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"RAW data is usually stored in the DNG file format, which stands for Digital Negative. Some camera makers have their own formats, but those companies are jerks.
by mikece 6y ago
"RAW data is usually stored in the DNG file format, which stands for Digital Negative. Some camera makers have their own formats, but those companies are jerks."
I disagree with the second part of this quote. The major players (Sony, Canon, Nikon) have their own file formats which reflect the choices their engineers made in deciding how to record the raw sensor information at the time of the exposure. Theoretically you can make the case that one of them did it better than the others but since the applications photographers use to process RAW images are given the ability to read these RAW formats they aren't being jerks just for wanting to express their engineering genius in their own way. If, for example, Nikon REFUSED to give Adobe and others the ability to decode their raw NEF files, insisting you have to buy a piece of Nikon software in order to view and transform the raw images from your camera, then I would agree they are jerks. But just because a camera maker's engineers decided that (for reasons I don't know) the open DNG format won't deliver the best quality to their customers doesn't make them jerks.
Otherwise this is a pretty good article, even if it's little more than an educational promotion for Halide's camera app.
- Dylan16807 6y ago> The major players (Sony, Canon, Nikon) have their own file formats which reflect the choices their engineers made in deciding how to record the raw sensor information at the time of the exposure. Reflect how, and why couldn't that data be stored in a DNG?
- mikece 6y agoThe goal of DNG was long-term archival and maximum compatibility; Nikon NEF, Canon CRW, and Sony ARW file formats are meant to capture the point-in-time exposure information. Some of that point in time information involves the decisions the camera made about the exposure (Active D Light for Nikon... I'm sure Sony and Canon have their own settings they are saving) that matter for recording metadata about the image capture that go well beyond just the image itself for the purposes of long-term archival.
- sandofsky 6y agoThe purpose of DNG was to replace all those proprietary formats. It's stated in the introduction to the spec. If you want to store your proprietary "Active D Light," according to the spec: "DNG allows proprietary data to be stored using private tags, private IFDs and/or a private MakerNote."
- matwood 6y agoIt’s probably more of a legacy decision at this point, and photographers love their workflows almost as much as they love taking pictures. Also, the hardware in DSLRs is typically custom ASICS. Do you think there is a hardware limitation that prevents Nikon from outputting DNG at the same performance level as NEF?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- redvenom 6y agoThere's not much difference between the different formats in terms of engineering genius. The Raw data from a camera is basically a matrix of numbers...not too much innovation possible there. The fact that there are different formats is somewhat of a historical accident, and they preceded the DNG format. The format absolutely CAN be stored in a DNG, and in fact Pentax cameras have the option of either DNG or PEF.
- sandofsky 6y agoYou can download a free converter from Adobe that takes these proprietary formats and converts them to DNG. It contains the exact same information, so no, there's nothing special in these formats. If you want to do something innovative and don't want to follow Apple's example and contribute to the spec, use the "DNGPrivateData" tag. It's in the spec for this very reason. If you insist on using your own format for some strategic reason, annoying the entire RAW ecosystem, you're acting like a jerk. On the other hand, if you're doing it because you want to express your engineering genius, I agree that isn't acting like a jerk. That's acting like a child.
- pestatije 6y agoYes, coming from someone who is promoting yet another raw format, that sounds a bit grand. And this is Apple we are talking, which doesn't come across as a very standards based/supportive company.
- sandofsky 6y agoAre you saying Apple is promoting another format? Because if so, you didn’t read the article. Apple is just using LinearDNG, which has been a public, open standard forever. There is absolutely nothing proprietary that they’re doing, besides slapping a marketing label on it.