OpenRAW

No one knows what the future holds. Raw files that are complete and open for all possible future scenarios is the only responsible and professional solution, especially for professional photographers for whom the raw format is the ONLY way to shoot. Currently it appears the doors to a truly open raw format are closing and the voices of professional photographers are not being heard, even after so many years of photographers' support of the leading camera makers. As the importance of raw grows, I would guess the first major manufacturer to have their cameras shoot in a universal open raw format will improve and increase their standing among professionals and all others who are being won over to shooting raw exclusively. I feel a certain disrespect from my cameras' manufacture who--it appears plain to me now--is more interested in me as consumer than photographer.

And on a more specific note: If the reliable rumors are true, that Canon's next professional series of cameras will shoot in DNG or some other established open format, Nikon's influence among professionals will be further reduced. When I explain this crisis to other photographers who are not yet converts to RAW, I say this: Imagine we're all still shooting film and that the company that makes your film of choice is also the only company with the chemistry that allowed you to develop your negatives/slides and prints. Anyone else coming up with their own, perhaps even better chemistry to make your pictures, would be subject to a lawsuit. This is not at all unlike Kodachrome and its chemistry, but keep in mind we knew what we were getting with Kodachrome and there was never any threat that shot film would not be able to be developed afterward. And of course this analogy falls apart because you never again have to process a slide, unlike RAW files for which part of the beauty is being able to go back to them later, try a different converter, tweak a few settings and get even better results than before.

It's clear that we as photographers, especially professional photographers for whom shooting is our life and livlihood, should be allowed to shoot whatever camera and "film" we wish and subsequently process the images in whichever "chemistry" we prefer. The "chemistry" makers should not be limiting us in any way, but continue their work to produce better and better chemistry (converters and associated software). All the while, photographers should be able to rest easily knowing that years from now, when we want to make more prints from our negatives, the chemistry required to make those prints will still be available. If this isn't possible, it's equivalent to having a house fire every few years and losing all our negatives. Pretty soon we're going to realize that we'd better be shooting the film that's going to be around for a good long time and not limited to the availability of the old chemistry/converter.
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http://www.stevehambuchen.com