"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
There was a comment on the "was" thread about .jpg being an inferior
format
to a couple of other formats. So if my Kodak 1.3Mp camera only downloads
in
.jpg, how do I fool it into downloading in some other uncompressed format?

According to the camera specifications, the actual file format is listed
as:
"Exif version 2.1 (JPEG base).

Suggestions other than borrowing Gail's very expensive Canon for my
magazine
shots?

JPEG is indeed inferior to some other formats. Furthermore, every time you
manipulate the photo, changing color balance, sharpness, exposure, etc., it
loses more information. Many programs will lose information opening the .jpg
and saving it again without any other changes. All this loss of information
shows up in loss of fine detail, especially in the highlights and shadows,
and in color range. The way professional photographers who shoot in JPEG get
around this is they keep the original file and work only with copies of it,
making as many changes as they can and then saving the finished product.

JPEG actually has many advantages over the other formats, including file
size, which makes it much easier to transmit to the publisher, so most
professional photographers, especially sports photographers, use JPEG. The
faster camera action gained from using JPEG makes it worth the small loss of
information. There is a big difference between shooting a burst of maybe
five frames in RAW, then having to wait 10 to 15 seconds while the camera
saves it to memory, and being able to shoot continuously at 12 frames per
second in JPEG.

More cameras allow shooting in both RAW and JPEG at the same time. My Nikon
D70 can do this, although it does slow down how fast I can take pictures
because it now has to save two files instead of one. The advantage is
getting to use the JPEG files for printing contact sheets and preview
photos, while keeping the versatility of RAW.

One thing to remember is that photos in most publications are really not
blown up all that much, so the loss of detail caused by JPEG file
compression is not readily apparent to the untrained eye.

Even so, your Kodak 1.3Mp is wholly inadequate for any form of publication.
You will need at least 4.0Mp to achieve high enough resolution for print.
Such cameras are reasonably priced and easy to find. You can find camera
reviews on www.dpreview.com.

The common formats used by digital cameras are JPEG, TIFF, and RAW. JPEG and
TIFF are pretty well standardized. RAW is proprietary to each camera
manufacturer, although Adobe is pushing a RAW format of its own to become
the new standard. GIF files are obsolete.