With RAW you do have to work at them to get the best out of the image, but there is always more latitude with a RAW file and you can achieve ultimate quality, using either Camera RAW or C1. The file does act as a digital negative and also has the ultimate flexibility.
In the end if you are happy with JPEGs then use them, personally I prefer RAW and thereby get peace of mind that when I am producing Fine Art Prints they are coming from the best original.
In film terms rather than Neg vs Tranny it is more like 35mm vs APS - A JPEG will have artifacts, sometimes it doesn't matter and they can't be seen on a print, but the more you want to manipulate the image the more chance you have of degradation.
I like being able to open a RAW file to 144MB in PS and knowing the degradation is minimal compared with uprezzing a JPEG to that size.
I bet trying that would tax the most ardent JPEGer!
regards Richard Earney
-- http://www.method-photo.co.uk
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