I've just bought a Sony A100 SLR and very pleased I am with it too. However when I look at the RAW files they don't appear to be as crisp as the jpgs. The RAW file (or ARW in Sony speak) appears to be slightly out of focus.

The camera has a facility to save both raw and jpg files simultaneously so I know the two files are generated from an identical source. Anyone have any ideas what the problem might be please?

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The reason the RAW files are 'softer' is because the camera will do a fair amount of processing when it makes the JPEGs and that includes artificial sharpening. When you process the RAW files you can select how much sharpening you add. What software are you using to process the RAW files?

I haven't done any processing at all yet. I assumed (knowing nothing much about the topic) that it would just naturally be better. I have Paintshop Pro on the PC.

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RAW files are significantly better than JPEGs as you have all the information coming off the sensor. What happens in camera is that the electronics takes this raw information and guesses how best to convert it into a JPEG, (colour balance, sharpness, etc). In the process a lot of information is thrown away, particularly in the light and dark parts of the picture. Now for us the information in the blacks is particularly important and so much detail can brought back into a final image when using the RAW sensor data. However you need the right software to do this. I'm not sure how well Paintshop Pro does RAW conversions, but I guess it'll depend on what version you have. There's loads of software out there that does a great job. I use Adobe Lightroom, which is something like £20 a month, (with PhotoShop).

It's a slippery slope though… Instead of just copying photos to your computer and enjoying them you'll then end up spending hours fiddling with the photos. Mind you, that's the advantage of shooting both RAW and JPEG. You've got your quick prints, (JPEGS), but you've also got the negatives, (RAW), if you want to make a really nice print.

Lightroom is great!!

Crickleymal you could also try and get Photoshop, the early versions of Photoshop they give away free now, like CS2, might worth a try. Im not sure how well it goes with RAW files on your camera model but might be worth looking into

Just an aside, Paint Shop Pro is *very* capable these days, as is GIMP. Almost no-one working with RAW's to produce JPEG's *needs* the power of Photoshop.

I stopped using it when went to a perpetual fee model, and after the initial transition period to PaintshopPro ("Where the **** is the channel mixer!?!" etc), I'm liking it, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper then Photoshop CSwhateverversiontheyareonnow....

Kind of Ironic, given I was using PSP when it was shareware by JASC, had had a transition into photoshop (6 I think) years ago...

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That's good to know about PaintShop Pro. I think for many the Adobe subscription is hard to justify. But then how many people who have copies of the pre-CC Photoshop actually paid for it? Piracy was rife so I can see why Adobe went over to the subscription model. I pay £45 month to have the entire suite of software, but then I'm using it professionally.

I had a quick look at what the current PaintShop Pro can do and you sure get a lot for your money. It seems Corel have a special offer this month where you can buy the latest Ultimate version direct from them for £47, ( it's £67 on Amazon)

http://www.paintshoppro.com/en/products/paintshop-pro/ultimate/default.html 

I have the last CD-based (bought) version of CS6, and I'm still furious about the changeover to subscription-only, cloud-only download - I think it's a terrible rip-off policy, and one which I hope Adobe will come to regret. Their customer credit-card database was hacked last year (I have their quasi-apology letter saved and still waiting for an update), so frankly their 'cloud' service can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. So I was quite surprised to hear Paintshop Pro was going again - I have earlier versions of this when JASC used to publish it, but thought it had died - very good news.

And back on-topic - yes, shoot everything in RAW, always. Don't even bother saving with the RAW + JPG option - the JPG will be awful compared to what you can do yourself. The control over dynamic range is vast. I often shoot multiple versions and then stack them for the best exposures.

When you bought the camera initially, there should be a disc with it, this should contain some basic RAW conversion / editing software ??

Paintshop pro is very good, and the best photo magazines include the work flow in their tutorials

Indeed, there should be a simple RAW convertor free with the camera, but they may have improved utilities like this now to make them more powerful. If you can save the RAW files in .DNG (digital negative) format and are using Photoshop, so much the better, as that's the format Adobe prefers. I was lucky, as Pentax adopted the .DNG format as their default, and you can also shoot with the Adobe RGB color profile embedded in the images, meaning minimal hiccups when transferring. The RAW loader/editor in Photoshop is superb, and I spend more time in that area than I do in Photoshop itself - when processing photos at least.

My grumbles noted above would always be directed at the management, not the coders...;)

I must admit I haven't looked at the disc yet. I bought the camera off ebay and just took it out yesterday to see what I could do with it.

PSP does import RAW files but doesn't seem to do the Sony ARW version. It asks you how many pixels wide and tall the image is before importing it. Then when you guess at an image size it produces gobbledegook. I've downloaded a dll so that MS photoviewer can see the ARW file.

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Of course, Sony - what was I thinking? They'll do everything differently to everyone else. I love that 'ARW' format - classic Sony. Should be 'ARGH'...;)

I'm sure there'll be a free convertor out there somewhere. I'll have a look too.

Here you go:

http://arwviewer.com/ 

I'd be very suprised if the supplied Sony software did not have a 'Save as' facility to change formats. If it's any good it will have a TIFF option. Yep they will be large uncompressed files, but you will be able to manipulate them to your hearts content in the software of your choice and then save to JPG's.

I used to occasionally use UFRaw for opening Nikon's RAW format (& presumably useable for other manufacturer's equivalents). Once opened that then had a one click button that used to migrate the file to GIMP for processing.

PSP does import RAW files but doesn't seem to do the Sony ARW version.

I'm guessing you've got an older version of PSP. RAW formats change over time so you'll need a version of PSP that's newer than your camera. As people have pointed out there's ways round this by converting to another format first, but for ease I'd just spend £45 on up to date software.

I'm using PSP X7, and a Sony NEX3, no issues opening the files. That said, I have had both GIMP and Photoshop installed, so one of them may have left the appropriate file installed.

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Here you go:

http://arwviewer.com/ 

That indeed does the trick. Thanks

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Unedited RAW files, especially if they're shot underground look terrible. Once edited they should look better than JPEG's as you have more leeway to brighten and darken areas of the photo. I'll second Lightroom for editing, when you get used to it you can bang through shots in no time.

Just a heads up, PaintShop Pro X7 is in the Amazon 'Black Friday' sale this morning starting at 10:50.