The OpenRAW Working Group, a ‘grass roots’ organisation of photographers has launched a website that aims to address critical issues related to RAW image files.

 

April 26, 2005: The OpenRAW Working Group, a ‘grass roots’ organisation of photographers has launched a website that aims to address critical issues related to RAW image files.
Most professional photographers prefer using RAW image capture because it offers the highest quality and the greatest creative control. However each camera manufacturer has its own proprietary RAW file format, which remains confidential within the organisation. Manufacturers are also known to have encrypted data in RAW files and dropped support for older camera models. Readers wanting more information on this issue should visit http://photoshopnews.com/?p=226 and check the company’s response at http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042203nikonnefresponse.asp. Readers with an interest in RAW file decoders may wish to check the website of computer programmer, Dave Coffin, at http://www.cybercom.net/~dcoffin/ for a list of RAW formats he has decoded.
According to the OpenRAW group, closed, proprietary, RAW file formats present many immediate and future challenges for photographers and anyone who uses digital images. As well as limiting processing choices and creative freedom, they also restrict photographers’ choices for software that matches workflow needs. There are also serious concerns that RAW files may become unreadable with the passage of time. This will seriously affect photographers who choose to archive RAW originals. Practical problems are also significant. With more than 100 RAW format types currently in use, reverse-engineering each of them to make image data accessible has become a daunting – and costly – task. In addition, most image file formats allow for extra data that can be used to organise and describe images. This data is critical for efficient workflow in many sectors of the photography business yet many developers restrict the addition of extra data by their software because of the real risk of making the file unreadable.
Currently a number of popular RAW file ‘converters’ exist – with Adobe’s Camera Raw and Bibble Labs’ Bibble 4 ($US129) being leading examples. Adobe has also been working to establish an open RAW format, Digital Negative (DNG) which camera makers can use as a solution to the RAW problem. However, to date only Hasselblad and Leica among the camera manufacturers have committed to supporting it. (Adobe’s DNG Converter is a stand alone application that can be used to convert RAW files for subsequent use in virtually any software application.)
The OpenRAW group wants camera manufacturers to publicly document all of their RAW image file formats: past, present, and future. By doing so, they say, manufacturers will provide photographers with a maximum set of processing choices and the best guarantee of future image decoding. For more information please visit the OpenRAW web site: http://www.OpenRAW.org