At the end of section 5.6, you will find a list of RAW formats GIMP can read. Unfortunately, GIMP does not work with all proprietary camera RAW formats, so you'll need to make sure it can read your camera's format. Since version 2.2.6, GIMP supports RAW formats, so you can directly open and edit RAW formats with the program.
Saving images in their native camera or RAW format will also ensure that you'll get the best possible quality when you archive the originals. Taking photos as digital raw data will result in a higher-quality image after correction, particularly when compared to photos taken in the highest-quality JPEG format. If your digital camera uses a proprietary file or RAW file format to capture images, you should use it.
