- Introduction to this topic
- Examples of support via DNG but not native raws
- What happens when DNG is the native raw file format?
Introduction to this topic
One of the benefits of DNG is that some raw converters (and other products) support cameras via DNG that they don't support via their native raw files. (This can be a major benefit for archival purposes). They can do this because every DNG file contains camera details, comprising parameters that describe the camera and its sensor characteristics, colour and others. Some products use these camera details while some (currently) don't.
This page identifies some known examples of products that can use these parameters. Most of these examples are from "personal tests". Since I test very few software products, and I only have raw files from perhaps 20% of raw-capable cameras, this is only a subset of the likely products and cameras that can do this.
Key features of my personal tests
I test 2 or 3 things, (using separate folders with Windows applications to avoid complications that can occur because of name-clashes, etc):
- That the product doesn't handle a native raw file. (I don't rely on the documentation to deduce that it doesn't support that file - I test it).
- What the product does with a default DNG file produced from the native raw file. (Eg. can it convert it so that I can use it in Photoshop?)
- Typically, but not always, what the product does with a Linear DNG file produced from the native raw file. (Eg. can it convert it so that I can use it in Photoshop?)
A variation is where the DNG is produced using an "amateur" DNG Converter, such as raw2dng, raw2dngw or SMaL to DNG. In those cases, I run those DNGs through the Adobe DNG Converter first, on the assumption that this will give the highest quality DNGs from perhaps marginal "amateur" DNGs. (In other tests, I have never found a case where things "degrade" after using the Adobe DNG Converter).
Examples of support via DNG but not native raws
Some people have claimed that it is only possible for products to support DNG files where the product already supports the original raw files. That claim is wrong! Here are many examples to the contrary:
- Adobe | LightZone | Silkypix | IrfanView | LemkeSoft | dcraw | ProFotoSoftware | RAW Therapee | MediaChance | PhotoScape | RawDrop | Capture One 4 Beta | ACDSee Pro | Apple Aperture
- Counter examples: Products that can't do this
These are examples of raw processing products that can process DNG versions of raw images while failing to process the original raw files for the the same images. Typically, and probably always, this is because they are able to extract and exploit the camera details from the DNG files, and use this instead of needing built-in camera details.
It was hard to get into this list! To appear here, a product typically has to be one of the few products I have tested; has to not support one of the minority of raw files that I have available; yet there has to be a DNG Converter for those raw files so that I can convert those raw files to DNG. These examples must surely be just a subset of the real situation.
Adobe products
The most familiar example is the use of ACR 2.4 to enable users of Photoshop CS to process raw images from cameras launched after ACR 2.4 was released, hence supported directly only by ACR 3.x and Photoshop CS2 . But even the latest versions of ACR support DNGs of cameras whose native raw files they don't support. This arises where non-Adobe DNG Converters (from camera manufacturers or "amateurs") are used to convert native raw files that Adobe don't support.
Camera | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
ACR 2.4 (Photoshop CS) | ||||
More than 70 cameras launched since January 2005! | Just try it. Thousands have, with success. | No | Yes | Yes |
ACR 2.4 (CS) and ACR 3.7 (CS2) and ACR 4.x (CS3) | ||||
Several cameras supported by non-Adobe DNG Converters. (ACR 2.4, ACR 3.7, ACR 4.x, and probably Lightroom, apparently support all of the DNGs identified on the rest of this page). |
Some personal experience, including: |
No | Yes | Yes |
Lightroom 1.0 (similar cameras to ACR 3.7) | ||||
Canon 1D III | Personal test. | No | Yes | Yes |
Panasonic FZ8 | DPReview | No | Yes | (Not reported) |
LightZone
I stopped trying LightZone version 1.2.2 (Windows) after only a few tests, because it was too buggy. There may have been more cameras than this. LightZone has vastly improved with later versions.
