On Wed, Nov 29, 2006 at 07:24:12PM -0500, Cory Papenfuss wrote: > > On Wed, Nov 29, 2006 at 10:18:14AM -0500, Cory Papenfuss wrote: > >> > >> Ideally, Adobe would release an open-source converter that could > >> interpret the proprietary tags in the manufacturers' RAW files and convert > >> them into DNG's. An alternative would be for the manufacturers to allow > >> similar utilities to be written by publishing the specificiations for > >> (all parts of) their RAW files. THEN there would be merit. > >> > >> -Cory > > > > Those suggestions aren't really alternatives - they are the same thing. > > > > As you point out, the camera manufacturers are not prepared to release > > the specifications of their proprietary RAW file formats. Until that > > happens, Adobe are bound by the terms of their licensing agreement with > > the camera manufacturers, which I am sure would prevent them from doing > > what you ask. > > > > After all, there's no benefit to Adobe in having the DNG converter be > > a binary-only distribution; they don't charge for it. An open-source > > version would serve their purpose at least as well (if not better). > > > Exactly why converting to DNG on an open-source platform is not > only impossible (at the moment), but also fairly pointless. > > -Cory
I guess we'll just have to disagree on this one. Given the choice of archiving my files in an opaque, proprietary format (PEF) or a publicly-specified and documented format (DNG) I'll pick DNG. I suspect more open-source software in the future will handle DNG; I'm not so sanguine about the long-term prospects for PEF. The fact that the PEF-to-DNG converter isn't open-source doesn't really bother me; after all, the firmware in the camera isn't open-source either. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
