RAW vs DNG

Just an update: After reading "The DAM Book", I convert all my RAWs to DNG these days, and use Lightroom to keep track of them.

I have a relatively new workflow.

After importing my CR2 files into LR, I immediately export all the new shots to DNG to a staging area. I name them by month and put them into folders for archive to DVD at the end of the month.

During my Post Processing, I prune all the rejected photos and physically delete them. All my 'keepers' get archived again at the end of the month as I export them as a LR catalog.

So, everything exists as DNG in a bulk backup.
All the keepers also exist as CR2 files (in a backup).
The keepers remain as CR2 on my HD.

I'm not ready to convert over 100% to DNG.

In2Photos wrote in post #3574113
yup

and yup.

Me too. Life has been much easier without those dang sidecar files.

J.

I just started using Lightroom a few months ago, and I tried converting a few files to DNG at first just to test the waters. I have since converted all my RAW files to DNG, but I keep copies of both for now, at least until I get my new workflow figured out.

As a user of Lightroom, my workflow is LR-centric, where it used to be DPP-centric prior to that. I import from the card directly into LR, converting to DNG, and saving a backup at the same time to an external volume. The backup saves the CR2 files, whilst the LR library - my Working Master - saves the DNG.

With DNG you have the option of embedding, or not embedding, the original RAW file. I have chosen not to for the time being, but time will tell whether I reneg on that. As a result, I shave a meg or two per file with the DNG. Otherwise with the embedded RAW I'd gain a few pounds so to speak - but would be able to extract the RAW if needs be. I'm at 13,000 images currently, and that's a wee bit of space

A smaller filesize also helps with my laptop's performance, which by today's standards has a modest spec (G4 PowerBook 1.25Gb RAM) but LR works pretty well.

I also use LightZone occasionally, which reads DNGs with the edits. I can see edits made in LZ inside LR, and vice versa. I've not yet tried to edit in both applications, without the need to switch between them, re-import, or create huge TIFF files every time.

Pity that DPP "doesn't do" DNG and yes this is a drawback as some have already noted.

I believe that the future of DNG is longer and broader than the CR2 format; I still have my original CR2 files and can rely on Canon to support them for a while yet (if MS can stop supporting Win 3.1, 95, 98 et al, Canon can stop supporting CR2).

I also convert to DNG when I import into LR and I also keep a backup of my .cr2 just in case. I feel that this is a solution that will last a long time, don't forget that even though I dont't think Canon will drop .cr2 they can drop support for .cr2 from your camera since every cam is unique...

/Per