JPEG can look great –5 tips for better JPEGs

JPEG can look great –5 tips to better JPEGs
Although RAW is many times recommended picture format, there can be many reasons to take jpeg-photos. In this video I'm going to tell you five tips to better jpegs.
If you found this useful, buy me a coffee and that keeps me making more useful videos:
My name is Matti Sulanto, I'm a photographer and a Lumix ambassador based in Helsinki Finland. I'll publish a new video twice a week.
I make my content using Panasonic Lumix cameras and lenses. Some of the equipment I use is my own and some is on loan from Panasonic.

[tonygarrett]

This is an excellent video. I’m glad that some professional photographers are now extolling the virtues of shooting JPEGs. I shoot JPEG and my fellow hobbyists used to consider me as some sort of pariah! I use Fujifilm cameras and lenses and those lenses and camera sensors give extraordinary JPEG results. I can print straight from the camera and get well- balanced results. People who look at my work never ask me about whether I shoot in RAW or JPEG. It would be like someone asking Picasso what type of brushes he used in his paintings. Thank you for posting your video.

[geirjohannesen]

My habits where formed in the old days when I shot Kodachrome slides. The picture should be perfect the moment you took it.

[Dżudas-qo]

The i-dynamic function in AUTO mode provides the same results as playing with the tone curve in camera, if not better. The tonal curve function on the Panasonic camera is completely redundant.

[mightyboessu]

If you get paid for your work, you don't have the time to grade hundreds of photos perfectly in Lightroom. Nobody would pay you for that really. Except someone is really ready to pay you for that of course... So the idea that professionals "do always shoot RAW and rework anything in Lightroom through the night" is a bit of an urban legend.

There are a lot of professional photographers who capture RAW and JPEG in parallel (that's often a setting in the camera). There are the following reasons:
- They use the JPEG to compare their Lightroom work with RAW to have some sort of reference. If you work hours on a picture, it's sometimes good to have that "reference of reality".
- If the JPEG is good enough and already what they expect, they use the JPEG. It doesn't make sense to spend hours into RAW if the JPEG out of camera is just fine enough.
- Some cameras, which have 2 memory slots, are able to shoot RAW on one slot and JPEG on the 2nd slot. So you have then the RAW and JPEG's separated. Often the photographer goes through the JPEG's and pick the RAW's where the JPEG's need some work. And you have a backup of course.

Be aware that not all cameras have the same JPEG engine.
- It seems as a lot of professionals like the Canon engine, as the colors are very accurate out of the camera.
- Some like the Nikon engine as it tries to re-use the sensor noise like film granularity.
- Sonys produce a bit more snappy and sharpened pictures than others (BTW they even have processed and lossy compressed RAW files...).
- There is an obvious faithful fan base around the film simulations in the Fujis. You're even able to shoot 3 simulations at once with a special "Bracketing" setting, so you can choose which JPEG you like the most.
So if you shoot JPEGs, the first recommendation is: If you like to shoot JPEG, you should have a look on what JPEGs the camera produces and you should like what you see. Every brand is a bit different in that area and has a different philosophy. That's a bit like buying a set of expensive speakers: You should listen to them before you buy them.

[rayjenkins]

There are a # of useful features - on my G9 - that don't work when shooting Raw. Enjoyed this topic.

[jpsteiner]

Thanks! Very good explanation. Very helpful in understanding how such things as the histogram and the shadows curve (s-curve, etc) inform / affect the image. Have you done a similar “RAW” video that talks about your top 5 post-processing tips (when using Lightroom, DxPro, etc)?

[MrChristopherwren]

The topic is unique. It captured my attention to watch this clip. I mainly shoot raw, but there occasions that I take photos of my friends and they need it right away.

[PeterVlutters]

Great Tips in another Great video👍

Love your T-shirt 👍

[pavlosspyropoulos]

ty sulantoblog for your fast response i have figured it out why the grey out settings in my panasonic DMC-GX85, it was because the creative art mode was on and grey out all the other settings ty.

[hurleygreen]

Excellent tutorial! I shoot JPEGS mostly because I want to get the best image in the camera with least post processijng, and also because
RAW files take up SO MUCH space on the memory card and computer files.. Keep up te great work!.

[ДмитрийГлумов-жю]

Спасибо за видео. Отличный урок. Был полезен для меня 👍

[ravindrajahagirdar]

Hi Marti, it was great. Such clarity ! It was great to hear you and I like your susre-shot confidence.

