DNG or RAW?

[Dmitri]

Do you prefer DNG or Raw?

 

[pbelarge]

Prefer which for what?
Maybe a little more info in the question.

 

[Dmitri]

In general. When importing photos, do you keep them as RAW, or convert to DNG?

 

[pbelarge]

I import my files into LR3 as raw files. I save them as DNG. It could be days/weeks before I actually save them.

 

[Dwig]

The worst pole I've seen in a long time.

DNG is RAW so there can't be a preference between a specific RAW flavor, DNG in this case, and RAW in general.

 

[Dmitri]

The worst pole I've seen in a long time.

DNG is RAW so there can't be a preference between a specific RAW flavor, DNG in this case, and RAW in general.

Actually that's not true. They are two different formats. While CR2 and NEF are propriety RAW formats, DNG is not. It's an open-source wrapper format that contains all the same information as the RAW files, but in a non-propriety way.

There are other differences as well, but rather than recreating the wheel, or copy/pasting, here is a page to help you understand the differences better: DNG vs RAW.

 

[Steve01]

DNG is RAW so there can't be a preference between a specific RAW flavor, DNG in this case, and RAW in general.

Actually that's not true. They are two different formats. While CR2 and NEF are propriety RAW formats, DNG is not. here is a page to help you understand the differences better: DNG vs RAW.

From that page:

DNG is also considered to be a RAW image file.

DNG is just an open source RAW format guarantied by Adobe to be supported as long as there is an Adobe.
The theory is Raw file types and the raw converters that support them come and go, but DNG will always be supported.

 

[Josh66]

DNG is just an open source RAW format guarantied by Adobe to be supported as long as there is an Adobe.
The theory is Raw file types and the raw converters that support them come and go, but DNG will always be supported.

Eventually, we will start to see DNG as an in camera option more and more.

I want to say that Pentax is the only one currently offering it...

I would use it if it was an option for me (in camera).

I've always tried to stay away from proprietary formats, but a lot of the time it's unavoidable.

Universal is good. If I send you my resume in a Corel WordPerfect format, will you be able to open it? Probably. Will it still look the same as it did on my machine? Probably not. That's why PDF is so great - you know it will be exactly the same no matter who you send it to. Everyone can open a PDF.

I think that eventually, DNG will be an option on all cameras... Some people (Sony) like to make you use proprietary stuff though... I'd be very surprised if we ever see DNG on a Sony camera, lol. I mean, you can't even plug a USB cable into one of them.

 

[Steve01]

Eventually, we will start to see DNG as an in camera option more and more. ...........

............ That's why PDF is so great - you know it will be exactly the same no matter who you send it to. Everyone can open a PDF.

I think that eventually, DNG will be an option on all cameras........

I think that would be a good thing. :thumbup:
I only converted RAW to DNG because my Canon S90 wasn't supported in PS_CS3.

Since I started using PS_C5 I stopped since it supports the S90's raw format.

 

[Dmitri]

I would use it if it was an option for me (in camera).

I've always tried to stay away from proprietary formats, but a lot of the time it's unavoidable.

Universal is good. If I send you my resume in a Corel WordPerfect format, will you be able to open it? Probably. Will it still look the same as it did on my machine? Probably not. That's why PDF is so great - you know it will be exactly the same no matter who you send it to. Everyone can open a PDF.

I think that eventually, DNG will be an option on all cameras... Some people (Sony) like to make you use proprietary stuff though... I'd be very surprised if we ever see DNG on a Sony camera, lol. I mean, you can't even plug a USB cable into one of them.

In camera would be great, and I would def. use it. For now I am sticking with RAW only because it isn't possible to revert from DNG back to CR2 unless you include it when converting, which makes the DNG file larger. Otherwise I would much prefer DNG, not only for compatibility but the other benefits as well (no sidecar files for one!).