produces JPGs. I can't
afford to replace it with one that has the TIF option. However I do have
software that will batch convert image formats. So will it help if I get
the JPG images off the camera and immediately convert them to TIF before
doing anything else with them?

Grateful thanks for any advice you can offer this old fella.
--
Peter in New Zealand. (Pull the plug out to reply.)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
compulsive computer fiddler.

Don't worry too much about the jpg format. Lots and lots of
professionals use it and it is the universal format for getting
something professionally printed. Here are a few suggestions and
thoughts.

First, set your quality to maximum in your software so you don't keep
recompressing everything.

2, keep your originals separate from your working files -- that's
standard no matter what workflow you're using.

C, stop taking pictures upside down just because your one the wrong
side of the globe ;-)

iv, you should be able to pick up a photo editor like Gimp for next to
nothing (okay, Gimp IS nothing) and use that. Then store in Gimp's
format. Photoshop Elements is also reasonable, about US$90.

Just because you open something, say for printing, doesn't mean you
have to save it again if you haven't made any changes.

With RAW, disk space does become an issue. I've shot about 3,400
pictures in the last month and will shot that many more in the next
month. Yes, disk space becomes an issue. Time also becomes an issue.

Yes, in many ways RAW is better, but it isn't a cure-all and it comes
with a price. But jpg isn't perfect either and that, too, comes with
a price.


OK, I'm starting to get a handle on all this now. One common thread running through most replies is keeping the original image file untouched as a "negative" and working only on copies. Sounds so obvious, but some basic image management software doesn't encourage that. The other thing that has occured to me is the fact that I should spend more time before taking the pic, like in the old film days, rather than rely so much on post shoot editing. Perhaps I have been carried away with the fact that I can blast away without worrying about the cost of film. (grin) Anyway, I understand that if I keep post shoot editing and resaving to a reasonable minimum jpg should be OK.

Note to Pat: I WILL try an remember not to turn the camera up side down - maybe if I stand on my head that will help?? Good joke, but serious point made re maximising pre shoot work to minimise post shoot editing.

I will look at the Gimp. I tried it once before and kind of recoiled from the unfamiliar interface and incredible capability of the program. Does "Gimpshop" (think I got that right) have the same capabilities as the "naked" Gimp? Obviously I need to stop being a bit lazy and devote some serious time to getting to know the software. Just been trying to stick with what I know, but my version of Photo Studio is pretty old, although it runs on Vista OK I first used it on Windows 98SE!

My grateful thanks to you all for your patience with my basic questions - you've all been a real help and I appreciate it.
--
Peter in New Zealand. (Pull the plug out to reply.)
Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and compulsive computer fiddler.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Best format question
    ... Recently I discovered that this format is prone to progressive quality loss over successive saves. ... Trying to research this issue I came to the conclusion that TIF might be better for storage. ... So will it help if I get the JPG images off the camera and immediately convert them to TIF before doing anything else with them? ...
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  • Re: Best format question
    ... I have a liffle Fuji FinePix A340 that only saves in JPG. ... Recently I discovered that this format is prone to ... my camera only produces JPGs. ... so much on post shoot editing. ...
    (rec.photo.digital)
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    (rec.photo.digital)
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