[MichaelGerrard]

You don't need to start with "What's up" ;-)
I shoot jpeg and it is for the reason you mentioned, I just have the time nor energy to mess with my photos after. I am not a Pro so my photos don't have to be A grade. My jpegs still look great in my opinion. The photo styles are useful as you say. I use Standard mostly but sometimes on a cloudy day Vivid is better. The monochrome options are nice too, when I am in the mood for b&w :-). Thanks for the video, keep them coming!

[alessior]

Thanks for the tips . I’m an amateur. I shoot always and only in JPEG for two reasons. I’m not iterested in overediting, a little crop, a little adjustment in brightness and contrast, of needed. I like to share my pictures with my family and my friends and olso with myself on different devices . I try to make my best in camera. I think that RAW is for Professional photographers

[LeoCastroFot]

Thanks for sharing your point of view, Sulanto! I am not against RAW in some very specific situations, but I (me!) only shoot in JPEG. For these reasons, as follows: 1. Part of the price I paid for my camera relates to its internal software and what it can do for me. Oh my God! In practice, on the run, on the field, on the wild it makes a huge difference; 2. I never needed RAW to deliver my photos as I wanted and/or needed (including fine art large format prints). Not yet!; 3. I save a lot of processing resources on click, plus some battery, memory card and hard drive; 4. I should not benefit from 20, maybe 30% of the possibilities that RAW would theoretically provide me in post production, and yes, partly due to the skills beyond my photographer assignments; 5. I simply would not have time to process each of my images (part intended for printing, part intended for stock) into RAW to justify the disadvantages of having them. Exacerbated increase in costs!; 6. I don't believe (not at all!) that RAW shooting defines your photography knowledge or market position. I say this from my own experience. I have been shooting a lot in RAW, but have concluded that I do not need it for very, very similar results. So I am still looking for a justification for abandoning JPEG. Maybe someone can point me one or two! :)

[arminloacker]

Thank you for this video! I am a rawshooter. But for my Beginnerstudents, your JPG- settings are perfect.

[patrickbenn]

An excellent video, and a great follow up to your last video on street photography as many street photographers prefer to shot in JPEG. Lumix cameras are great for street photography as they are small and light. I am new to Lumix, having shot RAW on Canon for years. Your station is the best on the web as far as using Lumix products is concerned.

[Dżudas-qo]

I switched from the fz 1000 to the G9 with a Leica 12-60 lens
I don't see much difference in image quality. Unfortunately the worst thing about the G9 is that the camera seems to have some kind of light protection function sewn in and you can't change it. In a contrasting frame (bright sky - forest) the Panasonic G9 always underexposes the image protecting the sky and covers the shadows with black. The image style is STANDARD without any adjustments. I-Dynamic - AUTO
Panasonic fz 1000 works much better under the same conditions. The shadows are detailed and the sky is clear.
Generally for all images with the G9 I have to use exposure compensation to the right to lighten the shadows. I think I will sell the G9 and buy the G80.

[aengusmacnaughton]

Thank you -- I shoot raw+JPG all of the time on my G85, with the Standard (unmodified) picture profile -- and I must admit that I almost always use the JPG files with some tweaks in Cyberlink PhotoDirector (LightRoom equivalent) as it is just faster! And these are usually to share with family -- "snapshots." And the quality is fine. If I really need to tweak something and get it ready for printing 8x10 or larger -- then I edit the raw file in PhotoDirector -- and yes, I can really deal with the shadows and highlights a lot better, and the overall sharpness/color transitions hold up a lot better than editing the JPG files. So I have the luxury of doing both -- until I run out of hard drive space to save both types of files!!!! But I should mess around a little more with the in-camera settings that affect the JPG profile/output -- as I always tend to do the same types of edits in PhotoDirector to the JPG files -- so why not do it when shooting instead of spending all of the time in post??? Thanks again!

[jeffslade]

With jpeg the i.Dynamic plays with the contrast and highlight/shadow whereas the i.Resolution plays with the sharpening. Marlene Hielema explains this fer better than I can.
These and the Photo-Style adjustments are all gain parameters and do have a knock-on into the Extended-Raw. If they have turned the gain up and caused blow-out in jpeg, the raw can be blown-out too.
Lumix use an "Extended-RAW", the camera settings are encoded into it therefore the converter should display and default to what the camera intended, and then let you play with it (shoot raw+jpeg). The usual suspect raw converter doesn't understand the Extended-Raw.