The Eiserman Domain » Applications

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.4 released

Iceman — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:00:00 +0000

The latest version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has been released. you can download the update here:link

Flash Renamer for Free!

Iceman — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:26:00 +0000

A great batch renaming programme Flash Renamer is 10 years old, and is free for this week only. Get it here: http://www.rlvision.com/flashren/10th-anniversary.asp

Firefox 3 – Download Day

Iceman — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:29:00 +0000

As I’m sure many of you know, later on today is FF3 Download day. Help FF set a new world record!

To DNG or not to DNG?

Iceman — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:50:00 +0000

One of the great things about DSLRs is that you can shoot in RAW format. This is essentially a digital negative and allows you much more freedom in post processing and prevents image degradation. The problem with the RAW format is that everyone and their dog has their own proprietary type, and they keep changing it.

I was reading an excellent article about digital workflow at Pro Photo Life and the subject of data preservation came up. What good is properly archiving your RAW files, if in 10 years no software can handle them?

This naturally lead to the DNG format.

DNG is a “universal” RAW format for Cameras developed by Adobe. In fact they have recently submitted the format as an ISO standard (DNG submitted to the ISO). DNG has been around for a while now, and Adobe offers a free conversion tool (windows version, mac version) to convert your original RAW files. you can also do this in Adobe Lightroom with a few options:

Convert to DNG
Convert to DNG and embed original RAW file

The logical question is what is the file sizes of these different options compared to the original file? I decided to take a few sample RAW files from a recent shoot and test it out.

Here is the data:

File Size

Original CR2	DNG	DNG +embeded RAW
11,977	10,362	22,024
12,295	10,678	22,727
11,572	10,131	21,437
11,204	10,012	20,952
13,763	11,526	25,063
12,500	10,498	22,677
11,409	9,500	20,575
11,300	9,792	20,845

Camera: Canon 1D Mark III

And the change:

Original CR2	DNG	DNG +embeded RAW
100.0%	86.5%	183.9%
100.0%	86.8%	184.8%
100.0%	87.5%	185.2%
100.0%	89.4%	187.0%
100.0%	83.7%	182.1%
100.0%	84.0%	181.4%
100.0%	83.3%	180.3%
100.0%	86.7%	184.5%

A quick average reveals the DNG only format is about 86% the size of the original file and the DNG + RAW is about 184% the size. Is the DNG file just as good? I don’t really know. I have used the format a bit and had no problems, but there still might be some data loss there. Of course for just under double the size, you can have both.

My question is this: Do you DNG? If not, why?

Welcome to the "new" The Eiserman Domain Blog

Iceman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 15:24:00 +0000

Hi all,

As I’m sure you can see I have reposted a few of my main page stories to get this thing going. I hope that this is a better (read: easier) method of updating. Only time will tell.

From earlier on today:

Good day. Due to popular request, you can now be a fan of mine on FaceBook. Link Here
Here is a picture of my Dad’s Corvette. Cheers!

I’m in Schmap!

Iceman — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:29:00 +0000

Hi, I thought I’d do some shameless self promotion today, and as this is my site: why not! A few weeks ago the people at Shmap contacted me and said that a photo of mine had been short listed for their Rome travel guide. What is Schmap you say? Well here’s the blurb from their website:

Schmap is a leading publisher of digital travel guides for 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The innovative technology behind Schmap Guides also lets end users publish their own ‘schmaps’ (to share trip itineraries, local reviews and more), and powers a popular range of Schmap Widgets, displaying maps with content and event schedules for travel, sports, concert tours and more on a fast-growing network of websites and blogs. Founded in 2004, Schmap is privately owned and based in Carrboro, North Carolina

Schmap Guides

Schmap’s series of digital travel guides integrates dynamic maps with useful background reading, suggested tours, photos from the traveling public and reviews by local correspondents (for sights and attractions, hotels, restaurants, bars, parks, theaters, galleries, museums and more) to profile 200 destinations throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Last week they said that the picture is in and this is the one that they chose: