A quick search didn't show anything obvious posts and I don't have any RAW files handy to try, so here's the question.

does RAW files (cr2/cr3/etc) compress well into zip or rar files? Haven't tried it so I don't know.

I know that jpgs are already compressed, so running them through zip really doesn't give you anything back. Just not sure if raw files (particularly from canon) are compressed at all?

I figure if I can save 25% of disk space, after I'm done with a RAW file and exported it to jpg, I can zip it and archive. This is particularly usefule for those that don't particular burn backup to DVD but use RAID or harddrive mirroring as a backup.

Anyways, just a thought. Anyone tried it?

interesting question, but i doubt it would be worth it to zip them.

as far as backups go, the very least you should to is back up to DVD... DO NOT rely on hard drives (even a RAID) for backups, as they WILL FAIL some time down the road. Probably the best thing to do for you is keep the RAW files on DVD and back up the JPG files to your RAID. At the very least you need to keep a complete archive of RAW files IMO.

I burn my RAW to DVD, burn my unedited Jpegs to (a different) DVD, as well as my edited Jpegs. If I need space, I ditch the RAW off my computer (after the job is totally done), but leave the jpegs hanging around in case I want to play/post on line etc.

For God's sake, do a back up. Even two!!

My point exactly.

According to the PPA, they had more claims last year than they ever have before due to photographers not properly backing up their work! I can't remember the numbers exactly, but I'll have to find the article and post it here.