Highlights from the 2006 RAW Survey - Chapter 2

Section II. Advantages and Disadvantages of Shooting in RAW Mode

What do photographers believe are the benefits of capturing digital images in RAW format?

Survey respondents were asked to rate 11 "potential benefits of shooting in RAW mode for your own photography" using a 5-point scale on which the value "1" meant "Not at all important" up through "5," which meant "Extremely important."

• Over 90% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to three of the eleven statements:
  • 94% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Ability to change many camera exposure settings (such as White Balance, exposure compensation, saturation, etc.) post-capture," with 79% indicating this factor is extremely important.
  • 92% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Offers the most control over final image appearance," with 70% rating this factor as extremely important.
  • 90% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Wider dynamic range," and 68% considered this factor extremely important.

• Over 80% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to two of the eleven statements:
  • 82% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Can extract more detail with lower noise from RAW image files," and 52% considered this factor extremely important.
  • 82% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Ability to edit more tonal characteristics of RAW image files," with 51% indicating this factor is extremely important.

• Over 70% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to four of the eleven statements:
  • 78% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Greater color bit depth," with 48% rating this factor as extremely important.
  • 73% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Ability to reprocess RAW file again with newer software for improved results," with 46% indicating this factor is extremely important.
  • 75% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Best image format to avoid artifacts in post-capture editing," and 44% considered this factor extremely important.
  • 73% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Provides some 'insurance' against errors at the time of capture," with 42% rating this factor as extremely important.

• Two of eleven statements were rated as "4" or "5" by less than 60% of respondents:
  • Only 38% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Best balance of image data and file size," and only 20% considered this factor extremely important.
  • Only 58% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Ability to choose RAW software that gives best results for a specific image," with only 33% rating this factor as extremely important. 34% of respondents gave this statement a rating of "1" or "2."

What do photographers believe are the main disadvantages of capturing digital images in RAW format?

Survey respondents were asked to rate 11 "potential disadvantages of shooting in RAW mode for your own photography" using a 5-point scale on which the value "1" meant "Not a problem" up through "5," which meant "Major problem."

• Less than 30% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to five of the eleven statements:
  • 28% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Archival storage space required," with only 9% identifying this factor as a major problem. 25% stated that this factor is not a problem.
  • 24% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "In-camera storage space required," with only 8% reporting this factor as a major problem. 27% reported this factor is not a problem.
  • 23% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Too few choices of RAW conversion or editing software available to me," with only 9% indicated this factor is a major problem. 38% reported this factor is not a problem.
  • Only 18% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Poor quality of RAW conversion or editing software available to me," with 8% rating this as a major problem, and 43% indicating this factor is not a problem.
  • Only 17% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Learning curve of RAW workflow," with 4% indicating this was a major problem, and 33% rating this factor as not a problem.

• At least 30% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to three of the eleven statements:
  • 30% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Additional costs (time and computing power) to prepare RAW images for end use," with 10% rating this factor as a major problem. 22% indicated this was not a problem.
  • 31% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Amount of post-processing work required," with 10% indicating this factor is a major problem. 18% indicated this factor was not a problem.
  • 30% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Time required for camera to write larger RAW files," and 11% considered this factor a major problem. 22% stated that this factor was not a problem.

• Over 60% of respondents gave rating scores of "4" or "5" to three of the eleven statements:
  • 63% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Uncertainty about having software to render or edit RAW files when the camera that shot them is discontinued," with 43% indicating this factor is a major problem. Only 10% of respondents thought this was not a problem.
  • 66% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Camera makers' unwillingness to open important aspects of RAW file contents to independent software developers," with 44% rating this factor as a major problem. Only 8% reported that this factor was not a problem.
  • 71% gave ratings of "4" or "5" to "Lack of a standard, open format for RAW files that's documented like JPG or TIFF," and 47% considered this factor to be a major problem. Only 7% of respondents indicated this was not a problem.