A Critique Of The DNG Format

This article by Thom Hogan was discussed on a recent Controlled Vocabulary group posting and although published last year, it may be of interest to other DAM professionals (especially photographers and those interested in digital images).  The piece presents a concise critique of DNG and why you should be wary of using it.  The main points against DNG are:

• It increases the number of steps in your workflow.
• DNG doesn’t always contain a JPEG created from the RAW file.
• You increase your backup and storage requirements.
• The use of sidecar files requires you to take greater care over backups and ensure they are retained with the original DNG.

“When people ask me if they should convert their NEFs to DNG, my usual answer is “no.” The reason is simple: the potential benefits seem to be greatly overshadowed by the drawbacks right now. That may change someday, but the bottom line is that the drawbacks currently outweight benefits in my opinion.” [Read More]

 

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