CRW (camera raw) and Photoshop CS

[HighLife]

Hey guys...just discovered the CHDK firmware for my A570 and was playing with it a bit. Shot some pics in CRW and removed them from my card via a card reader.

I have Photoshop CS with the 4.3.1 Camera RAW update, however whenever i try to open it in PS it says its " not the right kind of document ". I downloaded the plugin i could find and the update from PS itself..however, it still wont open it up....did i miss something?

I know i can convert CRW to DNG file, the file is bigger then the CRW straight from my camera...however, is this ok to do? Changing from CRW to DNG to Jpeg?

[Jon]

You actually need to convert the RAW from the hack to something else before PhotoShop will read it; the hack doesn't produce an "official" Canon RAW format.

[HighLife]

SO i have to go from CRW to DNG?

[Ugs]

Yes - no problem with DNG.

[Jon]

Yep. From the CHdk wiki (http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ#Q._I.27ve_shot_some_RAW_pictures._How_do_I_pro cess_them.3F), you need to use a program that's been specifically developed for the conversion.

[HighLife]

any difference or is there a way to go from CRW to normal RAW, or will it be equal to going from CRW to DNG?

Thanks, ya i was reading the wiki, but i thought new update CS would open up CRW file.

[Jon]

PSCS will only open Official CRW files, not this "unofficial" one. There's no normal RAW that is used in all cameras; that's why Adobe's pushing DNG. Every Canon camera to date has used a somewhat different, and mutually incompatible (in some quirky way) RAW format even though they may have used the same CRW (original) or CR2 (later) extension.

[HighLife]

PSCS will only open Official CRW files, not this "unofficial" one. There's no normal RAW that is used in all cameras; that's why Adobe's pushing DNG. Every Canon camera to date has used a somewhat different, and mutually incompatible (in some quirky way) RAW format even though they may have used the same CRW (original) or CR2 (later) extension.

Gotcha...i guess its not big deal going from CRW (unofficial) to DNG quality wise? Im using DNG for Powershot 1.1.4 to convert CRW to DNG.

Thanks for the info...been playing around with photoshop and dng...seems there is more info and more adjustments then Zoombrowser and Jpegs. I just thought what the hell, might as well try the CHDK firmware...i love the live histogram =)

[Jon]

Nope. DNG's supposed to preserve all the capabilities inherent in the original RAW, but in a "standard" file format that won't go out of date.

[HighLife]

i noticed that it actually a larger file....CRW shot was 8.7megs, converting the same file to DNG it came out 14.2megs.

Now, if someone would come out with a firmware that shots DNG so this could all be avoided =)

[Jon]

That's what Adobe wants camera makers to do . . .

[HighLife]

That's what Adobe wants camera makers to do . . .

ohhh now i understand...its a battle....since every camera company has their own form of RAW, adobe brought in DNG to create a standard format. However, companies still want to use their own format, which creates this type of format war ....arrgg cant we all get along? :D

[Jon]

Same as lens mounts. Each company designs the data format to best take advantage of their cameras' sensor designs and (in the case of Canon Picture Styles) software engineers' ideas. And, as you've seen, the RAW file's smaller than the equivalent DNG file, which makes a difference in card capacity.

[HighLife]

the white balance seems to be really off in Photoshop, i guess there is no way to sync it with my camera's white balance so it shows up the same?

btw DNF4PS-2 Beta is working for the 570 =)

[BBoi]

Fingers crossed for good old Adobe... i'm still waiting for JPg2000 to become an adopted standard for the web, it's compressed results are FAR superior to regular JPg. That coupled with a standard DNG and I recon togs will be in heaven :)

[Jon]

Don't hold your breath. The JPEG2000 spec is still not an open standard; both encoders and decoders need to be licensed and the only ones (without significant restrictions) currently available are sold, not given away.