Originally Posted by
Biker395
I usually shoot JPEG+RAW (on the cameras that support it), bias the exposure 2/3 down and bracket 2/3 of a stop on either side. That adds up to a lot of bits!
Someone else who knows what they're talking about (not me) will have to chime in here, but about the only thing I haven't been able to fix with JPEG editors like Corel's Paint Shop Pro (~$50) has been blown out highlights, and I don't think RAW helps there. Maybe I need a Photoshop lesson!
I'd have to see pix from those smartphones to comment on them. I'm kinda picky.
Yeah blown out highlights are blown out highlights most of the time, but I have been able to salvage some RAW images with over exposed highlights in Lightroom with good results. And sometimes blown out highlights are an acceptable aesthetic part of an image.
Fine detail manipulation is one thing you can't do with a compressed image without making the compression artifacts more pronounced, white balance is another you won't be able to do without issue as well. To be sure a lot of things I shoot are for family consumption and occasionally I shoot live music and incidental daily life when I'm out and about which is for me and I like to have all the options on the table when possible.
But... I've shot alot of these type of things with my smartphone (iPhone 4) and the simplicity as well as the creative possibilities are liberating, but there are limitations to the camera and I've learned to work with them and exploit them to the best of my ability to create something that is worth my time spent. I won't fool you though, some smartphone cameras are crap.