Photography Thailand Forum

[Hawaiiman]

Ok, so just wanting some input on archiving, etc. Right now I will take rw2 files, do the basic processing ( any lens correction, noise reduction, adjust white balance) in LR3, save as a DNG, then for whatever particular purpose, run out a jpg as required.If nothing other than basic work is done for the DNG, is there any need to save the rw2 file as well?
Also,I downloaded a NEF file to play with which shows it is about 22megs, but after work on LR3 I saved it as a TIFF and got a 92 meg file.Why?

[Marc Schultz]

I never convert to DNG. I always keep the original RAW file and Photoshop creates a sidecar file with all my changes to the file. If I develop the RAW I save it as a PSD file with all my layers in tact. I don't like Light Room because you cant save changes to a RAW in a sidecar file.

You are probably developing the file as a 16Bit file from the RAW file, thus the large file size. If you save it as 8Bit should be about half. I think. How many mega pixels is the RAW file you are working with?

[Hawaiiman]

Marc, original NEF is 20.8 megs. I downloaded it as a learning device as I haven't received my raw capable camera yet. saved as  a 16 bit DNG it goes 18.7 megs, but as a 16 bit TIFF it comes out 92 megs. Right now I haven't gotten to the point where I'm interested n Photoshop. I haven't found a need to use layers yet, and the few repairs and cloning I do are accomplished ok in LR3. Maybe you could explain to this digital novice what sort of application for which you find layers most useful. I take largely landscape, and interior and exterior architectural right now, although I'm developing an interest in portraiture as well. I don't even dream of a budget big enough to do sports, and there isn't much going on out here near the Mekong anyway.
I started out with the assumption that there were basic changes to the RAW which wouldn't change regardless of the end product, i.e. noise reduction, lens correction, possibly light balance. Therefore, a DNG would serve a number of different products which would require further work in LR3 then to be saved in whatever is most appropriate for the particular product. This was going in the same direction as your use of a sidecar in PS, perhaps.