bob fleer Loc: Annapolis, MD

I have Lightroom classic and notice that in my laptop (windows 10) the pictures i have taken are displayed as cr2 and dng. I am also finding this in some of my LR catalog as well. I am sure this is taking up a lot of room and would like opinions of the benefits of either and which I should use. I know dng can be set at the time of import.
Thanks in advance.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Some will tell you that DNG is a cross platform standard. While it may become one in the future, it's not there yet. From a strictly processing point of view there is no advantage to DNG. You can always convert your camera's raw files to DNG format in the future if the need or desire arises. However, if you convert them and delete your .cr2 raw files, they are gone forever. You cannot recreate .cr2 files from DNG files if you want to use the native raw files with software that doesn't read DNG.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Do you not have at least a 1 TB HDD? Beyond that I am not sure what you are asking. cr2 and dng are your RAW files, you should always keep them. Now if you mean you are getting "spontaneous" duplicates as DNGs of your CR2s, then something is wrong somewhere. Check the settings in the program you use to upload your image files from your camera. Something it "tell" the computer to create dng duplicates. All you need are your Canon cr2 or camera jpegs. Did you mean something else?

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Hard drive space is cheap. Leave it alone is my opinion. I'd also start downloading in the CR2 format since it's the native Canon raw format and it will retain all the EXIF that your Canon camera writes to the file. When converted to DNG, some of the EXIF is not retained.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

One advantage to DNG files is they are a bit smaller than native raw.

GrandmaG Loc: Flat Rock, MI

I was wondering the same thing. Why does the OP have both? Are they duplicates? DNG is just another form of RAW. I prefer to import the RAW from my camera in their original format and NOT convert to DNG. I see no advantage to that. It sounds like OP thinks they are created spontaneously but it must be a setting they are using. I will be interested in why/how this is happening.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Bob, for me it would be ok to have both except for the fact that they do take up twice as much space.
THAT SAID, I never, and I mean NEVER convert to dng. It is NOT a std, no matter how much Adobe would like you to think it is. I believe there are even a few small camera manufacturers that use dng as their native output.
DNG is not the same as CR2. It might be very close but it’s a translation by Adobe of what it says are the same files. Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t but they are a conversion.
If Canon intended my files to be dng it would have out-putted in dng.
DNG is Adobes attemt to standardize the industry so it’s programs can work on every manufacturers files. It’s Adobe’s attempt to further corner the PP market!
Keep your CR2’s!!! Don’t ever erase your CR2’s!!!
SS

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I believe this is true only for the initial conversion, but not after the edits. The initial CR2 to DNG conversion strips the Canon-specific "header" data (EXIF) while keeping the exact same image data. But after editing / post-processing data is added into the DNG, the file increases in size. If working entirely inside LR, the growing size of the DNG is not an issue. But, if you share a DNG to another product or export as DNG, you'll see the increasing size. I did such an exercise this morning and have highlighted two files to compare.

For a Canon shooter, the loss of the Canon specific data would cost me the ability to use DPP to display and analyze that Canon-specific data. Others may see this as a non issue.

If our OP is constrained on diskspace, they should consider why they have both file types for the same image and determine which is the better choice for their needs.

(Download)

brucewells Loc: Central Kentucky

Another is the elimination of XMP files. That data gets stored directly in the DNG.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

DNG is Adobe's "universal RAW" format. It has an advantage that no "side car" file is needed, to store things like Lightroom image edits. Instead those are stored right in the DNG file itself. DNG are also "backward compatible" with older Adobe software, such as an old version of Photoshop you might still be using.

Users have noted some "issues" with DNG. If you Google "DNG problems" you'll find more info. Primarily, it seems they don't work well with some software other than Adobe's. So folks who have converted their camera's RAW files to DNG have been unhappy when they've tried to process them in other third party s'ware.

CR2 are Canon's own "native RAW" format. Those are essentially your "originals". I wouldn't be too quick to dispose of them. You can always make another DNG from a CR2... but you can't do the opposite and create a CR2 from a DNG. Once the CR2 is gone, there's no getting it back.

