The ultimate guide to file types in photography: part 1 - raw

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about photography file types. Over the next two videos I will cover everything you need to know and the things people never tell you.

Chapters:

0:00 - Intro
0:26 - What is a raw file?
1:19 - How to view a raw file
2:21 - How are raw files created?
7:12 - Are all raw file conversions the same?
10:51 - What data is in a raw file?
13:17 - Using raw file metadata
22:12 - The histogram and raw files
24:27 - Why is raw so editable

[a.bettywith]

Fantastic insight into RAW files, never knew anything about about raw files, an education.thanks

[ismailgazel]

I don't think there is a better channel on YouTube than this.

[Sky-rqjk]

Absolutely the best video I have ever watched explaining RAW files and metadata. Thank you Scott for you do for the photographic community.

[johnlocke]

Excellent, right up there with the best. I have learned more from this video than watching a hundred others.

[bruceborrowman]

Excellent description and presentation of the RAW formats. Thank you

[ItsWillLee]

Enjoy these videos very much, yourself & Simon D'entrémont (sp) have a great wealth of knowledge on topics I didnt know I'd find so interesting and very useful.

I've learnt a lot of "YouTube photographers" don't really understand what they're trying to explain, ISO being a popular misinformed setting.

Thank you for your time and expert knowledge! Looking forward to the next video.

Cheers

[billingalls]

I agree, very informative and interesting. I, too, look forward to the next installment.

[sue.Hoo]

🤯 lots of info to take in, but very useful and very well explained, thank you. Looking forward to part 2 👍

[petemellows]

Really great to see the different RAW editors colour profiles. I was hoping, after talking about Fuji and Capture One, that your comparisons would include Capture One.

[RetrieverTrainingAlone]

Excellent! Camera sensors have dynamic range for the primary additive colors of Red, Green, Blue (RGB). 8-bit files such as jpeg have a possible dynamic range of 0 to 255 for each RGB value. 16-bit RAW files have a possible dynamic range of 0 to 65, 535 for each RGB value.

[mitchellj.oconnor]

Very informative. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to the follow-up video.

[janvangastel]

Very interesting video, thank you. I am looking forward to the other video's about file types. I have found the click count of my OM-1 camera, using a method I found on the internet. I don't understand why it has to be so deeply hidden, while it must be possible to make this just as easy as finding other things in the menue.

[robertdupcak]

A very nice explanation and examples of RAW file nuances - nicely done! One slight correction - not all mirrorless cameras have a shutter (eg. Nikon Z8/Z9, and I'm sure others will follow).

[davidligon]

Excellent video, with a lot of great information! Your videos are always so informative. You said that JPEG are 8 bits per color channel, “which gives you a total of 256 pieces of information or levels of color per pixel.” Shouldn’t that be be 256 pieces of information per pixel color channel (8 bit), or 16 billion pieces of color information (24 bit) per pixel? Or should that be 256 levels of gray (from black to white) per pixel?

[winheiMR]

Schöne Erklärung, nur ein RAW Format hast du sicher Vergessen, ein spezieller noch obendrein, den Sigma X3F der nur in Sigma Kameras der alten Baureihe vorkommt, sogar einen für die Sigmareihe von Merrill gibt es, sind sehr empfindlich und seeeehr Detailreich aber man muß sehr gut Belichten sonst gibt es Farbrauschen.