[LRflex] A Space Saving Idea!

All:

No, this is not a story of how to organize your closets!

Though, it's close.

Most of you will know that the DMR shoots .dng files... and they're 
19.4mb each.  Compared to, say, Canon's CR2 files, which use a 
lossless compression, they're huge. And, when you have many thousands 
of them, they occupy a lot of 'puter space!

So I tried an experiment.  I downloaded Adobe's (free) DNG converter 
and tried converting DNG files to DNG files!

IT WORKS!

The resulting files vary from 11.1mb to 15.3 mb, using the lossless 
compression algorithms built into the converter.  Most are around 
13.1 to 13.3mb in size.

OK, so it's not as good as the linear .dng files produced by the M8, 
but beggars cannot be choosers.  And an average saving of 5mb per 
photo, x 5000 photos, is 25,000 gigabytes!

And I have a lot more than 5000 photos!

The resulting files are readily opened by FastStone Image Viewer, 
Silkypix v2 and v3 as well as PhotoShop CS2.  I have not tried other 
programs, but if these ones work, others should!

If you wish to try it, download the DNG converter 
(http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/) and give it a "go".  Note: it 
comes bundled with Camera Raw 4.0, but if, like me, you do not wish 
camera raw because you use another image converter, that's fine. When 
you unzip the file, you'll get the RAW and DNG converter as two 
separate bits.  The Converter is a stand alone program for Windoze and Macs.

The program is easy to use, as it operates on folders, not individual 
files.  Just point it to the folder where you have your DMR's dng 
files, and have it put the new, compressed versions in a nearby 
folder.  When your satisfied all is well, delete the originals!

The program is not particularly fast, especially when you have 300+ 
shots in a folder.  But it works away, at it's own pace, while you go 
for a coffee or lunch!

This same converter will convert most RAW files to .dng files, and 
should save some space, in the process.  I know others who do this, 
as DNG files (being a public, if not open source, standard) are more 
likely to be supported, in the long run.

If you shoot RAW files, try it!  And let us all know how you got on with it!

Cheers!
---

David Young,
Logan Lake, CANADA

Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
Stock Photography at: http://tinyurl.com/2amll4

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