Adobe Systems Incorporated announced that its Digital Negative Specification (DNG) — an industry-wide initiative to create one unified format for archiving raw digital images — is continuing to win support from camera manufacturers and software makers. Ricoh Co. is the latest camera manufacturer to support DNG, with its new GR digital camera. By providing DNG support directly in its products, Ricoh joins respected camera manufacturers Hasselblad and Leica, along with a wide range of software manufacturers such as Apple, Extensis, iView and ULead.
“DNG addresses a critical need in the market to preserve digital images in their purest form while also simplifying the raw workflow for photographers,” said Kazuhiro Yuasa, general manager of the Image Capturing Solution Division at Ricoh. “The Ricoh GR Digital represents the latest advancements in high resolution compact cameras, and by incorporating support for DNG we’re giving our customers the flexibility and control they require to do their best work.”
“Serious photographers have already expressed their eagerness to find cameras that support the common DNG format,” said Bryan Lamkin, senior vice president of Digital Imaging and Digital Video at Adobe. “Ricoh’s commitment to DNG is great news for the photography community. We look forward to working closely with Ricoh and other manufacturers as DNG evolves and becomes part of everyday photography workflows.”
Updated DNG Converter
Adobe today also announced an update to its DNG Converter. The DNG Converter now gives users additional preference settings for JPEG preview size and the option to run DNG using a command line interface. The updated DNG Converter includes support for the 14 new cameras added to the new Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in, stores larger previews and expands options for storing the original proprietary files within the translated DNG.
Support for Over 80 Camera Models
In addition, Adobe introduced the Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in that extends long-term archiving capabilities to 14 new camera models from leading manufacturers, bringing total support to over 80 cameras. With the new plug-in, users can preserve more metadata when saving files in the DNG format. Added support for GPS metadata tags gives photographers the ability to associate images more easily. Additional features include an updated, user-friendly interface for Photoshop Elements 4.0 users and “As Shot” white balance support for Nikon D2X, D2Hs and D50 camera users.
New cameras supported by Adobe Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in and DNG Converter include Konica Minolta ALPHA SWEET DIGITAL (Japan), Konica Minolta ALPHA-5 DIGITAL (China), Konica Minolta MAXXUM 5D (USA), Konica Minolta DYNAX 5D (Europe), Leaf Valeo 17, Leaf Aptus 22, Leica D-Lux 2, Nikon D2Hs, Nikon D70s, Nikon D50, Nikon Coolpix 8400, Nikon Coolpix 8800, Panasonic DMC-LX1, and Panasonic DMC-FZ3.
Availability
The Adobe DNG Converter and Adobe Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in require Mac OS X 10.2.4 or higher, Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3, or Windows XP.
