What You ll Need

What You'll Need

Obviously, the first thing you'll need if you want to shoot raw is a camera with raw capability. If you already have a camera, you can check its manual to find out if it provides raw shooting. On most cameras, you select raw mode from the same menu you use to select JPEG options (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1. On the Canon EOS-20D, you select raw mode from the same menu that you use to select JPEG quality. Note that this camera also provides modes that write a raw file and a JPEG file simultaneously.

Choosing a camera is way beyond the scope of this book, but if you need some guidelines, check out my "How to Buy a Digital Camera" articles at www.completedigitalphotography.com.

Because raw images must be processed before they can be viewed and edited, you'll need some special raw processing software. Chapter 4 explores some of the options available to you and explains why I think Adobe's Camera Raw is the best choice.

Different raw conversion programs have different system requirements, but raw conversion is not a particularly taxing problem for today's computers. If your computer has at least the following specs, then you're ready to go.

NOTE

This book makes no assumptions about whether you're using a Mac or a Windows-based computer. Except where otherwise noted, all examples and topics in this book apply to both platforms.

Windows	Macintosh
Intel Pentium III or 4 (or compatible) processor running at 800 MHz or better Windows XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 1 256 MB of RAM 800 MB of available disk space Color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card 1024 x 768 or greater monitor resolution CD-ROM drive	G3, G4, or G5 processor OS X version 10.2.8 or later 256 MB of RAM 200 MB of available disk space CD-ROM drive