Converting back from DNG

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BobT

BobT

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Most of my raws I've automatically converted to DNG. Just out of curiosity, within LR is it possible to convert back to the original camera format?
 
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No, not possible. If when you converted to DNG you used the option to embed the original raw file in the DNG, then it would be possible to extract that embedded raw file. But you can't convert a DNG back to proprietary raw.
 
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Jim Wilde said:
No, not possible. If when you converted to DNG you used the option to embed the original raw file in the DNG, then it would be possible to extract that embedded raw file. But you can't convert a DNG back to proprietary raw.
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Thanks!
 
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If you have the raw file still, can you convert the pointers in Lr to the raw file instead of the DNG?

Tim

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Only one at a time Tim. Or by hacking the database.


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Victoria Bampton said:
Only one at a time Tim. Or by hacking the database.


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Hmmm, I wonder if there is something in the API available. It would be a cool one time use plugin. I doubt worth the cost of developing into a real tool, but maybe worth hacking a solution together.

Tim
 
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Anthony.Ralph said:
John Beardsworth's Syncomatic plug-in might be worth a look...

Anthony.
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Even if you could accomplish that hack, I'm not sure that you would get the desired result, meaning that the edit instructions that operated on the DNG would also operate the same way on an NEF or CR2 RAW file. If you do manage to accomplish this hack, even by brute force, please let us all know.

Phil Burton
 
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PhilBurton said:
Even if you could accomplish that hack, I'm not sure that you would get the desired result, meaning that the edit instructions that operated on the DNG would also operate the same way on an NEF or CR2 RAW file. If you do manage to accomplish this hack, even by brute force, please let us all know.

Phil Burton
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I am debating it because I have found a few other tools seem to handle raw files better than DNG. I am also considering redoing part of my flow and longer term potential bit rot protection mentality.

Tim

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Syncomatic would do the job (thanks Anthony) of copying all metadata and adjustments from the raw to the DNG files so they would process identically.
 
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tspear said:
If you have the raw file still, can you convert the pointers in Lr to the raw file instead of the DNG?

Tim

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That's interesting. Tell me more!
Actually I've just realised that if exporting as a DNG, the dialogue box provides a check box titled "Embed Original Raw File". I tried it. It just gave me a DNG file and I don't know where to go from there. Any advice appreciated.
 
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tspear said:
I am debating it because I have found a few other tools seem to handle raw files better than DNG. I am also considering redoing part of my flow and longer term potential bit rot protection mentality.

Tim

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I must admit, that was at the back of my mind also but I didn't want to say. :)
 
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BobT said:
Actually I've just realised that if exporting as a DNG, the dialogue box provides a check box titled "Embed Original Raw File". I tried it. It just gave me a DNG file and I don't know where to go from there. Any advice appreciated.
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It does what it says on the tin, Bob, sticking a raw file inside the DNG. So if you examine the DNG in Explorer, you'll see it is bigger than DNGs saved without that option.

The next question is probably how to get the raw file out of there, and that's quite easy using Adobe's DNG Converter utility.

Why would you choose this option? You might want to keep your raw files as well as having the advantages of DNG. This option means you still have just one file to manage, backup etc, and can easily get to the raw file again. On the other hand, my own preference is to keep the raw files separately, in fact on a different drive. That's more work, but I like the separation of the backups.

John
 
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johnbeardy said:
Why would you choose this option? You might want to keep your raw files as well as having the advantages of DNG. This option means you still have just one file to manage, backup etc, and can easily get to the raw file again. On the other hand, my own preference is to keep the raw files separately, in fact on a different drive. That's more work, but I like the separation of the backups.

John
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I probably won't want to convert back to the original raw, it's just that I'd like to know if I could. I feel uncomfortable being beholden to Adobe by being locked into DNG. Years ago I was sure that DNG would become the standard but that now seems less likely.
 
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BobT said:
I probably won't want to convert back to the original raw, it's just that I'd like to know if I could. I feel uncomfortable being beholden to Adobe by being locked into DNG. Years ago I was sure that DNG would become the standard but that now seems less likely.
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If you believe that, then going forward, you should not convert your RAW files to DNG. And you should have a "background" project to "retrieve" your RAW files.

It's funny how people in this forum can get steamed about being locked into Lightroom and paying subscriptions forever. One way to reduce that risk may be to not use DNG.

Years ago, about 2005 or 2007, there was this small group out of Japan (?) that had a website, www.openraw.com. It's still around, but obviously moribund. Their goal was to promote an open standard for RAW files, and they sent letters to major manufacturers. Sony's reply is posted on the website, and it is a great example of how to promise nothing. Apparently Nikon and Canon didn't even reply. However, all three manufacturers, including Sony, have a proprietary RAW format.

In any high-tech business, including digital photography, standards are beloved by the weak players in a market adn used to attack the market share and customer base of the strong players. Those strong players have no incentive, barring customer pressure, to adopt open standards. So I believe Hasselblad and Leica support DNG, but not Nikon/Canon/Sony.

Phil Burton
 
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@PhilBurton
I already stopped converting; once I found out a few other vendors do not handle DNG as well and RAW.
However, I have not figured how to swap all my existing images. Easy enough to write a Java or .Net application to rematch the files such that my raw and DNG are next to each other. Not really enamored by the idea of doing it one at a time.
Have not figured out yet if John Beardsworth Synaptic plugin can pull it off.

Tim
 
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