If you view a CR2 file in Canon's own software (Digital Photo Pro or DPP, for example), you can access some info that can't be seen in any other software I'm aware of... For example, in DPP you can see which AF point was used to focus an image. AFAIK, that simply isn't possible with other software (I tried a Lightroom plug-in that was supposed to be able to display it, but it didn't work).

Depending upon what camera made a CR2, it may or may not be accessible in older versions of Lightroom, Photoshop, etc. If the camera is newer than the software version, there's good chance it won't be viewable. An update will be needed... which may or may not be possible. For example, Lightroom 6 in it's latest (and final) version uses Adobe Camera Raw 9.14 which can display and work with CR2 files from Canon 80D, 5DS models, 5D Mark IV, T7i/800D, 77D, SL2/200D, M5 & M6 "mirrorless" and others... but not the very latest releases such as T7/2000D, T100/4000D, M100 and M50 "mirrorless" (the last and newest model generates a new CR3 file type).

You are given the option during Lightroom Import to create DNG files (along with other things... such as creating folders, renaming and/or backing up your image files, adding copyright info, etc.) You can then either save both files types or delete the original CR2 and only keep the DNG. You can also convert CR2 files to DNG using a free DNG Converter s'ware that can be downloaded from Adobe's website.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I have been converting all of my CRW, CR1, and CR2 files to DNG ever since I discovered DNG, which was about 4 years ago.
In my Photographic Art business, I use Photoshop, Lightroom, Elements, InDesign, Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Photo-Paint, Paintshop Pro, Topaz, Redfield, Nik, onOne, Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Photomatix, DxO Optics Pro, Watercolor Studio....
Those are just off the top of my head.
I have not had a problem using DNG files in any of them.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

First off, I have a HP core I3 laptop with 8gb of memory and 800 mb of hard drive running Windows 10 with Adobe Cloud for my "travel" laptop. I also have a 4tb USB 3 hard drive that I use for my "main" photo drive. This is STRICTLY used as my travel solution for getting images off of my memory cards and onto the USB drive. It also allows me to examine my images and do a "first cull". If I have an extreme need or a really unusual shot, I can go ahead and do a full process on it, but mainly I upload each shoot and examine the shots. Then, when I get home, I do an import from the "external USB drive" to my main system for complete processing and it gets ALL of my photos into the same library. I can then put the usb drive back into my travel gear for next time. This gives me the option to immediately process a few images if I have a customer or a need for images right then and it gives me the ability to look at what I shot to see if I need to reshoot them. Otherwise, I wait till I get home so that everything can be processed on my big computer (Intel Core I5 with 64gb of memory, 32gb video accelerator, with 3 WD Gold 12tb drives and 3 WD Red 10tb drives. (my C: drive is a 500gb WD Black. I also have a network attached WD MyCloud 4tb drive that I can upload images to, while in the field.. this gives me the ability to backup my shots and get them "away" from my hotel room while traveling. In order to do that though, I have to purchase Wi-Fi access in the hotel/motel or go to a fast food place or somewhere with wi-fi.
And I don't delete ANYTHING from my external USB until I have verified that I have it at home and ready for processing. As for file type, everything I do is NEF with a corresponding xmp sidecar.

Jrhoffman75 Loc: Conway, New Hampshire

"If you view a CR2 file in Canon's own software (Digital Photo Pro or DPP, for example), you can access some info that can't be seen in any other software I'm aware of... For example, in DPP you can see which AF point was used to focus an image. AFAIK, that simply isn't possible with other software (I tried a Lightroom plug-in that was supposed to be able to display it, but it didn't work). "

I just want to pass on that this version of "Show Focus Points":

http://lightroomfocuspointsplugin.com/

works fine with all my Canon images from 1D Mark IIn up through Canon 1D X, including a Canon P&S. It is a little tricky the first time you go to use it; it needs to be accessed via Plug-in Extras in the Library module.

Lightroom Classic CC/W10 installation