I started taking pics in RAW and in JPEG.
The Raw pictures seem to be a lot more grainy. Is that normal?

Nikon D5000

I wouldnt have thought so there shoulnt be any difference in  image quality between formats.

Have you tried taking exactly the same shot? Could it be that you happen to have been using a high iso for the RAWs?

A lot of cameras do a lot of their own post-processing on JPEGs, particuarly entry level DSLRs. The result is straight off the camera youll get better looking JPEGs when compared to the unprocessed RAW file before you poke it a bit in Photoshop.

JPEGs tend to be heavily sharpened compared to RAWs straight out of camera - not sure if thats the effect youre seeing?

Not too sure on the graininess. Both shot at the same ISO etc?

Might be worth posting a RAW and JPEG of the same shot?

Out of my own curiosity I just did a test shot on my D70 (50mm f1.8 ). The RAW does have a noticeable amount more noise.

Left is JPG, right is RAW



Exif: ISO 1000, 50mm, f/14, 1/160s

ISO1000? why?

my dslr has noise reduction at high ISO so thats probably what your seeing in the jpg

Thought id use ISO 1000 so there would be some noise to compare.

The Jpg just looks like the grain is a little less noticeable as its all been a bit interpolated/pixellated. Though the raw is more grainy, it also has a little more detail IMHO. Id rather shoot the Raw and then post process it to remove the grain keeping the detail, than let the camera do it.

The camera is set to save a jpg and a raw on each shot.

I think given that example shot, what you are seeing is the moire pattern of JPEG compression smoothing out some of the grain - any way of confirming what kind of compression level the JPEG is being saved at? How large was the original file? It might not be the same for Sams situation, but thats what it appears to be in this case.

The JPG compression is the D70s fine setting which is its lowest level of compression, the spiel says its 1:4 compression.

I agree thats all the increased noise is in this case - its actually a softening effect on the JPG caused by the compression.

Could that be what youre seeing Sam?

I suspect it is noise. If you process it properly then it will vanish and the photo should look better than jpeg.

Let me put up an example

Ok look at these two files at 100%

www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/images/DSC_0437.JPG
www.peakdistrictonline.co.uk/images/DSC_0437.NEF