Canon S70

Thank you very much for your response. Then can I assume that RAW file pictures will have better resolution than JPEG ?
Also, when I take a picture using RAW format, it seems that I will need the software (ZoomBrowser EX) that comes with the camera to see the picture on the screen ?

RAW should be taken literally.
It is the photo as the camera sees it, before any processing.

You will need special software to view it and the software will let you make many changes to enhance the photo, such as whitebalance.

When you are happy with the results, you can save the photo as .jpg or one of the non compressed formats, such as TIFF or BMP.

The RAW software has lots of abilities and you will have to do some reading to be able to fully utilize the software. But it does give you a great deal of control over the final photo.

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suffer from compression problems that can reduce the quality of jpeg files.

If you use the highest quality jpeg setting, the quality should be close to, or exceed what is contained in a raw file. Why would it exceed it? The jpeg file gets the benefit of the camera's software which is designed to produce a high quality image. In a raw file, you must supply the knowledge which is embedded in the camera's processor.

Please note that the jpeg file size will probably never be 7 megs even though the image it contains is 7 megs in size.

Thanks very much for the clarification. I don't think it's necessary to use RAW in my case.

I just don't understand why my pictures are about the same file size as those pictures taken by a camera that is 5 megapixels. And, the quality of pictures taken by the 5 megapixels is better than those taken by the the S70. The Canon S70 is rated so highly.

Thanks -

jpeg? If you are using a lower quality setting, the pictures might well be worse than the older camera.

Here are sample photos from each type camera
(Canon S70 and G5):

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/s70_samples.html

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2003_reviews/g5_samples.html

Notice that the file size of the 2 1/2 story red brick building is:

3,924,000 for the S70
2,649,000 for the G5

Both are compressed .jpg files.

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If you take a photo of a different subject, the compression will differ.

A complex scene will not compress as much.
A simple scene will compress much more.

A complex scene is any scene that has lots of surfaces (grass, tree leaves, bricks, shingles).

A simple scene contains lots of blue sky, no tree leaves, no grass or a simple background in a portrait.


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Your responses are so helpful in understanding the workings of the digital camera.

So. . I have the camera set to L and Superfine. Is there anything else I have to set to have the best quality the camera can offer ?

L and Superfine is the best setting.

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