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Converting to DNG files
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Sep 25, 2019 19:34:25   #
MoT Loc: Watertown, MA
 
Hello everyone,
I have a question to ask all you experts. I recently moved to an Olympus M1 MkII with creates ORF raw files. Olympus supplies software, Olympus Workspace, to edit RAW files but it is painfully slow and not intuitive. I have ON1 2019 edition which does import the ORF files but it is very different from the stand alone LR software, version 6.14 that is on my iMac. LR 6.14 does not recognize ORF files. But it does recognize DNG files. I discovered that I can download the converter from Adobe for free and convert the ORF file to DNG files and use the LR version I have. My computer is an iMac 2017 i7 with 32 GB of memory, 21.5 in screen (yes I am sorry I did not get the bigger one) and a TB SSD. I also have a backup disk and a disk where I save the LR catalogue and my picture files.

Does anyone have any experience with converting RAW to DNG and what was your conclusion. Thanx for your interest and advice that any of you can afford to me.

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Sep 25, 2019 19:44:06   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
The drawback of converting your RAW to DNG and discarding the original RAW is that you can no longer use the camera manufacturer's software to open and analyze the RAW files (or any other software that needs the RAW file rather than the DNG). The image file is both image data and descriptive 'header' data. The DNG process strips away some of the manufacturer's proprietary data, such as the location of the AF point, and replaces with Adobe information. From a technical state point of editing the images in LR or PS based on the DNG, the converted files work great. The DNG converter runs fast and in batch, being an extra step but not time consuming.

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Sep 25, 2019 19:46:24   #
MoT Loc: Watertown, MA
 
Thank you

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Sep 25, 2019 20:12:34   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
Since storage is cheap I always save my original raw files. I don't edit all of them immediately. When I m going to edit a bunch of files in my old PS version I batch process them to DNG, The information that is stripped out is information Adobe would ignore even if it recognized your original raw files.

--

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Sep 25, 2019 20:12:53   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
The DNG solution (recommended by someone on UHH) worked well for me when my no-longer-supported PS Elements 13 couldn't read the raw files of two M4/3 cameras I purchased.

The batch converting Chg_Canon mentions makes it easy to do other things while the conversions are taking place. For Windows users reading this, I used the drag/drop feature after selecting all from a folder.

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Sep 25, 2019 20:15:13   #
MoT Loc: Watertown, MA
 
Thanks. Did you see any difference in the quality of the images you worked on?

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Sep 25, 2019 20:18:06   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
MoT wrote:
Thanks. Did you see any difference in the quality of the images you worked on?
You might be asking Bill who posted just before me, but for my own experience, I had no way to compare. When I did buy a new PS Elements a year later, I had already deleted my raw files. I'm not much into pixel peeping anyway

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Sep 25, 2019 20:22:33   #
timcc Loc: Virginia
 
One alternative to converting to DNG or using the Olympus software is to use another editing program. I've used Photoscape X for my TG-5 ORF files, and much prefer it to the more basic Olympus program. And it is free!

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Sep 25, 2019 20:23:38   #
MoT Loc: Watertown, MA
 
Thanx, I will look at it. Is it really free or does it scrape your personal info and sell it on the internet? If it is free someone with money must back it and pay for its development. Just a thought.

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Sep 25, 2019 20:58:38   #
frankie c Loc: Lake Havasu CIty, AZ
 
MoT wrote:
Hello everyone,
I have a question to ask all you experts. I recently moved to an Olympus M1 MkII with creates ORF raw files. Olympus supplies software, Olympus Workspace, to edit RAW files but it is painfully slow and not intuitive. I have ON1 2019 edition which does import the ORF files but it is very different from the stand alone LR software, version 6.14 that is on my iMac. LR 6.14 does not recognize ORF files. But it does recognize DNG files. I discovered that I can download the converter from Adobe for free and convert the ORF file to DNG files and use the LR version I have. My computer is an iMac 2017 i7 with 32 GB of memory, 21.5 in screen (yes I am sorry I did not get the bigger one) and a TB SSD. I also have a backup disk and a disk where I save the LR catalogue and my picture files.

Does anyone have any experience with converting RAW to DNG and what was your conclusion. Thanx for your interest and advice that any of you can afford to me.
Hello everyone, br I have a question to ask all yo... (show quote)


Well I don't really agree that Olympus new software (Olympus Workspace) is difficult to use or not intuitive. If you are use to LR and you like it, your only choice to keep it is to upgrade to a version that allows you to import ORF files. LR/Adobe is not all that friendly when it comes to supplying add on upgrades to accommodate newer file formats. I ran into this myself about 5 years ago when I migrated from Nikon to Olympus. However, adobe Photoshop Elements does support ORF and at least a few years ago offered an add on which gave you support for ORF. I did initially, like you suggest and converted files to DNG and then brought them into LR 6. That got old quickly and also made my workflow somewhat tedious. A new version of Photoshop Elements is not terribly expensive and It does what I need for editing. My workflow is still brining my raw files into the Olympus software first and doing the editing (if needed to address those things you can only apply to the raw file. then I export to jpeg or TIFF (if taking it to print) and complete editing with elements. I also have the choice of bringing the ORF files directly into Elements. If you are shooting the OMD EM1 mark ii, and working with the hi res option. Olympus produces two raw type formats one is ORF the other ORG (I may have that second name wrong), however that one is for now only handled by the Olympus software (the difference has to do with the amount of and way that information I stored in the file. So my suggestion is, take the time to learn the Olympus software (you can really accomplish your critical edits with that). Good Luck, hope this helps some :)

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Sep 25, 2019 20:58:58   #
wrangler5 Loc: Missouri
 
FWIW, my version of LR 6.14 has been handling ORF files from my EM1 MkII since I got it over a year ago. (It also does the RW2 files from the Panasonic G9, which I believe came out even more recently.) And it does so quickly enough that I don't think about its speed. I think 6.12 did not, but 6.14 always has.

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Sep 25, 2019 21:15:19   #
Bill P
 
My version of ACR opwns my ORF files from the M5ii just fine. Maybe you need the monthly version. Scaaaary!

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Sep 25, 2019 21:30:32   #
timcc Loc: Virginia
 
MoT wrote:
Thanx, I will look at it. Is it really free or does it scrape your personal info and sell it on the internet? If it is free someone with money must back it and pay for its development. Just a thought.


It's a free trial, but without an end to the trial period -- so, yes, for all intents and purposes, it's really free. I found it easy to learn, especially if you've used other editing programs previously, and there are some tutorials on YouTube. It has more capable editing functions than the Olympus software.

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Sep 25, 2019 21:39:20   #
BebuLamar
 
When I bought my Nikon Df even the latest version ACR that worked with PS CS 2 won't support its RAW files. So I got the Adobe RAW to DNG converter. It's not bad to use as I can batch a bunch of files and just walk away. However I found that I can convert the NEF to JPEG using Nikon NX2 much better than the ACR that convert the DNG to JPG so I ended up not using it for long. Now I use PS CC so I don't use DNG any more.

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Sep 25, 2019 21:40:48   #
CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City
 
BebuLamar wrote:
When I bought my Nikon Df even the latest version ACR that worked with PS CS 2 won't support its RAW files. So I got the Adobe RAW to DNG converter. It's not bad to use as I can batch a bunch of files and just walk away. However I found that I can convert the NEF to JPEG using Nikon NX2 much better than the ACR that convert the DNG to JPG so I ended up not using it for long. Now I use PS CC so I don't use DNG any more.


Our OP is interested in the editing power of Lightroom against their RAW captures, something that seems to be a relevant difference in their plans.

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