[dugarner]

Elena,

You're welcome---it would be fun to try it out! But also, many advanced P&S and ZLR cameras (a ZLR [zoom lens reflex] example would be the Fuji S5000+, not a removable lens, but full manual capability) have RAW settings. My Fuji S5200 had RAW, though I never used it.

So you don't have to have an SLR to benefit from RAW capability! All RAW does is record the image exactly the way your camera sees it, without compressing and throwing out data like JPEG compression does. JPEG throws out sensor data, then "guesses" to fill in so the file isn't as big; RAW is all the data from every one of the 10,000,000 sensors, all there for me to play with.

So it's not as intimidating as people think. It's really easy. And the benefit is, if you process a RAW file, then a year later you learn more about processing, you can go back and do it again, without affecting compression or quality.

I feel like I get on the RAW soapbox a lot! I just want to encourage people to try it out, it's not a live-or-die-by-it thing, it's just such a fun, powerful tool, it's worth having the knowledge under your belt. I was so excited when I started using it! And no one here should be intimidated by it---everyone here is more than capable, and computer-savvy enough to understand and use the process. It's no more difficult than making adjustments to photos or embellishments in PS.