DIGITAL EOS ESSENTIALS

Raw: What is it good for?

There’s more to Canon’s Raw image format than meets the eye

Before you take a photo, you need to decide which format you want it to be recorded in: JPEG or Raw. The EOS-1D X Mk III also introduces a third option to the Canon range – HEIF (High Efficiency Image Format). This gives the same file size as a JPEG, but with a wider dynamic range (for more detail in shadows and highlights) and a greater colour depth.

Raw files, JPEGs and HEIFs all start out in the same way – as the raw data captured by the camera sensor. To create the JPEG or HEIF, the camera processes this raw data using the camera settings you’ve dialled in, and then compresses the file before saving it to the memory card.

With a Raw file, the camera bypasses the processing stage, saving the raw image data and the information about the camera settings in a single,