CRW not fully supported with DNG???

[crashbowman]

This book and Real World Camera Raw which I am just now starting have me seriously considering converting to DNG.  However the more I am convinced, it seems like I think of something else that holds me back.  My latest thing is this.

1)  I have read that CRW's are not fully suppored by DNG and some data is lost.  So Since I have have CRW's and CR2's, if I converted CR2's, but not CRW's wouldn't I be introducing two workflows.

2)  Say I change cameras in a year and ACR does not support my camera yet.  For instance I think ACR 3.3 just now supports Canon 5D files, wouldn't I have to use two workflows until it was supported and could create a DNG.



I think there is just some things that I am missing and would appreciate any input that people would have.

Thanks,
John

[peterkrogh]

THere are three issues in terms of DNG compatibility.

The first is the transfer of data.  As of 3.2, ALL data from the RAW file is transferred to the DNG.

The second is whether Adobe software makes use of this data.  Since Canon does not release the structure of its data, not everything that is in a Canon RAW file is usable by Adobe. Also, some features are not used by Camera Raw, such as Balck Mask Pixels, which are used in different ways by different RAW file converters.

The third issue is whether other software can access the file after it has been turned to DNG.  RSP and Aperture can, DPP, Bibble, and C1 cannot, although C1 promises it for this year.

Peter