The internet’s been arguing about raw versus JPEG since digital cameras became mainstream, and most of the advice you’ll find is either dogmatic (“always shoot raw!”) or outdated. Camera technology has changed significantly, especially in the last three years. It’s time for a more nuanced take.

I shoot both formats depending on the job. Sometimes on the same day. Here’s how I actually think about it in 2026.

When JPEG Makes Complete Sense

Modern cameras have genuinely impressive JPEG engines. The computational photography that started in smartphones has filtered up to serious cameras. If you’re shooting with anything released after 2023, the in-camera JPEG processing is probably better than what most people can achieve in Lightroom.

Event photography is my main JPEG use case. Weddings, corporate events, birthday parties—situations where you’re delivering 300-500 images and clients want them quickly. The time saved not processing raw files is substantial. I’ll shoot JPEG with a carefully dialled-in picture profile, nail the exposure in-camera, and deliver files straight from the card with minimal adjustment.

Modern mirrorless cameras let you preview exactly what the JPEG will look like through the EVF. That’s genuinely transformative. You’re not guessing how the file will render—you’re seeing it. If it looks good in the viewfinder, the JPEG will look good.

Sports and action where you’re shooting thousands of frames is another clear JPEG situation. The buffer depth and write speeds matter more than marginal raw file flexibility. If you’ve got your camera set up properly, you don’t need that flexibility anyway.

Journalism and news where images need to go out immediately—JPEG is the only practical option. You can shoot, do basic edits on your phone, and have images published within minutes.

The hit rate on well-shot JPEGs from modern cameras is probably 90-95%. That’s good enough for most work.

When Raw Is Non-Negotiable

Landscape photography still demands raw files. You’re dealing with high dynamic range scenes, often shooting in challenging light, and you’ll want maximum flexibility in post-processing. The ability to recover shadow detail and control highlights is worth the extra storage and processing time.

I shot sunrise at the Grampians last month. The raw files let me bring up shadow detail in the foreground rocks while keeping the sky from blowing out. The JPEG would’ve forced me to choose one or the other.

Portrait work for paying clients gets shot raw, always. Skin tones are too important to lock in at capture. Even with a perfect white balance setting, I want the flexibility to warm or cool the image slightly in post. Clients expect that level of refinement.

Product photography needs raw for colour accuracy. When you’re shooting items for e-commerce and the client needs the blue to match their brand guidelines exactly, JPEG’s baked-in colour profile isn’t good enough.

Any difficult lighting situation—concerts, dimly lit interiors, mixed colour temperature environments—benefits from raw’s flexibility. You can fix white balance errors that would ruin a JPEG.

The Hybrid Approach: Raw + JPEG

Most cameras can shoot both simultaneously. This used to be impractical because it hammered your buffer and card speed, but with modern UHS-II and CFexpress cards, it’s genuinely viable.

I’ll shoot raw + JPEG for important events where I want fast delivery but also insurance. The JPEGs go out quickly for social media or preliminary selections. The raw files are there if something needs serious correction or if a particular image becomes important enough to warrant detailed processing.

The storage cost is real—you’re roughly tripling your file sizes—but storage is cheap. A 512GB card is under $100 now.

What’s Changed in the Last Few Years

Camera manufacturers have gotten genuinely better at JPEG rendering. Sony’s colour science used to be questionable; it’s now quite good. Canon’s picture profiles are sophisticated. Nikon’s latest bodies produce JPEGs with excellent dynamic range.

In-camera AI processing is the big development. Newer cameras are doing computational HDR, scene recognition, and subject-specific optimisation automatically. The Nikon Z9 and Canon R5 Mark II can produce JPEGs that look better than what an amateur could achieve processing raw files.

That doesn’t make raw obsolete—it just means the gap has narrowed for straightforward shooting situations.

The Storage and Workflow Reality

A day of landscape shooting produces about 40GB of raw files for me. That’s manageable but not trivial. Over a year, I’m dealing with about 4-5TB of raw image data plus backups.

JPEG shooting for events produces maybe 8-10GB per day. Much more manageable, faster to backup, easier to store long-term.

If you’re shooting as a hobby, the storage and management overhead of raw files is worth considering honestly. It’s not just hard drive space—it’s the time spent importing, organising, processing, and backing up.

What I Tell People Starting Out

Shoot JPEG while you’re learning. Get good at exposing correctly in-camera, understanding light, and composing thoughtfully. Raw files can become a crutch that lets you be lazy about getting it right at capture.

Once you’re consistently nailing exposure and white balance, start experimenting with raw for situations where you need the flexibility. You’ll develop intuition about which format suits which situation.

The Honest Answer

There’s no universally correct answer. Anyone telling you to “always shoot raw” or “JPEG is fine for everything” is either inexperienced or selling you something.

I shoot maybe 60% JPEG, 40% raw across a typical year. That ratio shifts depending on what I’m working on. It’s a tool choice, not a religion.

Modern cameras have made JPEG genuinely viable for professional work in ways that weren’t true five years ago. That’s a good thing. More options means you can optimise for the specific requirements of each job.

For more on this, DPReview’s raw vs JPEG testing is worth reading, and Cambridge in Colour’s post-processing tutorials will help you understand what raw files actually give you.