rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

Re-read the quote from Adobe!!!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

Bayou

Adobe, schmobe. There is other software in the world.

BebuLamar

But didn't you use the Adobe software to convert from raw to DNG?

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Bayou

I'm not the OP here, but in my case, no. There is superior software available for DNG conversion...Iridient Transformer...program versions unique to specific camera manufacturers. https://www.iridientdigital.com/products/

No loss, no stripping of meta data, and superior results. My experience is with the Fuji version.

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Why won't your copy of Ps open RAW files from your Olympus or Lumix? I'm using an old CS6 version of Ps and I can easily open files from other people's Nikon, Canon, etc. cameras as well as my own Pentax and Fuji cameras. In practice I usually convert everything to DNG upon uploading from my cameras. You may need to tweak the setting and preferences in Ps, or Lr for that matter.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

If you would just subscribe to the Photography Plan so you had the current versions of Photoshop, ACR, Lightroom Classic, and Lightroom (plus Bridge), you would have no need for DNG. Cost per month is less than a bad movie ticket, and the joy it provides is a lot healthier, since you don't get the popcorn.

IMHO — I understand why people with cameras that MAKE DNG files are using them, but the rest of us should keep the raw files AT ALL COSTS, because they are the true originals. Live in Lightroom Classic, with occasional forays into Photoshop, and you'll only make JPEGs for distribution on the web, photo labs, emails, and social media. And you can tailor each one of them to its exact purpose without wasting any more disk space. If you archive, keep a sidecar file for the raw file.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Of late, all movies are bad, at least the ones I've seen only about once or twice a calendar year. I'd hate to have that disappointment increased to every month ...

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

Raw files are my negatives so I store them with my jpgs.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I delete anything I don't like, although I tend to keep good raw files. Processing software has gotten a lot better.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Okay, so pick your own tired vice and adjust... I used to hit the theater about once a month. I also used to eat fast food. I also... You get the idea. Most of us have choices we can make about the things we buy and do. For me, the Adobe Photography Plan makes perfect sense, since I sell prints on occasion. I make enough off of occasional print sales and other imaging projects to pay for my computer, monitor, software, camera gear, etc.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

I haven't watched a movie - anywhere - for maybe 50 years. I never have played a computer/cellphone game, and essentially don't frequent the popular "social media" sites!!! I can waste enough time on things relatively meaningful to me.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

photoman43

I do not convert to DNG as my raw processing software reads the RAW files from my cameras. If I ever were to create a DNG or a Tiff, I would never delete the original RAW file.

Bill_de Loc: US

I'm sure we can all find lots of topics where we would qualify as neophytes.

Glad I could be a little help.

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Hip Coyote

I am moving towards a somewhat hybrid model on what files to keep and what to toss. I shoot in raw almost always. My work flow is to import the raw files into a well organized file structure, and keep everything in LR. I then pick the photos I want to process, do so and delete the rest. Typically, I delete the exported pics after they are printed, relying on my original plus the sidecar file, as intended by LR.

But...here is the heresy. As I get older, and realize there is some legacy issues with my photography files. When I am gone, my adult kids simply are not going to subscribe to LR, export a raw file, with all the edits I did, to possibly reprint the photo or put it into a digital frame, etc. So, the final jpg actually is something that needs to be saved for them. The file has to be be something they are familiar with to use, should they want. I am working to make that situation for them very smooth (like estate planning.) I am also aware that my "artistic" shots, for the most part, are for my purposes, not a legacy for my kids. I think we can look on the UHH site and see that many of our shots are not something that our kids will want to have given the tens and hundreds of thousands of files we may produce. Unless your survivors are photo nerds (meaning us) , they will not know what to do with a raw plus side car file, or even a DNG.

The final product of meaningful photos is for them..family together, family events, etc. Some artsy shot? Not so much.

So, I am now keeping a version of the jpg edited photos that I think they may want down the road. I also always keep my raw files because I have learned that as new LR or Topaz features come out, such as LR's masking update which dramatically improved LR for me, I go back and re-edit some shots here and there, for my enjoyment. On occassion, I do go back into my older files and find raws that I "thought" were good at the time, but now no longer want...I am getting better at curating. So I try to whittle that all down to the very best work.

IMO, most photographers make a very big mistake in failing to understand that legacy photos are not always the artistic keepers, the wall hangers and the like. A fuzzy photo of a now deceased grandparent (or in our case a great grand parent) with a child is far more important than my shot of Yosemite that got a 9 by a judge somewhere.

I think, as I get a bit more time, I may actually re-process some of the legacy shots so that the dates are imprinted on the face of the photo (using Batch Photo) so that it is captured as well. Again, people have no clue what exif is and will probably not learn. They know how photos on an iPhone work but on a computer? No way. Does it somewhat interfere with the "artistic value of the shot?" Yes. But fifteen years from now, my son sitting with his son looking at a photo of the two of us fishing and knowing for certain it was in August 2001, might be priceless.

Keep the raw and sidecar files of the photos you chose to process. I suggest keeping the jpgs that might be of use or interest to others who do not share our photo hobby interest and will never figure out or use LR, dng or anything else. Delete the rest. Curate, curate, curate.