DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register) 
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Concerned About Shooting Raw
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 13 of 13, (reverse)
AuthorThread
 06/26/2005 08:08:21 PM · #1
I have a concern about shooting raw. Can someone who understands this tell me if it's a valid concern?

My concern is that the raw format is proprietary to the camera manufacturer. Canon has a raw format. Nikon has a raw format. And so on.

As time passes, I am worried that photo editing and viewing software won't maintain backward compatibility with these proprietary formats and the photos will be lost to me. At least with tiff and jpg and such, these are international standards with such a huge body of images stored in these formats, that backward compatibility will always be maintained.

I understand that I can convert raw to a standard format and save, but this seems like extra work and requires extra disk space. I suppose that if the results were worth it, that would be fine.

Anyway, can somebody who understands this opine for me please?
 06/26/2005 08:12:15 PM · #2
You can save over or under exposed images when they are in raw format before conversion to .tff or .jpeg. You can't do that if its already a .jpeg.

One reason....
 06/26/2005 08:15:51 PM · #3
What is it you can do with a raw image thats over/under eposed that you cant do with a JPEG
 06/26/2005 08:15:53 PM · #4
My concern is not whether there are benefits to RAW format. I believe there are. My concern is about file formats and losing images due to compatibility issues.
 06/26/2005 08:19:57 PM · #5
Yes, it's a valid concern. As you say, the way to address it is to store tiff or jpg versions in addition to RAW. So it's basically whether the benefits of using RAW are worth the extra effort and storage involved.
 06/26/2005 08:22:07 PM · #6
Originally posted by Digital Quixote:
My concern is not whether there are benefits to RAW format. I believe there are. My concern is about file formats and losing images due to compatibility issues.

Over time, you might lose easy functionality in PS or some other large image editing program, but the software that came with your camera should continue to work even in newer versions of current operating systems (64-bit windows, intel-based OS X). I wouldn't worry too much about it, just make sure you keep copies of known working raw converters handy.
 06/26/2005 08:25:55 PM · #7
Most camera manufacturer's package software that can convert and edit RAW images. SO I wouldn't worry about losing images. Especially with Nikon and Canon. I highly doubt that you would not be a ble to find a raw converter for any of these cameras.

I certainly agree that there should be some form of standardization for the RAW format. Hopefully in the near future there will be.
 06/26/2005 08:58:31 PM · #8
Thanks for the opinions, folks. I appreciate your insight. One last question ...

In 10 years or 20 years, when General Robotics sells 70% of all PCs, with a generation 21 OS from YoYoDyne, and Adobe was acquired 8 years ago by Vacuum Technologies Ltd of Macau ... does your logic still hold? Even if I've been diligent in carrying forward my (then) hundreds of thousands of picture files, some 15, 20 or 25 years old? (Think about who made PCs, OSs and Software 15 years AGO.)

Thanks
 06/26/2005 09:11:48 PM · #9
Hopefully when Adobe get their universal RAW file format worked out, and can actually market it effectively to Canon and Nikon, it will become an OPEN STANDARD. Not an Adobe-controlled "standard", where everyone has to buy Adobe Photoshop.

Hopefully the same will happen to standard RAW files as did with DarpaNet/TCP-IP. The whole world and every computer operating system uses it now to great effect.

But enough about all this. Lets capture some beautiful images for this world of ours.

EDIT: Where in the world is Linus Torvalds when you need him...

Message edited by author 2005-06-26 21:15:26.
 06/26/2005 09:39:47 PM · #10
Originally posted by Digital Quixote:
Thanks for the opinions, folks. I appreciate your insight. One last question ...

In 10 years or 20 years, when General Robotics sells 70% of all PCs, with a generation 21 OS from YoYoDyne, and Adobe was acquired 8 years ago by Vacuum Technologies Ltd of Macau ... does your logic still hold? Even if I've been diligent in carrying forward my (then) hundreds of thousands of picture files, some 15, 20 or 25 years old? (Think about who made PCs, OSs and Software 15 years AGO.)

Thanks


I still have spreadsheet files from the '80s (think Quattro Pro and early Lotus 1-2-3) that are still readable. I've bitmap files and some JPEGs that are nearly as old. I'm not really worried about future readability of my RAW files. If they are in danger of obsolescence, I will certainly know this, and can transfer them to another format.
I think Adobe's DNG is a great idea, and I hope it catches on. It does solve some, not all of the issues, since you will still need something that understands DNGs. That's a lot simpler, though, than needing something that understands hundreds, eventually thousands of camera formats.

Edited to correct quotation error...

Message edited by author 2005-06-26 22:58:09.
 06/26/2005 09:43:17 PM · #11
The RAW formats are widely used -- which means they won't vanish overnight -- you will have time to convert if the format appears to be dying. Even the jpeg format has competition that will likely unseat it in the not so distant future.

Personally, as has been mentioned, the fact the various RAW formats are proprietary is the biggest drawback -- one that will only be removed when an open standard becomes available. Reqardless of who creates it, an open standard is really the only protection from obsolescence. And, once again, when it becomes available, there will be plenty of time to make the conversion at your own pace.

For now, use the format that gives you the options you use. If you see an advantage to using RAW, use it -- it isn't going to go out quickly when it goes.

David
 06/26/2005 11:01:51 PM · #12
The problem I have is that Fuji doesn't use RAW, they use RAF. When is that going to get folded into a future "standard" RAW format?
06/26/2005 11:56:06 PM · #13
There are several articles on www.luminous-landscape.com discussing the concerns of the proprietry RAW format. Adobe is currently promoting DNG which will be an OPEN RAW format that hopefully camera manufacturers will start supporting and because the specification is public anyone with enough skill could write a conversion program (assuming Adobe goes belly up which is highly unlikely anyway).

Otherwise you have to take your chances. The way I see it is that you'll know that support is dieing and have plenty of time to convert (if that ever happens). If you are more paranoid than that then you could always save a copy as TIFF or PSD or JPEG as part of your archival process so that you are archiving in multiple formats.

Cheers - Mark.
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 09/17/2025 03:56:04 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 09/17/2025 03:56:04 PM EDT.