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Best Black and White Profiles

Testing Which Camera Has the Best Black and White JPEG Profile

I love the beauty and simplicity of black-and-white photography, and there's little process simpler than setting a camera to your preferred black-and-white mode and running wild with straight-of-the-camera JPEG files. But not all black-and-white picture profiles are equal, so which is the best?

RAW vs. JPEG: Which Image Format is Best?

We all have been there at some point in our photographic journeys: Our cameras, set to AUTO, pointing and clicking, saving JPEG images that we perhaps edit a little and put in an album to archive. Maybe we throw on an Instagram filter to fancy it up for social media. Then we forget about these images for a while.

What is a JPEG? Everything You Need to Know

JPEG is, by far, the most popular image format for digital photographs and images in the world. An overwhelming majority of photos are stored and shared in this format, typically with a .jpg or .jpeg file extension, because it was a necessity of the early internet to keep file sizes smaller to enable faster transfer speeds.

How to Convert HEIC to JPG

Photographers have to deal with a variety of image types and new file formats appear from time to time, usually offering benefits that, while helpful, might not be immediately obvious. This can lead to frustration and hours lost when simply trying to complete a project. That's particularly true when a new camera or device saves images that can't be opened or edited in the normal workflow.

Kandao QooCam EGO

The Kandao QooCam EGO Shoots and Displays 3D Photos

Kandao, a virtual reality technology company, has announced the QooCam EGO, what it calls the world's first handheld stereoscopic camera. It is a pocket-sized 3D camera and display device that allows photographers to shoot, edit, view, and share 3D photos.

Apple ProRAW Review: The Best Way to Shoot RAW on an iPhone

Earlier today, Apple officially released Apple ProRAW via iOS 14.3. This new hybrid image format claims to give you the best of both worlds: AI-powered computational photography on the one hand, and the flexibility of a 12-bit RAW file on the other. But does it deliver the goods? In a word: yes.

Canon R5 and R6: Comparing the File Formats (RAW, CRAW, JPEG, and HEIF)

In my last article, I shot images with both the Canon R5 and Canon R6 to compare the ISO performance of both cameras. As always, this lead to a lot of comments, emails, and DMs asking me if I could also compare the different file formats of these cameras. While I still have both these cameras on loan from Canon, I decided that now would be a good time to tests these parameters for all of you (and me too).

RAW vs JPEG: Explaining the Difference with a Box of Cereal

In running my photography channel, I get a lot of questions about RAW files vs. JPEG, and some people not fully grasping exactly what RAW files really are. So, I figured a box of cereal may simplify things. Read on.

A Deep Dive on JPEG Quality and What Export Settings You Should Use

Photographer Jamie Gillies recently went down the deep, dark rabbit hole known as "JPEG quality." Now that he's emerged on the other side, he's sharing the knowledge that h'se gained so that you too can understand how JPEG quality works, and what export settings to use for the best possible results.

How to Use the Underrated FTP Transfer Feature on Sony Cameras

The FTP transfer feature in the Sony α7 Mark III (and other newer Alpha models) doesn't usually get a lot of attention. Sure, with all the modern technologies and apps, it's easy to overlook this humble feature. But when it comes to transferring RAW and JPEG files, FTP can really hold its own.

JPEGs May Get AI for Smaller Files and Blockchain for Greater Trust

The Joint Photographic Experts Group, the committee behind the JPEG image file, recently held its 86th meeting in Sydney, Australia, and among the topics discussed was using artificial intelligence for greater image procession and using blockchain (the technology pioneered by Bitcoin) for a new system of trust.

Canon Has ‘Moved On to HEIF,’ But Won’t Ditch JPEG Completely… Yet

A report by Digital Camera World earlier this week initially claimed that Canon was ditching JPEGs, replacing them with 10-bit HEIF files in the upcoming Canon 1D X Mark III, and possibly beyond. And while Canon eventually clarified that they are not getting rid of JEPG, the format may be (ought to be?) on its last legs.

Fujifilm vs Canon Color Science Blind Test: Which Do You Actually Prefer?

Photographer and YouTuber Andrew of Denae & Andrew created a comparison that plenty of photographers will be very interested in: Canon vs Fujifilm color science. A lot is made of Fuji's film simulations, and Canon users won't shut up about their amazing skin tones. But when you put them side-by-side in a blind "taste test," which do you actually prefer?

Sony a7R III vs a7R IV Image Quality Comparison

How much of a difference can an extra 19MP and a newly-designed really make? Apparently, quite a bit, as you can see in this quick side-by-side comparison of JPEGs shot on the 42MP Sony a7R III and the newly released 61MP Sony a7R IV.

The Best Photo I’ve Ever Taken Was a JPEG

Alright, I don’t know if it’s the best photo I’ve ever taken, but it’s one of my favorites and it’s been the most popular photo I’ve posted recently on Facebook and Instagram.

