Question by kelbo4424: What websites rate the overall JPEG quality of digital SLR cameras?
I’d like to be able to compare one camera to the next. Thanks!
Best answer:
Answer by Ezra
Digital Photography Review (link below, in sources) does some great image tests… but you should know that your question is not the best way to judge quality.
Choosing a digital SLR by comparing JPEG quality is akin to selecting a race car by comparing the types of materials used to line the floor and trunk on a stock model. Neither test will give you an accurate portrayal of the quality or performance of the final product; it’s just fluff that you won’t (or at least, shouldn’t) be using professionally.
A JPEG from a digital SLR is really just intended to be a preview. You should learn to work with RAW files. It’s much easier than most people think, and they are VASTLY superior in overall quality, in addition to being easier to alter.
For starters, a JPEG is a compressed image. Great if you’re trying to save space or if you need an image to be usable by everyone, but not so great for quality. Think of it as a photocopy of your image. In addition to losing detail, JPEGs also tend to over-saturate images, especially at the red end of the spectrum. I shoot a lot of bands in dim nightclubs, and my images would be blurry shapes lost in vast swaths of red and orange if I only used JPEGs.
Then there’s the issue of adjustment. Many people don’t know this, but RAW files actually allow you to essentially “re-expose” the photograph, almost as if you were taking it again. Of course, you can’t change things like shutter speed or aperture (and thus, blur, depth of field, etc.), but RAW files contain all the the raw data from the original exposure, so you can fix under- or over-exposed images quickly and easily, assuming you aren’t *too* far from a good exposure. (Within a couple of stops is usually fine.)
So, the short answer to your question is that I would recommend Digital Photography Review for good image tests and statistical information about the output quality, but that you should really be outputting as RAW, rather than JPEG. That’s what any professional photographer worth their salt does, and there’s a reason for it. You can always save or export your final image as a JPEG, but start with a RAW file. You’ll be glad you did.
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