Digital Camera Quality Confusion! What’s the difference between HQ, SHQ, and TIFF?
According to my user’s manual, HQ, SHQ, and TIFF have exactly the same resolution, although they can store different numbers of pictures. I looked up TIFF online, and found out that it means there is no compression. There seemed to be an indication that SHQ compressed the data some, but not as much as HQ. Should I care? The only information I ran into regarding this suggested that repeated saves could lessen color quality, and resolution, but is this true for cameras using the JPEG format? What if I work from the original?? You can see my confusion! 
Can anyone offer any advice ?
You’re right. If I had to take a guess I’d say you either have an older mid-range Olympus or Sony camera.
SHQ and HQ are JPEG compression settings. SHQ (Super High Quality) uses less compression than HQ (High Quality) which uses less compression than an accompanying SQ (Standard Quality) setting.
The more JPEG compression that’s applied the smaller the file size; this makes more space available for more pictures. However, the more the data is being compacted the more detail is destroyed. This can cause JPEG artifacts and a general loss of fine detail.
TIFF is sort of like RAW: no compression is used which means you get the absolute best quality your camera offers. The difference is that color, contrast, and other camera settings are applied on TIFFs. Essentially, TIFF files are JPEGs without the compression of a JPEG which accounts for the comparatively large file size.
Repeatedly opening and resaving a JPEG in a post-processing program, even with the lowest compression available, will lessen quality and resolution. This is the nature of lossy file formats like JPEG. It may not be noticible and may very well be impossible to see without the original but it happens. For example: if you open the original JPEG, make your edits, and resave at the highest quality setting the image is still being recompressed albeit very little. If this happens again and again you chip more and more away. On the other hand nothing is lost with a TIFF.
SHQ JPEGs are fine for most situations. HQ should be used when you’re really tight on space. TIFFs should be used in situations that you believe require the upmost quality (you should also have the space for it).
If you’re not sure when to use JPEG and when to use TIFFs the article at the following link will explain everything in detail:
http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/guides/digital/jpeg_tiff_or_raw_1.html
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