OpenRAW

My name is Mario Westphal and I'm the person developing and supporting the image management software IMatch (www.photools.com) for years in my spare time. Quite a few ;-) [D1scussion] list members use IMatch to manage their NEF files.

Since I donate a great deal of my spare time for the IMatch project, I take everything that hinders me to deliver a top-notch quality product personal. Please keep that in mind when I get to "direct" below ;-)

I use Nikons. For many years. I like them. I also have a small (older) Canon DSLR. Good hardware. Beaten and shaken, but never failed. I like it too.

What I don't like are the secret, volatile, ever-changing file formats of all camera vendors and the archival nightmare these will create for us in a few years time.

My users use IMatch to build and maintain their image archives. Many libraries and galleries use IMatch to manage and update archives which span decades. Long-term archival safety is of great importance for my users and for me. Most Pro's and more and more "amateurs" use RAW these days.

RAW is cool. RAW gives better image quality. RAW is more flexible. Yep. All true. But there is also a dark side to all these RAW formats, or the way camera vendors use/abuse their proprietary RAW formats.

I'm playing this dang RAW war now for years. This "we don't tell you" game of camera vendors costs me weeks or even months each year - precious development time, wasted to reverse engineer bits and pixels, EXIF data and maker notes. Time I'd rather spend to enhance IMatch as a whole instead of just adding yet another RAW variant.

Not to mention the danger that camera vendors some day will file for a couple of patents regarding their RAW formats. Just enough to prevent other companies from reverse-engineering or displaying their RAW files. Which would lock you into whatever application they want to sell to you. Just to open your own images, shot with a camera you paid for with your money. Nah, that won't happen. Hum.

Canon has a software development kit (Free)

They don't document their RAW format. But they change it with each new camera model. Sometimes even with new firmware versions. They don't document their EXIF maker notes. They move information outside of the standard EXIF information, into their precious undocumented maker notes for whatever reason.

IMatch needs to ship about 30 DLLs in order to support the about 15-25 different .TIF, .CRW or .CR2 formats in use by Canon today. Many different Canon DLL versions are installed on PC's out there, and there are many incompatibility issues when users install several "CRW-enabled" applications on the same machine. From "file format unknown" to plain crashes everything can happen if DLL versions are mixed. Using different names for each version of the DLLs would be a good idea. Just in case somebody from Canon reads this.

But Canon has at least a web site where I can check for new SDK versions. Good. They even have at least one person who answers questions. Also good. Usually I only email them to get info about when the SDK will support the cameras my users can buy _now_ in the shops. It always takes a couple of months to update the software. But at least they ship updates and keep in touch with developers.

Nikon has a software development kit (Also free)

They don't document their RAW format. But they change it with each new camera model. Sometimes even with new firmware versions. They don't document their EXIF maker notes. They move information outside of the standard EXIF information, into their precious undocumented maker notes for whatever reason.

I have gone through the process of applying for the SDK twice. Every time it takes about 8 weeks to get the papers (real paper or fax) through the Netherlands to Japan and back. All persons I was ever in contact with are nice and helpful. But the process is slow by using physical shipments and plain paper. Canon and Kodak do alls this via web and email.

Anyway, after some weeks I receive a CD-ROM from Nikon with a couple of DLLs, a header file and some general documentation about the TIFF format that is used as the core of the NEF format (like for so many RAW formats). Some NEF-specific info too. Nothing really important though.

But, fine so far. Thanks, Nikon. Honest.

But there is no support address or web site I can contact about an updated version of the DLLs. Which is usually needed when a new model comes out. Or a new firmware. Or when bugs are fixed. Or performance improvements made. Nothing. You get the DLL after applying for the SDK and there support stops. Not good.

Sometimes I'm lucky and by accident (or because there are IMatch users among Nikon staff) I get in contact with a Nikon intern which help out with a new DLL version. But I'd rather would rely on an official developer support program. With regular updates, information about RAW topics and new models. Just to ensure optimal compatibility between the really good Nikon hardware and my software. Same to Canon.

Kodak has a software development kit (Free)

I get info about updates via email. There is a web site and support staff. The DLLs are updated in intervals to incorporate changes or new models. Excellent. Not too many Kodak users out there, unfortunately.

At least all three vendors get points for trying.

Leica?

Nothing. I wrote several emails to their head quarter here in Germany (about 30 miles from where I live). No reply so far, except a "we don't discuss this at this point".

Sigma?

Gets some extra points by contacting me (!) _before_ releasing their cameras so I could implement support for their RAW format early. They supplied (which is unique) a nearly full documentation of their RAW format. IMatch had support for the Sigma RAW format when the cameras where available in stores.

Sinar?

Several emails. I finally got an answer from their press department ;-) telling me that they will think about releasing the information. Several weeks are gone. Nothing yet.

Olympus?

Nothing. I contacted them once and they told me basically to "go away".

Minolta, Konica, Sony, ?

No support. No specs. No info :-(

Despite all these problems, IMatch currently supports Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sigma, Olympus, Leica, Minolta, Sony and the RAW formats from other vendors.

But new RAW formats are released with new camera models each month. In order to
serve new users, or existing users who buy new bodies, I need to spend more and more time to support all these RAW formats in my application. I also use a couple of third party libraries for help. But I don't really want to do that. My business is image management, not RAW processing.

I just want a simple method to give my users a proper and quick preview of their RAWs, or a quick slide show for culling and sorting. Developing the RAWs or getting the best quality is none of my business. This is what RAW processors are for. I'm happy if I can display the files with proper rotation, WB, and ICC-managed colors.

But it's a fight with each new RAW format.

When will the next NEF format hit the market? Perhaps the next firmware update for the D2* will introduce subtle changes, which spoil the white balance or the rotation again? Or a new Capture version (speak 4.2) introduces a new NEF variant which cannot be read in part by Nikons own software development kit. Or an update for Capture again looses the ability to open NEF files with IPTC data added by IMatch or other applications?

A new Canon model will most likely be released soon, with yet another RAW format. Or a new way to calculate/encode white balance info. Or a new way to rotate the image, or record rotation information. At the time when you can buy the camera, I will have to wait for 8 to 12 weeks before I get an update of their software development kit. I would prefer an updated documentation with the changes made. I could then quickly incorporate the changes in my code and ship an update to my users.

If vendors would commit on fully documenting the RAW formats their cameras create and the EXIF information they encode in the files, all would be cool. Software vendors could write their own RAW processing software using reliable information. Special software kits would become available soon from toolkit developers, allowing small independent developers like me to incorporate RAW like we incorporate JPEG or TIFF and then carry on with the real features of the application.

That would be really cool. I could spend my entire time making IMatch better instead of fighting RAW formats, EXIF info or trying to decode yet another strange EXIF maker note with whatever important bit of information...

Thanks for listening.

-- Mario Westphal

Author of IMatch
--
http://www.photools.com/