Yet another RAW question...

[Free]

Just wondering if people leave their RAW file in propriety format or convert to DNG? Especially in Lightroom.

And what's your reasons for choice?

I've been playing with Lightroom on my laptop since I got the camera and I'm now moving everything over to my PC. I figure I might as well start fresh with the best practice. I've read a book that recommend coverting to DNG for the following reasons...

Originally Posted by Inside Lightroom 2

Some advantages of DNG include, lossless compression, ability to embed the Raw file in the DNG, creation of large previews and no .xmp sidecar files!

Downside of course is the larger file size and the HEAPS longer time it takes to import.

What do you think?

[candleman]

currently i just keep the native Raw and .xmp with a JPEG version too.
(only because i shoot jpeg+Raw)

good question tho'
i've been wondering myself if i should be keeping .dng's aswell just to "help" guard against orphaned file formats

[digirebelva]

I convert mine to tiff's and keep the raw as well...tiffs because I can open them and edit them anywhere I am on a computer.

[Quo Fan]

I just leave them as the native RAW.

[Jim Bryant]

I edit the RAW,images then save a copy of the selected RAW edits into converted Tiffs and when I send to clients I save a copy of the Tiffs into jpeg and send. But yes, I save edited RAW images, selected Tiffs and jpegs. All stored in a folder on a portable HD and also burnt to DVD's.

[linnefaulk]

I recently converted all of mine to dng.

[Free]

Originally Posted by linnefaulk

I recently converted all of mine to dng.

Can I ask why you converted?

[Snowdust]

I leave mine in native raw. I feel nef will be supported for some time, and as long as I have a program that can convert them, I feel good should things change.

[Trader]

I shoot in both .jpg and .raw (not both but either). After I download my images from the camera I make a copy of the originals on a portable drive. Then do a quick look at them and delete the ones that I know I will never need. Then I go to my hard drive and delete those images from my drive. I backup my drive (new and changed files) to a different portable drive on a regular basis. With portable drives being so cheap now a days it just makes sence to keep full copies of the original work. You never know when it will come in handy.