How long are you keeping RAW files?

10 years 5 months ago #305023 by 909Randy
My hard drive is filling up. After you have done your editing, how long are you keeping the extra RAW files? These things are taking up a ton of space all over. I was thinking about just batch processing the remaining photos to smaller JPG's. That should save a lot of space.


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10 years 5 months ago - 10 years 5 months ago #305047 by effron
I keep them forever. Storage is cheap actually, and when I fill my current 2 TB external HD I'll buy another for about a hundred bucks. I keep my "important" raw files in two places.... ;)

Why so serious?
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10 years 5 months ago #305087 by Screamin Scott
Like Ernest, I also keep mine forever. Over the years, I have picked up newer software that does more than the old software could. I revisit some of my older files & re-process them with the newer software & get better results. Can't do that if you only keep Jpeg files only...

Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/

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10 years 5 months ago #305093 by garyrhook
Forever. I get rid of images that weren't worth looking at. Even the images I like and present as possibilities I keep, in case I want to use for sefl-promotion.

Get yourself a RAID1 NAS and copy old images out to storage.


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10 years 5 months ago #305141 by Hassner

Screamin Scott wrote: Like Ernest, I also keep mine forever. Over the years, I have picked up newer software that does more than the old software could. I revisit some of my older files & re-process them with the newer software & get better results. Can't do that if you only keep Jpeg files only...


I've reprocessed some of my old work too. And when I do, I might delete about 20% of the RAW which I was too sentimental about when I shot it. But it depends on the way that you shoot, if you shoot for yourself or a client. Keeping 6 shots of one pose, or 20 of one landscape, then I would delete half.


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10 years 5 months ago #305157 by Crammer
I have mine stored on external hard drives :thumbsup:


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10 years 5 months ago #305531 by Joves

effron wrote: I keep them forever. Storage is cheap actually, and when I fill my current 2 TB external HD I'll buy another for about a hundred bucks. I keep my "important" raw files in two places.... ;)


Same here. You can get what a 2 Tb external for around $100, and the same for an internal drive. With my RAW files for my D300 it is like a whole 250 gigs, and from my D50/80 another 200. That easily fits on a drive with much room to spare. I also store my external in a fireproof safe rated for electronic media.


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10 years 5 months ago #306093 by Stealthy Ninja
Buy a new HDD.
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10 years 5 months ago #306269 by JaneK
I keep mine, you just never know when you might want the photo


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