I'm finalizing my digital workflow and need to decide whether to just keep original CR2 (+sidecar) files, or convert to DNG upon Bridge upload. Is DNG the widely accepted standard?

Thanks.

It is supposed to be. That is the dream. In reality it isn't there yet.
Other raw converters usually only support DNG files from cameras that they
already support the propritary formats for. For example if it supports Canon
20D CR2 files then it will support CR2 files converted to DNG. Some programs
don't even do this. Right now Adobe is as far as I know the only one that
supports DNG files of any kind. I don't know if this will change in the
future. My Pentax K20D will do DNG right to the memory card and Adobe
supported them before they support the Pentax PEF files from the same
camera.

However, when my Nikon D90 arrives I will be doing NEF and I plan to keep
them as NEF and not convert them to DNG.

Robert

Right now Adobe is as far as I know the only one that supports DNG files
of any kind.





ACDSee supports DNG of any kind. Aperture 2, AFAIK, too.

Good to know. That is two out of what two dozen or more? I know it isn't
Adobe's fault, but it would be nice if these other companies fully
implemented DNG support intead of H.A.ing it.

Robert

My view on this is very simple - keep the source/original and it will allow you to do everything with it in future... DNG cannot be converted back. So the ability to use original converter (NX, HU, or DPP and etc.) will disappeared.

P.S. Do not fry a beef for future, who knows what is your preference will be...

Cheers,
Slava

Robert, our product Zoner Photo Studio is built on DNG SDK and therefore supports all DNGs too. And I'm pretty sure that there are other products like ours. So it is more than two...
Of course, you have to recognize "support" and "full support", because new DNG files can support some new sensor layout and that may cause lower quality of demosaicing in older versions of software.
Another issue with DNG is, that many customers expect identical rendering as from camera manufacturers software...

Happy birthday DNG! 4 years old today.

To date, I have listed over 240 products that support DNG in some way.
<http://www.barrypearson.co.uk/articles/dng/products.htm>

At one time, products sometimes only supported DNG files from cameras that they already supported via their native raw files. That is now rarely the case. The majority of products that support DNG files do so even if they don't support the camera concerned directly.

I have often found products that support certain cameras only via DNG, not directly.
<http://www.barrypearson.co.uk/articles/dng/dng_not_native.htm#examples>

Vojtech Tryhuk makes a good point. (Note: I have had Zoner Photo Studio in my list for quite a time). Unusual sensor configurations need software development whether using DNG or that camera's native raw files. DNG isn't magic, and because it is a raw file format, it needs to be handled by a suitable raw converter. It is still often better than alternatives. If a raw converter desn't support (say) a Fujifilm camera via either its native raw format or DNG, don't blame DNG for that!

(But - there is always the option of converting to Linear DNG, and that opens up extra possibilitities).

I have been using DNG for nearly 4 years. I have been discarding my original raw files, and just keeping the DNGs, for about 3.5 years. I don't regret this policy.