Steve'sDigicams

csd · Dec 18, 2003, 1:21 PM

I recently bought an DiMAGE A1 (and love it) - simple question:
The RAW mode on this camera, as I understand it, is a Minolta proprietary format that can't be read by all software. If this is true - then I'm somewhat afraid to start shooting to many shots in RAW mode. I take a lot of picture of my kids and fear that 10 years from now - when I want to go back and view/edit/print more photos of these never-to-return-years I may have problems. TIFF takes a lot more space but seems to have a much larger following.
So far I have been using a JPEG format but felt for my best/most prized shots I'd use either RAW or TIFF to avoid any color/quality loss.
So - is the Minolta RAW format proprietary to Minolta? Does software such as photoshop elements able to read this format or am I stuck with the DiMAGE Viewer if I capture in RAW?
Thanks in advance for the feedback I'm sure to get! (this is a great forum by the way - started reading several weeks ago when I was shopping for a camera and have gotten many valuable tid-bits ever since).

zhu001 · Dec 19, 2003, 11:42 AM

most of the raw formats are proprietary, not just from minolta.

tiff is a popular format but not the most effective way to encode pictures which is why tiff files are so big.

i think there are /will be the third party plug-ins for those raw format which u can directly read from photoshop. ( i thought i read some messages before here )

IMO, jpeg is enough for the daily use. (which i use 99% of the time) if u have to, take raw format and convert to tiff file (of course, use dimage view software ) and save on ur computer. right now, hard drive and cpu speed are so cheap and allow u to do so. this way, u dont have to stick with the dimage viewer forever, at least to those saved photos.

Dec 18, 2003, 1:21 PM	#1
csd Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 169	Minolta A1 and RAW format I recently bought an DiMAGE A1 (and love it) - simple question: The RAW mode on this camera, as I understand it, is a Minolta proprietary format that can't be read by all software. If this is true - then I'm somewhat afraid to start shooting to many shots in RAW mode. I take a lot of picture of my kids and fear that 10 years from now - when I want to go back and view/edit/print more photos of these never-to-return-years I may have problems. TIFF takes a lot more space but seems to have a much larger following. So far I have been using a JPEG format but felt for my best/most prized shots I'd use either RAW or TIFF to avoid any color/quality loss. So - is the Minolta RAW format proprietary to Minolta? Does software such as photoshop elements able to read this format or am I stuck with the DiMAGE Viewer if I capture in RAW? Thanks in advance for the feedback I'm sure to get! (this is a great forum by the way - started reading several weeks ago when I was shopping for a camera and have gotten many valuable tid-bits ever since).

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Dec 19, 2003, 11:42 AM	#2
zhu001 Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 47	most of the raw formats are proprietary, not just from minolta. tiff is a popular format but not the most effective way to encode pictures which is why tiff files are so big. i think there are /will be the third party plug-ins for those raw format which u can directly read from photoshop. ( i thought i read some messages before here ) IMO, jpeg is enough for the daily use. (which i use 99% of the time) if u have to, take raw format and convert to tiff file (of course, use dimage view software ) and save on ur computer. right now, hard drive and cpu speed are so cheap and allow u to do so. this way, u dont have to stick with the dimage viewer forever, at least to those saved photos.