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Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Updates
- Thread starter rrm74001
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Raw files are never standardized. By their very nature, they're unique to every camera model.
Apart from the .dng (digital negative) format which was an attempt at a standard but it failed to become standard across all manufacturers and even dng had variations by way of custom sidecars - files with extra meta data...
Yep, they are derived from the sensor ("RAW" data is where the name comes from). As soon as the sensor changes, the data from it will change so the resulting file format will change. Once you have the RAW compatibility update to support your camera's then there is not really any need to update unless you get a new camera which isn't supported until a later update, or you get some other issue for which a later RAW Compatibility update is indicated as a resolution.
Same idea as with 35mm lens mounts. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus all have their own physical lens mounts. No standardization there either. The closest you get to an open standard is the micro four thirds world where the physical interface is open and published. You can mix bodies and lens from Olympus, Panasonic, Tamron, Zeiss, and others. By the format of the raw files is still up to the camera body makers.
RAW is more akin to film emulsions than it is to computer file formats. You could look at those RAW compatibility updates as the equivalent of time and temperature charts (if you're at all familiar with chemical film processing), with each image editing program as the equivalent of a different chemical developer. (I know, it's a very loose analogy.)
Essentially, each image editing program needs to know how to interpret what came off the sensor in terms it can manipulate. In Apple's case, that conversion is built into the operating system, available to all of Apple's image editors and any independent apps that want to take advantage of them.
We wouldn't want RAW to stand still, since it means sensor development has also come to a standstill.
Essentially, each image editing program needs to know how to interpret what came off the sensor in terms it can manipulate. In Apple's case, that conversion is built into the operating system, available to all of Apple's image editors and any independent apps that want to take advantage of them.
We wouldn't want RAW to stand still, since it means sensor development has also come to a standstill.