Choosing between raw and JPEG isn't just a technical preference; it directly affects how much you can recover and reshape an image in post. This helpful video tests this in a setting where the stakes are real: a Grand Canyon sunset, shot across four current-generation camera bodies.
Coming to you from Leigh & Raymond Photography, this hands-on video puts raw and JPEG files side by side using images from the Leica D-Lux 8, the Lumix S1R II, the Lumix G9 II, and the Nikon Z9. Each camera was set to shoot raw plus JPEG simultaneously, with noise reduction at medium, the dynamic range optimizer at medium, and auto white balance throughout. Leigh exposes more for the highlights than the shadows, which becomes relevant quickly once the files are open in Lightroom. That single exposure decision shapes everything you're about to see.
One of the more striking tests involves a deliberately and severely underexposed shot of a raven in flight, captured with the Lumix S1R II. Leigh pushes the exposure up hard on both files in Lightroom, and the gap between them becomes visible fast. The raw file holds more wing detail, and the color distortion visible along the edges of the bird in the JPEG isn't there. The raven's head and tail are blown out regardless of file type, as that's a lighting problem no format can fix, but the raw file gives a noticeably cleaner result after noise reduction is applied. That said, the other images in the test tell a different story.
The Grand Canyon shots taken with the Lumix G9 II and the Nikon Z9 are where things get genuinely surprising. The G9 II image is heavily underexposed, with most of the canyon buried in shadow, yet Leigh recovers it cleanly from the JPEG. The Z9 shot runs into an auto white balance issue, pushing the image blue, and again the JPEG corrects well with a straightforward adjustment in Lightroom. Neither of those required the raw file to produce a finished image Leigh was happy with. The D-Lux 8 shot, set to vivid and captured in bright light, also edits out nearly identically between formats. Across four cameras and four very different shooting conditions, only one image (the severely underexposed, dark-feathered bird) gave the raw file a clear, visible edge. Leigh is candid about being surprised by that outcome, having expected more separation across the board. The video doesn't leave it there, though. There's a broader point about in-camera settings, shooting discipline, and the kinds of situations where one format genuinely makes more sense than the other. Check out the video above for the full breakdown from Leigh.
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