Nikon D300 User Manual page 135

closest thing to a film negative or a transparency that your
digital camera can make.
That's important if you would like to modify the image later.
If you are concerned with maximum quality, you should
probably shoot and store your images in RAW (or even TIFF)
format. Later, when you have the urge to make another
masterpiece
out of the original RAW image file, you'll have all of your
original data intact for the highest-quality image.
If you're concerned that the RAW format may change too
much over time to be readable by future generations, you
might want to convert your images into TIFF or JPEG files.
TIFF is best if you want to modify them later. I often save a
TIFF version of my best files just in case RAW changes too
much in the future. Why not do a little more research on this
subject and decide which you like best?
My Recommendation: I shoot in NEF (RAW) format for
my most important work and JPEG fine for the rest. Some
people find that JPEG fine is sufficient for everything they
shoot. Those individuals generally do not like working with
files in-computer or do not have time. NEF (RAW) files are
not yet usable images and must be converted to another
format. However, RAW provides the highest possible quality
your camera can create. You'll use both RAW and JPEG, I'm
sure. The format you use most often will be controlled by
your time constraints and digital workflow. Most of us use
TIFF only when we convert a RAW file in-computer into that
format. I rarely, if ever, shoot images in TIFF. There are just
not enough benefits to deal with the larger files and slower
transfer speeds.
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