Canon camera question...cr2 file??

[go4thegusto]

Why does my Canon camera create a jpg and a cr2 file for each photo when I put them on my laptop? What is the purpose and can I turn it off? Thanks

 

[COlineman78]

The CR2 is the full RAW image. Sometimes the JPEG is created after the fact if you are transferring over WiFi to your phone or whatever. Depending on your use, the RAW format is far more useful and you should use this to do your editing and only export to JPEG once you are happy with your results. If anything you should attempt to turn off the JPEG output.

 

[colonel00]

You are most likely in Raw+ mode where it creates the RAW file and JPEG as stated above. If you have the space on your SD card, I like using this method as it allows me to have JPEGs of all of the "meh" photos without having to do any processing. However, I still have the RAW file for those photos that do deserve full post processing.

 

[charvey9]

It is a canon proprietary version of a .raw file. Raw files collect more picture data, allowing you more to work with in the editing process vs. standard files like jpegs. Just about any photo editing software will read the files, but may need to update as camera companies are often changing their .raw format. Or can get a free file converter to convert them to .dng files which are generic .raw files readable by virtually all photo editing software.