DNG Converter question

Manfr3d

Howdy!

I just tried the Adobe DNG Converter on some of my RAW
files and ran across sth. strange. When I view the original
RAW file and the DNG file inside my raw converter the
histogram changed. Then I saw that the DNG file has a
larger dimension than the CRW. Wierd, cauze i thought
all image information would stay the same, or not?

Is this a good or a bad thing?!

/me is scared of dng :oogle

01af

Manfr3d wrote:

When I view the original raw file and the DNG file inside my raw converter the histogram changed.

Are the raw converter's pre-selected settings the same for both raw files? If not then adjust them so they match and then check the histograms again. Do they still differ?

Manfr3d wrote:

Then I saw that the DNG file has a larger dimension than the CRW.

Did you embed the original raw file into the DNG file? Did you embed JPEG preview images? Even if you don't embed the original raw and set the JPEG preview image to 'none,' the file size of the DNG file may differ slightly from the original raw file's size, due to the file formats' different compression algorithms. The data will remain unchanged anyway (except when you select the 'Convert to linear image' option which is not recommended generally).

DNG is a good thing. It has just one single disadvantage: after having converted your raw files to DNG, you cannot use the original manufacturer's raw converters anymore (i. e. the Canon raw converter in your case). However that's only a minor drawback; most don't use those anyway. Most use 3rd-party raw converters which usually are better than whatever came with your camera. And if you feel you need to, you can avoid that drawback: simply embed the original raw file into your DNG files, or archive both the original and the DNG raw files ... however at the expense of increased archive memory space consumption. I heard of pros who routinely convert to DNG (without embedding the original) and then throw away the original raw files. DNG is just as good as, and in a few respects (metadata, openness) even better than, any original raw file format. Some digital cameras even use DNG as their native raw format (Hasselblad, Leica, Ricoh ...).

-- Olaf

Manfr3d

01af wrote:

Are the raw converter's pre-selected settings the same for both raw files? If not then adjust them so they match and then check the histograms again. Do they still differ?

Both files have exactly the same default (adjustable) values when loaded.

01af wrote:

Did you embed the original raw file into the DNG file? Did you embed JPEG preview images? Even if you don't embed the original raw and set the JPEG preview image to 'none,' the file size of the DNG file may differ slightly from the original raw file's size, due to the file formats' different compression algorithms. The data will remain unchanged anyway (except when you select the 'Convert to linear image' option which is not recommended generally).

I'm talking about Image dimension here not file size.
By that I mean horizontal x vertical pixels. There are
more in each direction in the DNG.

01af wrote:

DNG is a good thing. It has just one single disadvantage: after having converted your raw files to DNG, you cannot use the original manufacturer's raw converters anymore (i. e. the Canon raw converter in your case). However that's only a minor drawback; most don't use those anyway. Most use 3rd-party raw converters which usually are better than whatever came with your camera. And if you feel you need to, you can avoid that drawback: simply embed the original raw file into your DNG files, or archive both the original and the DNG raw files ... however at the expense of increased archive memory space consumption. I heard of pros who routinely convert to DNG (without embedding the original) and then throw away the original raw files. DNG is just as good as, and in a few respects (metadata, openness) even better than, any original raw file format. Some digital cameras even use DNG as their native raw format (Hasselblad, Leica, Ricoh ...).
-- Olaf

I know. But what I dont like for Example is that the Adobe DNG
converter changes some metadata entries to uppercase. Kamera
name is just one example.