It is my opinion that once I press the...
It is my opinion that once I press the shutter release and create that RAW file (no matter which camera company I decide to use) that file is my copyrighted property just as if I where shooting negatives, and Nikon has no right to encrypt any part of my files information.
< "Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form." http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ >
Just imagine if for every type of film you ever shot you had to process it in a different chemistry. What if Kodak (for hypothetical example) said in order to have your negatives come out in color you have to use their chemistry. Maybe this would be a pain in b*tt, but you could work around it and get your images processed; right? Well, what if the chemistry you where forced to use did not work half the time. That would be a different story, and that is the case with Nikon software.
That unfortunately is only half the problem. Throughout the entire industry a problem with RAW file formats has been identified. At the current pace of development with already over a hundred different versions of RAW in ten years there could easily be thousands. This presents a problem for photographers who may buy new cameras, or (dare I say it) switch brands having to deal with a plethora of different file formats, but the real problem is will these file formats even be accessible in ten years, much less in fifty or a hundred years for either your retirement or for future generations? The archival state of your files are in question. Today's high-end super computer is tomorrow's landfill. As technology pushes the limits in both computing and digital photography it creates a gap of lost information from devises that have become obsolete. Remember when DVD-R was a new technology. Before DVDs even became mainstream as a storage medium they have been made obsolete by technologies like "Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD" holding up to 50 GB per disc.
a RAW standard needs to be jointly or independently developed. The best thing that could happen is that competing camera companies come together and develop an open RAW file format that can be used as an industry standard. I personally believe that is a pipe dream. The second best option available today is that we rally around an open RAW file format like .DNG developed by Adobe < for more information go to: http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/main.html > as an open RAW standard. I do not propose as others may that this be done all at once. I do feel that it is time that a standard RAW file format be made an option along side the camera company's proprietary RAW just like .TIFF, and .JPG.
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http://www.photoj.us
Barry, Thank you for your response. I see your...
Barry,
Thank you for your response. I see your points, and agree that it does not matter (to me) how a standard open RAW file format is created as long as it is the best possible quality. That being my point. If Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sigma, etc. are the experts on their cameras hardware and software (and I hope they are) then with their assistance, expertise, and experience the new or revised RAW standard would meet the needs of each company and provide photographers with the best possible quality image file. However unlikely that may be I feel this would prove the best possible scenario for everyone.
As for motivation, that is simple supply and demand. I would not patronize you by explaining basic economic theory, but if we demand it I believe they will supply it.
Maybe I did not go into enough detail with my post, but coming from a newspaper background has taught me that sometimes the more you say the less people listen, so "get to the point" as a former editor would often say. That is what I was trying to accomplish when stating my opinion, and by doing so I hope to contribute my part to inspire the free and open debate that may lead to reform of an area of my chosen profession that I find lacking.
J.
J, you say: "The best thing that could happen is that...
J, you say: "The best thing that could happen is that competing camera companies come together and develop an open RAW file format that can be used as an industry standard".
Why? Does it matter HOW the format is developed?
What matters is surely how it is managed and how it is used. If it works, and is managed and used well, it doesn't really matter whether it was originally dug up as tablets of stone, or scribbled by a 6 year old child!
If your argument is that camera manufacturers will only use it if it is developed by camera manufacturers, then you have a point. But I'm not convinced that Nikon would be more likely to use a format jointly developed by Canon than one developed by Adobe. Frankly, what motivates these manufacturers is a puzzle to me!