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
LightZone 1.2.2 Windows) | ||||
Fujifilm S2 Pro | Personal test | No | "Unknown error" | Yes. (Strange colour - green channel clipped?) |
Pentax *istD Pentax *istDL Pentax *istDS |
No | Yes | Yes | |
Sigma SD10 | No | Yes. (Dull) | Yes. (Default DNG & Linear DNG look different) | |
LightZone 2.0.6 | ||||
Mamiya ZD | Personal test. | No. (Not recognised). | Yes. | Yes. |
Olympus E-410 |
No. (Just green noise). | |||
Panasonic FZ8 | No. (Just orange noise). | |||
Sigma SD10 Sigma SD14 |
No. (Not recognised). | Yes. (DNGs created from Sigma X3Fs are Linear DNGs whether or not the "Convert to Linear Image" option in the DNG Converter is set). |
Silkypix
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Silkypix 2.0.18.1 | ||||
Casio EX-Z55 (hacked) | Personal test | No | Yes. (Using raw2dng, raw2dngw). | Yes. (Initially using raw2dng, raw2dngw). |
Fujifilm S2 Pro Fujifilm S3 Pro Fujifilm S9500 |
No | No | Yes | |
Leaf Aptus 22 Pentax K100D Sony A100 Sony V3 |
No | Yes | ||
Phase One P25 | No | Yes. (Discoloured) | ||
SMaL 1288x864 (hacked) SMaL 2032x1520 (hacked) |
No | No. (Using SMaL to DNG). | Yes. (Initially using SMaL to DNG). | |
Sigma SD10 | Personal test | No | Yes. (DNGs created from Sigma X3Fs are Linear DNGs whether or not the "Convert to Linear Image" option in the DNG Converter is set). |
|
DPReview DPReview DPReview DPReview |
||||
Silkypix 3.0.5.4 (free) | ||||
Canon 1D III Canon 40D Canon Powershot G9 Nikon D40X Olympus E510 Phase One P25 Sony A700 |
Personal test | No | Yes | Yes |
Fujifilm F700 Fujifim S9500 Fujifilm S9600 |
No | No | ||
Phase One P45 | Damaged & mis-coloured image | Yes | ||
Sigma SD10 Sigma SD14 |
No | Yes. (DNGs created from Sigma X3Fs are Linear DNGs whether or not the "Convert to Linear Image" option in the DNG Converter is set). |
IrfanView (3.98) & Plugins (3.98)
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canon 1Ds Phase One P25 |
Personal test | No | Yes | Yes |
Leaf Aptus22 | No. (Unacceptably dark) | |||
Sony A100 Sony R1 |
No. ("TIF file with the wrong extension"). | |||
SMaL 1288x864 (hacked) SMaL 2032x1520 (hacked) |
No | Yes. (Using SMaL to DNG). | Yes. (Initially using SMaL to DNG). |
LemkeSoft GraphicConverter X/Classic
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nikon D200, etc | DPReview | No | Yes | (Not reported) |
dcraw
(It is rare that this aspect of dcraw is needed, because it normally supports native raws before they can be converted to DNG. The Sony A100 was an example where Adobe beat dcraw to support. This feature can be illustrated by using older versions).
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
7.30 | ||||
Fujifilm S5 Pro | Personal test | "Cannot decode ... S5 Pro images" | Yes | Yes |
Sony A100 | "Cannot decode ... A100 images" | Yes | Yes | |
Canon 1D III | No. (Tiled image, weird colours). | Yes | (Not tested) | |
Olympus E410 Olympus E510 |
No. (Nothing resembling an image). | Yes. | (Not tested) | |
8.21 | ||||
Sony A100 | Personal test | No. (Black image). | Yes | Yes |
Canon 1D III | No. (Weird colours). | Yes | (Not tested) | |
Olympus E410 Olympus E510 |
No. (Black image). | Yes. | (Not tested) |
PFS (ProFotoSoftware) Batch Processor (v2.031)
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Casio EX-Z55 | Personal test | Unable to process. | Yes. (Using raw2dng, raw2dngw). | Yes. (Initially using raw2dng, raw2dngw). |
Leaf Aptus22 Leica D-LUX2 |
Unable to process. | Yes | Yes | |
Sony A100 | Program exits without warning! |
RAW Therapee (Version 1.1-pre1)
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kodak (some) | DPReview | No, or poor. | Yes, but must be uncompressed. | (Not reported) |
Pentax *istDS | DPReview | No | Yes | (Not reported) |
MediaChance PhotoBrush (Version 3.51)
(There was no mention of DNG on the website for this product. I only discovered that it supports DNG by chance!)
