snegron7 wrote:The distortion, vignetting, and lack of contrast is extremely visible in the RAW images with these lensed. After spending a bunch of time on PS "correcting" the RAW images, I end up with what the camera JPEG looked like had I shot in JPEG to begin with. Serious question: why waste time shooting in RAW when I'm going to spend hours in PS correcting lens flaws?
I haven't seen anyone serioiusly answering this part (unless I missed it).
The reason to "waste time" shooting RAW has nothing to do with lenses. Here are some popular benefits of shooting RAW:
- Complete WB control. Automatic WB is a common source of complaints, especially in complicated/mixed lighting.
- Better noise reduction than in-camera JPEG engine is capable of.
- Color grading. Want warmer shadows? Cinematic orange+teal look? Bleach bypass look? RAW editors give you these.
- High dynamic range scenes where shadows need lifting and/or highlights need suppression
I also want to zoom into your "wasting time" point. If you're 100% OK with OOC JPEGs, and I mean really trully 100%, this doesn't apply to you. But even if, say, 10% of your images can take advantage of the benefits above, the RAW can be made extremely efficient. Believe me, you aren't going to waste any time:
- Buy or build your own presets
- Learn keyboard shortcuts
- Use batch processing: for applying edits and for exporting
Lenses have nothing to do with any of it.
Feb 04, 2026 at 02:26 PM
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