Lucky Accidents: Viewing Corrupted JPEG Photos in a New Light

I've always had bad luck with portable hard drives. Over the years I have had failures with several brands and models, so nowadays I have almost everything in the cloud for more security. The last time this happened was a couple of months ago: one of my backup hard drives became corrupt, I took it to the tech and they gave me a very high quote that at the moment I could not afford to pay.

How to Make Your iPhone Shoot JPEGs Again After iOS 11

After updating your iPhone to iOS 11, you may have noticed that your photos are all .heic files instead of the ubiquitous .jpeg. If you're rather go back to shooting JPEG for now until you feel more ready to make the switch, it's actually extremely easy to do.

This Eclipse Photo Shows the Power of Shooting RAW

Here's an eye-opening example that shows the power of shooting RAW. Photographer Dan Plucinski captured a beautiful photo of the solar eclipse yesterday, and this is the before-and-after comparison showing the straight-out-of-camera image (on left) compared to the edited one (on right).

Google’s Guetzli Makes JPEGs 35% Smaller Without Hurting Quality

Google has just released a brand new, open-source JPEG encoder called Guetzli that can do two very neat things. First, it can decrease JPEG file size by 35% without a noticeable decrease in quality, and second, it can increase the quality of an image without increasing file size at all.

X-Trans: The Promise and the Problem

FujiFilms’s X-Trans III sensor has been out since the X-Pro2 hit the scene in March 2016. It was joined recently by the X-T2, and presently the X-T20 and X100F are about to be unleashed upon the world in February 2017.

3 Common Misconceptions About Your Camera’s Histogram

If you're obsessive about checking every exposure on your camera's histogram, this informative little video is a must-watch. In it, Matt Granger covers three common misconceptions about your camera's histogram that many photographers—even experienced shooters—might be falling prey to.

8 Reasons Why You Should Shoot in JPEG

I’ve pretty much shot RAW all my life. There are so many benefits of shooting RAW in terms of how much flexibility you have with the files, as well as the raw data in the files. However, as time goes on, I’m starting to lean more towards shooting JPEG and realize the benefits of doing so.

Google Camera Testing RAW + JPEG Support: Report

The Google Camera app is definitely not the most advanced photo and video capture app available to Android users, but a new report suggests Google is testing a feature that will definitely appeal to photo loving users: RAW + JPEG shooting.

Here’s a Crazy Comparison Between RAW and JPEG

When starting out in photography, a lot of beginners are confused about RAW and JPEG formats while shooting. There are plenty of explanations out there, but with us being photographers, it's easier for us to comprehend a visual reference.

I've had the option of shooting RAW since my Canon 20D over 10 years ago and even though I've never shot JPEG since then, I never actually compared a RAW with JPEG to see the data I would've been losing if I let the camera compress the files itself.

Reuters Issues a Worldwide Ban on RAW Photos

Reuters has implemented a new worldwide policy for freelance photographers that bans photos that were processed from RAW files. Photographers must now only send photos that were originally saved to their cameras as JPEGs.

DRM Could Be Added to the JPEG Image Format

Heads up: digital rights management (DRM) could be coming to the JPEG image format. That's right... the same kind of controversial technology that's currently being used to protect movie, music, and book copyrights could one day be used to restrict the usage of images, and that proposal has people up in arms.

JPEG 2000: The Better Alternative to JPEG That Never Made it Big

At the turn of the century, the Joint Photographic Experts Group created what they considered to be the next generation of JPEG image compression. Suitably named JPEG 2000, the standard promised better compression performance with improved image quality. However, despite the standard being released fifteen years ago, why do most photographers only glance over the option when saving in Photoshop? Today, we explore the advantages and disadvantages of a file format that already seems to have become a footnote in history.

JPEG Compression Test: Google Photos vs. JPEGmini

In this article I will take a look at Google Photos' new photo compression performance. I've been using a program called JPEGmini for a couple years now to compress my JPEG images. Its compression of JPEGs is lossy, but it claims to do so leaving the perceptual image quality virtually unchanged. As far as I can tell, its claims are pretty accurate, and it has literally helped me cut the size of some of my picture folders in half.

How JPEG Handles Colors and Compression

Want to understand the math and science behind how JPEG files store your digital photographs? The YouTube channel Computerphile has a new series of videos on the JPEG. They're a bit long and heady, but you may find them interesting if you've ever wondered about the technical details behind one of the world's most popular image compression methods.

JPEG Voodoo: Or, Does JPEG File Size Matter?

Would you say the above photograph has any compression artifacts? Compressed too much, not enough, or just right? What exactly is “just right” anyway. This post will explore the concept of compression, why and how do we do it, and how aggressive we should be in either reducing the file size or increasing the image quality.

BPG is a New Image Format That Wants to Replace the JPEG with Equal Quality at Half the Size

JPEG is a remarkably resilient file format. Despite having many upstart formats attempt to dethrone it over the years -- including JPEG 2000 and Google's WebP -- the JPEG is still used by nearly 70% of websites and is holding strong in popularity.

Now there's a new competitor in the ring. It's called BPG (Better Portable Graphics), and it's a format designed and advocated by notable French programmer Fabrice Bellard (creator of FFmpeg and QEMU).