The OpenRAW initiative is conducting the first international survey of photographers and digital image users about their experiences, requirements, preferences and concerns regarding raw imaging technology.

 

February 2, 2006: The OpenRAW initiative is conducting the first international survey of photographers and digital image users about their experiences, requirements, preferences and concerns regarding raw imaging technology.
The survey aims to collect information that will help steer developments in raw file technologies and give photographers a voice in the further development of raw imaging formats. With more photographers shooting most (or all) of their images as raw files, problems have been occurring due to a proliferation of proprietary raw formats – often different for each successive camera model from each camera manufacturer. Many imaging professionals and devoted amateurs have experienced significant disruptions in their digital image workflow and limitations in their choice of software tools.
Furthermore, the expansion of the sheer number of proprietary raw formats and the adoption by camera manufacturers of the practice of encryption to conceal information stored in raw image files have increased fears about the viability of raw formats for the long term archiving of photographic material. Some manufacturers whose cameras produced proprietary raw files have already gone out of business, with unknown consequences for future access to those images. Many photographers are concerned that raw files from current camera models may not be accessible in the future when those models are discontinued.
The online survey questionnaire, which was launched on 31 January, will be available for eight weeks at www.openraw.org/survey/. Its closing date, 31 March, coincides with the 168th anniversary of an address by William Henry Fox Talbot to the Royal Society of London in 1839 describing a process of “photogenic drawing” (the collotype) based on a paper “negative” that would permit unlimited copies of an image to be made.
We encourage all readers with an interest in raw image formats to visit the OpenRAW website (www.openraw.org) for a full explanation of the issues surrounding the development and use of raw files. Responses to the survey questionnaire, which should take between 10 and 15 minutes to complete, will be kept completely anonymous and confidential. The OpenRAW organisation and survey have no connection with any business or commercial interest. The purpose of the survey is to give professional and amateur photographers a means to express their requirements, preferences, and concerns which will be made available to camera manufacturers, software development firms, and other key participants in the digital imaging industry. Results of the survey will be reported at the OpenRAW Web page.