Does exposing to the right help when shooting JPEG, or only with RAW?
Asked 7/3/2021
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I usually shoot RAW only in difficult lighting; otherwise I shoot JPEG. Does exposing to the right (ETTR) provide any benefit when shooting JPEG, especially if I still plan to do some post-processing afterward? I’m not asking about straight-out-of-camera JPEGs with no editing at all. I mean JPEGs that will be adjusted later, such as lifting shadows or changing contrast. Is ETTR still useful there, or is it mainly a RAW technique?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
5y ago
2 Answers
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It depends on whether you are planning to postprocess, like lifting shadows or other contrast adjustments. JPEG compression relies on throwing image information away that it considers indistinguishable to the viewer. If you postprocess in a manner that makes stuff more visible, JPEG compression may already have thrown away what it thinks you don't need. An ETTR JPEG will for that reason usually take up more disk space than a normally exposed JPEG, and creating your final product by toning the ETTR JPEG down rather than raising portions of the normally exposed image will work better.
So if you are going to postprocess in any manner, the benefits of ETTR are larger than even with raw processing, because of JPEG processing. Of course using raw with ETTR will still be better.
Originally by user98068. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user98068
5y ago
0
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ETTR can still help with JPEG, but the benefit is smaller and less flexible than with RAW.
If ETTR is done by actually collecting more light (slower shutter, wider aperture), you record more image information and usually get cleaner shadows. That can help if you plan to edit the JPEG later, especially for shadow lifting or contrast changes. In that sense, ETTR can be useful for JPEG too.
However, JPEG is only 8-bit and already compressed, so it throws away some tonal/color information during processing. That means heavy exposure or color corrections on a JPEG cause quality loss sooner than with RAW. Because of that, for JPEG it’s usually best to get exposure as close as possible in-camera and avoid pushing ETTR so far that highlights clip.
Also, raising ISO is not the same as gaining ETTR benefit from more light; increasing ISO alone does not add scene information.
So: yes, ETTR can help JPEGs you intend to edit, but it must be used carefully. RAW still benefits more because it preserves more data and tolerates post-processing much better.
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