K7 and Elements 7

*OrenMc* · 10-23-2009, 04:41 AM

I didn't check back that far in threads to see if this has already been addressed so sorry if it has. But it looks like Elements 7 hasn't updated to process K7 PEF files.
I have never really play with DNG files but they work fine as far as I can tell. What is the difference in the two PEF-DNG? Is DNG fine or do I need to upgrade to different software. I really don't want to do that because of the cash I just sunk into the K7 and a couple other lenses.

Thanks
Oren

Spotmatic · 10-23-2009, 09:04 AM

DNG is an industry standard. I see no need to use PEF.

PePe · 10-23-2009, 09:15 AM

Elements 7 does not recognize K7 PEF files as the camera did not exist when the software was launched. You just need to update the RAW converter (ACR) within the software package. The update can be downloaded free of charge from Adobe - Latest Product Updates

In terms of image quality there is no difference between DNG and PEF

pb_red · 10-23-2009, 10:48 AM

PEF is the pentax proprietary RAW format. DNG is an open RAW format that was created by adobe but could be used by anyone.

there should be no quality differences between the formats, and unlike JPEG's, which are created after post processing the RAW file a DNG is not processed.

i don't usually shoot RAW (i have my own, good reasons for this) but if i did i would definitely save DNG's rather than PEF's because DNG's will be supported as long as adobe is around. PEF support on the other hand is not guaranteed and gets complicated with different versions of the format (different cameras, different firmware versions, etc).

i just found out that none of the big players, nikon, canon, or sony have native dng support which is too bad because consumers would benefit from a single, well supported raw format.