[prysm]

Hi all

i am trying to decide if google photo is good enough for my personal raw processing. i find that it reduces the pef file size and i am not sure what is happening.

i seem to be able to open pef files and make adjustments to the image and then i do a "save copy" and then i check the copy all seems ok except it was 10x smaller.

anybody knows what is happening ther? googling did not give me much info on how it handles raw files so decided to ask here in case someone else does.


regards
prysm

[reuvens]

Hi all

i am trying to decide if google photo is good enough for my personal raw processing. i find that it reduces the pef file size and i am not sure what is happening.

i seem to be able to open pef files and make adjustments to the image and then i do a "save copy" and then i check the copy all seems ok except it was 10x smaller.

anybody knows what is happening ther? googling did not give me much info on how it handles raw files so decided to ask here in case someone else does.


regards
prysm

Is the new saved copy 16MP? Depending on your upload settings, Google Photos may resize the raw file.

[pschlute]

Is google photo a raw converter ?

[gatorguy]

Is google photo a raw converter ?

It's apparently not a feature common to some other photo storage sites but Google Photos does do accept uploading of RAW images, and with a paid subscription the photos would not need to be downsized with the proper choice of storage levels. I have 2TB with Google One and not even close to filling it since I keep the majority of my photos on local storage and only the ones I intend to share (or taken with my smartphone) go to Google.

The "free" level now only goes to 15GB total but that may not matter to most users if all they do is post to social sites or share images with friends. As actual photographers (!?) we might be more willing to pay for storage than the typical smartphone user might. 15GB would be stingy and difficult to manage for regular APSC/FF DSLR owners

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Last edited by gatorguy; 06-02-2021 at 08:32 AM.

[prysm]

hi all

thanks for all the reply. in my case i have not uploaded the to google photo site yet. i was just trying the google photo app on my android phone to open pef files.

after a bit more investigation the smaller files (the output from google photo app "save copy") are actually jpeg files. what confused me was the file name still uses the .PEF file extenstion.
as shown below comparison of the metadata. interestingly DNG files do not behave this way with the google photo app, as the output is using jpg file extension.


original file :

IMGP7785.PEF: TIFF image data, big-endian, direntries=21, height=0, bps=12, compression=(unknown 0xffff), PhotometricIntepretation=(unknown=0x8023), manufacturer=PENTAX , model=PENTAX K-x , orientation=upper-left, width=0

File name : IMGP7785.PEF
File size : 11266706 Bytes
MIME type : image/x-pentax-pef
Image size : 4352 x 2868
Camera make : PENTAX
Camera model : PENTAX K-x
Image timestamp : 2021:05:29 14:10:17
Image number :
Exposure time : 1/400 s
Aperture : F0
Exposure bias : 0 EV
Flash : No, compulsory
Flash bias :
Focal length : 50.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 75.0 mm)
Subject distance:
ISO speed : 200
Exposure mode : Manual
Metering mode : Spot
Macro mode :
Image quality :
Exif Resolution : 4352 x 2868
White balance : Auto
Thumbnail : image/jpeg, 5979 Bytes
Copyright :
Exif comment :



after google photo app
IMGP7785~2.PEF: JPEG image data, Exif standard: [TIFF image data, big-endian, direntries=4, height=0, datetime=2021:06:01 06:46:01, width=0], baseline, precision 8, 4288x2848, frames 3
File name : IMGP7785~2.PEF
File size : 1136943 Bytes
MIME type : image/jpeg
Image size : 4288 x 2848
Camera make :
Camera model :
Image timestamp :
Image number :
Exposure time :
Aperture :
Exposure bias :
Flash :
Flash bias :
Focal length :
Subject distance:
ISO speed :
Exposure mode :
Metering mode :
Macro mode :
Image quality :
Exif Resolution : 4288 x 2848
White balance :
Thumbnail : None
Copyright :
Exif comment :

[pschlute]

after a bit more investigation the smaller files (the output from google photo app "save copy") are actually jpeg files. what confused me was the file name still uses the .PEF file extenstion

I have no knowledge of google photo, but if you want to process a raw file PEF/DNG you need to get a raw converter. There are plenty including some good free ones.

Any program can say it can "open" a raw file, but unless it is a proper raw converter it will just be displaying the jpeg image that is embedded in every raw file.

[ramseybuckeye]

IF that is a raw converter, any decent raw converter will let you specify the output size. I would pass on that one.

[gatorguy]

IF that is a raw converter, any decent raw converter will let you specify the output size. I would pass on that one.

Google Photos is not a RAW converter. but it does serve very well as a RAW repository with the embedded thumbnails for reviewing.