Canon (s95/S100/p300) How much more flexibility does RAW really give?

ashatron

New Member
Hi guys!

I'm in a small dilemma in terms of a compact camera. My current choices are the nikon p300, canon s95 and s100.

The s100 is a chunk more money than the other two, so I'm gonna cancel it out. The p300 has the 24mm wide angle (vs the s95's 28mm), but no RAW.

So im trying to choose what is more important to me, RAW or the 24mm wide angle. But in order to do this I'm wanting to know how much more flexibility does RAW really give you?

I've got a m43 cam and processed RAW quite a few times before, but as a novice i cant really say that using the RAW files benefited me any more than JPEG. I know it does offer more flexibility in post processing, but i'm wanting to know how much more.

I'll do a processing test with RAW vs jpeg to try and see the difference, but I would love to hear your thoughts in terms of these compact cams.

cheers :)
 
Swings and roundabouts with RAW and jpeg really. For RAW to shine you do need to put in the post processing work to get results you couldn't achieve with jpeg. I think the decision comes down to 3 things in particular.

1) Can you afford to screw up the odd shot due to poor white balance or exposure? RAW can fix the white balance and has more latitude with poor exposure.

2) If you like to shoot in continuous mode often and value a fast frame rate then RAW might not be up to speed. This is particularly true of compacts.

3) If you cannot commit the time, money or effort involved in post processing then you'll gain little using RAW.
 
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