Joe, I respect your knowledge and willingness to help. We've had an exchange of posts on this Affinity RAW issue and I gained valuable insights from it.

But this is not the first time someone misunderstood your comments regarding what Affinity does with your processed RAW file. I urge you to consider changing the words you use when discussing this issue.

You said: "And most importantly it does not save any of the work you do with a raw file. As soon as you do the raw conversion and transfer the RGB image to the raster editor (must do) all work you did in the Develop module is discarded."

It is too easy to conclude that you mean Affinity just doesn't save any of the adjustments you made in the Develop module ("all work...is discarded"). I think what you mean is that it doesn't save the INDIVIDUAL steps you took to get to the final, developed image that is saved. So the final image has incorporated all your work but you can't go back and tweak any of the individual adjustments.

Am I right?

My comments apply to Affinity's raw Develop Persona only. This is no Hue, Saturation, Luminance adjustment available in the Develop Persona -- by the time the RGB image is delivered to the Photo Persona it's too late. What's available in the Photo Persona can't make up for the loss prior to raw conversion.

If you open a raw file in Affinity you start in the Develop Persona. Changes you make there are not saved once the file is converted and moved to the Photo Persona. You can save the RGB image and you can reload the RGB image and work on it again but you can't re-open the raw file and pick up where you left off. Every time you re-open the raw file you start from scratch. If you want to test that open any raw file and access the White Balance control. Set a temp value of 5800 and a tint value of 5 (don't worry about what your photo looks like). Click Develop and move to the Photo Persona -- save if you want. Now go back and re-open the original raw file and access the White Balance control. If your work in the Develop module was saved then the values 5800 and 5 will display. If they don't your previous work was discarded.

Highlight reconstruction is a special case where a raw converter will take a raw file with one clipped channel (typically green) and rebuild the missing (clipped) data from data still present in the red and blue channels. Some raw converters do a better job of this than others but most at least attempt it. Affinity does not.

Joe

Google is your friend. One is more likely to get a balanced, unbiased opinion with which to make a better informed decision by using forum responses AND google reviews and responses in other forums. What you "got" is not a full story.

The OP is expecting an essay or consultation or mentoring. What he's gonna get here is the executive summary. The manner in which he's presented his inquiry is what you present to a consultant and pay them to do the research that he obviously is relying on others to do for him. So, in this case, suggesting Google is completely appropriate.

Google is your friend. One is more likely to get a balanced, unbiased opinion with which to make a better informed decision by using forum responses AND google reviews and responses in other forums. What you "got" is not a full story.

The OP is expecting an essay or consultation or mentoring. What he's gonna get here is the executive summary. The manner in which he's presented his inquiry is what you present to a consultant and pay them to do the research that he obviously is relying on others to do for him. So, in this case, suggesting Google is completely appropriate.

I agree with your point. As I suggested above, there is nothing wrong with Affinity's Develop persona for most people, particularly those new to raw or who only have light raw editing requirements. But, advanced raw shooters expect more, and They require the power and flexibility of a full featured raw editor to get the best from their raw images. Affinity's inability to retain the edits made to raw images is only one of many very important features it lacks. The raw processing limitations in the Develop persona are very significant. As a raw processor the Develop persona falls well behind the capabilities of Lightroom, Adobe Camera Raw, Capture One Pro, PhotoLab Elite, ON1, and others. A list of all it's deficits compared with the better raw processors, and why they are important, would be extensive. Just because some inexperienced raw shooters may be satisfied with Affinity's Develop persona, despite its limitations, does not make it a competitive raw processor.

My whole point is that, when we give supposedly helpful advice to learners, we should be clear and concise. We should also give that advice based on an understanding of their situation and needs. Granted, that may be hard to do, given the often sparse and unclear questions.

But we see too much of "you need to buy a Nikon 850", or "Photoshop is the only way to go", or "don't buy a crop sensor camera, you need full frame". There is no recognition that for some less is OK.

I think advice should go beyond an expression of personal preferences and include more "whys" so that learners can make an informed decision....

My 2 cents worth...