When I began photography, with my tiny little compact, I always tried to get my images to be the best quality. This meant jpeg fine usually which is ideal for amateur photographers. However I have met proffessionals who use jpegs for various reasons.
When I began the HNC Photography course, we were introduced to RAW images, or digital negatives. As we used mainly used Nikon cameras we used .NEF, however the Canon equivalent is .CRW.
Pros
The quality is so much better. Jpegs lose file information every time the image is opened, where digital negatives don't. RAW files are described as non-destructive so it does not compress the file.
The control you have within the image is a lot better with RAW than with a jpeg image, although you can use the Camera Raw Filter on Photoshop to adjust jpegs, however it will not be as superior quality. The digital darkroom work is done within the camera for a jpeg image, however if the image is over or under exposed, the detail can be be saved within a RAW image, but not a jpeg.
Cons
Obviously there are a few cons about RAW which I should mention. The files must be edited using certain software. Adobe products are all suitable for RAW editing, however they can be quite pricey. Picasa, a free program created and owned by Google that is similar to Adobe Lightroom.
Another downside to this, is that new cameras such as my Nikon D5500, do not create photoshop friendly files. I had to download the Adobe DNG Converter just to be able to view my images in Lightroom.
The file size is also incredibly large in comparison to jpegs which if you are doing a large shoot and don't have a spare memory card, it can be quite tricky to fit all the images on your memory card.
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