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canon 20D Sony A-100 Sony R1 Leaf Aptus22 Panasonic FZ30 Pentax *istDL |
Personal test | Not recognised or not read. | Yes. | Yes. |
Nikon D50 | Green/cyan cast. | No. (Preview only). | ||
Olympus E-330 | No. (Scrambled). | No. (Blocks missing). | ||
Olympus E-500 | No. (Scrambled). | Yes. | ||
Phase One P25 | No. (Preview only). | |||
Canon 5D | Not recognised. | No. (Blocks missing). | ||
Fujifilm S2 Pro | Rotated 45-degrees. | Rotated 45-degrees. | ||
Fujifilm S9500 | Not read. | Rotated 45-degrees. | ||
Leica D-LUX2 | Not read. | No. (Blocks missing). | ||
Fujifilm S3 Pro | Rotated 45-degrees. | No. (Blocks missing). | Yes. (Dark). | |
SMaL 1288x864 (hacked) | No. | Yes. (Using SMaL to DNG). | Yes. (Initially using SMaL to DNG). | |
SMaL 2032x1520 (hacked) | No. | No. (Blocks missing). (Initially using SMaL to DNG). |
PhotoScape 3.0
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sigma SD14 | Personal test | Totally black | Yes. (DNGs created from Sigma X3Fs are Linear DNGs whether or not the "Convert to Linear Image" option in the DNG Converter is set). |
RawDrop 1.1
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Panasonic FZ8 | Personal test | Random pink | Yes. |
Yes. |
Phase One Capture One 4.0 Beta 1
Although this is only a Beta release, this is an important product, and it is unlikely that this degree of DNG support will be withdrawn later, so it is worth documenting the results here.
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canon D60 |
Personal test | No | Yes | No |
Casio EX-Z55 | Yes. (Using raw2dng, raw2dngw). | |||
SMAL CVS 1280x860 |
Yes. (Using SMAL2DNG). | |||
Silicon Imaging SI1920 | Personal test of "Default DNG" | Probably not; it is CineForm RAW |
Yes | |
Deliberate failures | ||||
These are cases where this product deliberately ignores certain DNGs. If the manufacturers' names in these DNGs are replaced by meaningless letters, (using a hex-editor), they can all be processed. | ||||
Hasselblad-Imacon H2 Hasselblad-Imacon H3D39 Leaf Aptus 17 Mamiya ZD |
Personal test | No | Yes, after replacing all: |
No |
ACDSee Pro 2 version 2.0
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Canon 40D (not sRAW) Canon Powershot G9 Olympus SP510UZ Sony A700 |
Personal test | No (Source data format not recognised) |
Yes | Yes |
Casio EX-Z55 | Yes. (Using raw2dng, raw2dngw). | |||
SMAL CVS 1280x860 SMAL Radio Shack 2008x1504 (and more) |
Yes. (Using SMAL2DNG). | |||
Sigma SD9 Sigma SD10 Sigma SD14 |
Yes. (DNGs created from Sigma X3Fs are Linear DNGs whether or not the "Convert to Linear Image" option in the DNG Converter is set). |
Apple Aperture 2.0
Cameras | Evidence | Native raw | Default DNG | Linear DNG |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | Tutorial "How to use DNG for Non Supported Cameras" | Yes. |
No. |
Products that can't do this
A few DNG-handling products have failed this test in the past - they still needed built-in camera details, because they were unable to extract and exploit the camera details from DNG files, even though they can extract and exploit the raw image data within them. Here are known examples, (there may be others), but these particular products have improved their status with upgrades. I don't know of latest versions of extant products with this problem.
- Obsolescent: Apple Aperture before 2.0. (And possibly other Apple products using the operating system's raw file handling?)
- Obsolescent: Pixmantec Rawshooter (Essentials and Premium)
What happens when DNG is the native raw file format?
Some cameras and digital backs use DNG as their native raw file format. This appears to be a different topic. It isn't. There is little difference, to a software product, between a DNG file created from a proprietary raw file for a camera model that the software product doesn't support, and a DNG file output directly from a camera or digital back. They are both unknown until read.
Software products that support cameras via DNG that they don't support via their native raw files, such as the above examples, will typically also support DNGs directly output by cameras and digital backs. This is how all raw-handling software products should be.