rawformat

DNG ready Raw Developer 1.2 released

Iridient Digital have just released Raw Developer 1.2. This major update brings the support for many cameras, but also for the DNG format. Faster loading of image files, and a better demosaicing are some of the many new features and improvements of this Mac OS X raw images processor.

More info at: http://www.iridientdigital.com/

A free fully functionnal demo (with watermarking) is available.

dcraw rewritten for DNG

Dcraw, the ANSI C program written by Dave Coffin, has the goal to decode any
RAW image from any camera on any computer. Indeed, the program can be compiled
for every Operating System, so one could say that dcraw is most versatile cross platform RAW decoding program out there.

Dave has told us that the program, in its soon to be released version 7.0, will not just add the support of DNG files, but be completely redesigned around the DNG format. This will mean more accurate colors, better white balance, etc.

Although Dcraw uses a command line interface, its code is used in many programs
using a GUI (Graphical User Interface), so after the official release of Dcraw 7.0,
the number of programs being able to open a DNG will greatly increase.

Check out http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/dcraw/ in a few days for the
official announcement.

Pixmantec RawShooter: free raw converter, opens DNG

Pixmantec Rawshooter essentials 2005 is a new free raw conversion software, that can perform sophisticated corrections, batch processing, side by side image comparisons, slideshow, and can open DNG files. You can download the program at the Pixmantec or Corel websites

This software will allow users of earlier versions of Photoshop or of other graphic software to discover the power of RAW images processing.

Check out Uwe Steinmuller's review of the software at Digital Outback Photo.

For the moment, the software is only available for Windows and a bug -soon to be fixed- prevents it to work on AMD Athlon processors.

DxO Optics Pro 2.2 outputs in DNG

DxO Optics Pro 2.2 that has just been released, offers now the ability to output to the DNG format, allowing you to perform the  post-processing of the RAW files in your preferred converter.

Optics Pro 2.2 is a very powerful software that allows you to perform multiple optical corrections to your RAW files: under controlled parameters, the DxO labs shot thousands of pictures using different lens and body combinations and analysed their problems (Barrel Distortion, pincushion, Chromatic Aberration, etc.) in order to produce a mathematical model that Optics Pro 2.2 now uses as a basis for its optical  corrections of each lens-body combo.

Rob Galbraith DPI: RAW+JPEG (and DNG) handling get major boost in upcoming Photo Mechanic 4.3

Rob Galbraith DPI: Photo importing, RAW+JPEG handling get major boost in upcoming Photo Mechanic 4.3: ""

Rob Galbraith has long been an "unabashed" fan of Photo Mechanic and describes why there's even more to like now. For starters, there are many new formats supported--including DNG. Other file format additions are:

* ORF (Olympus' RAW format) files from the E-1 and E-20.

* Nikon D2X NEFs and Adobe DNG are added to the list of viewable formats (with limitations).

* RAW .TIF files from the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds are now recognized explicitly as RAW files so that they can form part of a RAW/JPEG pair.

Other enhancements include:

* Background photo importing with renaming.

* Rename in Ingest Disks dialog.

* Fast view (and manipulation) of thumbnails--you can begin viewing and editing before the import is complete. the import chugs away in the background.

* Zoomable preview window.

* RAW+JPEG linking.

* v4.3 for Windows enables the user to right-click on a folder of photos, and then choose Open in Photo Mechanic.

All in all, Galbraith says Photo Mechanic "is a way cool release" and "continues to do what it does as well or better than anything else we've tried". You should read the entire review, and check out the quicktime movie of background ingesting of images.

Adobe Camera Raw Displaying Generic Icons but not Thumbnails?

This is a recurring question on the Adobe forums. The quick fix is to go to the File Browser menu and select the File: purge cache command.

Adobe Camera Raw 2.4 available (public beta)

This just landed in my in-box:

"The Camera Raw 2.4 beta has added support for the following cameras:

* Canon EOS 20D
* Canon PowerShot S70
* Canon PowerShot G6
* Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II
* Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200
* Konica Minolta MAXXUM 7D
* Nikon D2X

Please comment or report bugs on the Camera Raw 2.4 beta at:

The Adobe User to User Forums for Camera Raw 2.4

Download page for Mac:

Download page for Windows:
"

New RAW Image Conversion Application for OS X

"RAW Developer is a powerful new RAW image conversion application designed specifically for Mac OS X. RAW Developer gives advanced photographers total control over every aspect of their digital camera's output, yet still provides easy drag and drop conversion convenience and access to basic adjustments for the casual user."

Great Downsampling Technique

Another reason to own a pixelgenius product is that you get access to their excellent forums. On Tommy Williams blog, he describes a nice approach posted by DNG and Raw guru Jeff Schewe for achieving optimal quality when downsizing images. In a nutshell, he advisies downsizing with Bicubic Sharper in 66% increments to get close, then use the File->Automate->Fit Image... option to complete the result.

Capture One DSLR Rebel Edition Preview

The always insightful Uwe Steinmueller has provided a nice long look at the alternative to the Canon File Viewer utility. The Capture One DSLR Rebel Edition (C1 Rebel) at $49 brings "quality raw workflow" to 300D DSLR users.

The C1 Rebel has similar features to the C1 LE and is derived from the full-featured Capture One DSLR Pro. According to Steinmueller, the C1 Rebel:

* Only supports the Canon EOS 300D
* Can only convert a maximum of 20 images at the same time
* Missing some advanced features like IPTC tracking and profile editor
* PC only

"10 Steps to RAW Conversion Nirvana"

Wetpixel co-administrator Craig Jones has written an article on getting started with Adobe Camera Raw. If managing chromatic aberration is important in your workflow, this piece details some of the ACR tools available for those corrections.

Open Source Raw digital photo decoding

Paul Debevec is the director of the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies, and just emailed me about this public C source code by David Coffin for decoding RAW images. Paul isusing this code in some of his research projects. Apparently they use it for all of their Canon CRW's and Raw TIF's.

Coffin has no doubt done a lot of format hacking to put this together. He links to Adobe's Camera Raw Web page as one of the many products that uses his code.

Photoshop Camera Raw Update posted (version 2.3)

Camera Raw plug-in, version 2.3 has been posted. This new version supports the just-announced DNG (Digital Negative) format and provides support for more camera models. http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html

“Unofficial' support for some cameras in ACR 2.3

Just got word that in addition to the newly officially supported cameras, there are also “unofficially” supported devices that ACR 2.3 works with. The Canon 20D, Canon PowerShot S70, Canon PowerShot G6, Fujifilm F710, and Fuji E550 all seem to work fine, but have not been completely tested by Adobe yet.