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07-04-2008, 12:32 AM   #1
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DNG vs. PEF

What do you use?
Somebody said that PEF holds little bit more information than in camera DNG.
Is this true?
Since using in camera DNG results in bigger files it seems that best way would be to shoot PEF and convert with DNG converter. Would those converted DNG files hold all of information from PEF (assuming that statement about the difference between PEFs and DNGs is true)?

07-04-2008, 01:30 AM   #2
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They're holding the same content, picture-wise. The only thing you need to worry about is whether you or your software likes working with DNG or PEF more.
07-04-2008, 01:41 AM   #3
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The PEF is losslessly compressed in camera, so you can get more shots on a card than with DNG.

But with cards getting cheaper by the day, thats not really an issue.

Your method of shoot PEF and convert to DNG will work, but I prefer to use DNG all the time.
07-04-2008, 03:03 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by gamgee Quote
Somebody said that PEF holds little bit more information than in camera DNG.
By using DNG Recover Edges, you can slightly expand the number of pixels of your image by recovering all of the pixels hidden at the picture edge. You will en up with a larger image by using DNG...

Cheers!

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07-04-2008, 05:43 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by pschlute Quote
The PEF is losslessly compressed in camera, so you can get more shots on a card than with DNG.

But with cards getting cheaper by the day, thats not really an issue.

Your method of shoot PEF and convert to DNG will work, but I prefer to use DNG all the time.
why do you prefer to work in DNG?
07-04-2008, 09:11 AM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by Gooshin Quote
why do you prefer to work in DNG?
Gooshin, I too prefer DNG and your response to pschlute really made me think about why, but I can't come up with a good reason. In small part I like the fact that it is a little more universally recognized, but mostly I like it better for the same reason I like yellow better than blue. Just because.
07-04-2008, 09:16 AM   #7
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reason i ask is that when i got my K20D i was presented with the option of DNG or PEF and flipped it into DNG because i use Adobe and AFAIK DNG is Adobe's creation, so one would assume that image manipulation using adobe tools would be... better? more accurate?

but PEF is there for a reason right? also its smaller.

i would be really curious if working in PEF using Adobe products yields a less quality product than DNG

all the while considering that at the end of the day were converting into jpeg's .

07-04-2008, 09:28 AM   #8
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I've tested PEF and DNG in Lightroom and CS3 - Aside from the file size difference, there's no other difference.
07-04-2008, 09:44 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Gooshin Quote
reason i ask is that when i got my K20D i was presented with the option of DNG or PEF and flipped it into DNG because i use Adobe and AFAIK DNG is Adobe's creation, so one would assume that image manipulation using adobe tools would be... better? more accurate?

but PEF is there for a reason right? also its smaller.

i would be really curious if working in PEF using Adobe products yields a less quality product than DNG

all the while considering that at the end of the day were converting into jpeg's .
Both formats are completely lossless, so there is no advantage or disadvantage whatsoever to one or the other, with one exception:
DNG is not compressed at all (It can be but Pentax cameras don't do it)
PEF is losslessly compressed - More pictures on your card
07-04-2008, 12:34 PM   #10
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I use the K100d so I can only shoot in PEF, but when I download to the computer I convert to DNG in Lightroom as the K100d PEFs are not compressed and about 50% larger then the converted DNGs.

Aside from the compression I have noticed no appreciable difference between DNG and PEF. They both have the same highlight recovery and WB manipulation ability.
07-04-2008, 01:57 PM   #11
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I have been using Photoshop Bridge to convert my PEF's to DNG, as I download them. The problem with this is, the conversion takes too long cause of these file sizes. Maybe I should just load the PEF's and skip DNG conversion.
07-04-2008, 02:15 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by Abbazz Quote
By using DNG Recover Edges, you can slightly expand the number of pixels of your image by recovering all of the pixels hidden at the picture edge. You will en up with a larger image by using DNG...
FWIW, I can get the extra pixels in PEF as well using UFRaw in Linux. I actually find it a bit of a pain most of the time, since the resulting image is not 3:2 in aspect ratio and need to be cropped (I need to investigate if UFRaw could perhaps do this automatically...)
07-04-2008, 10:38 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by PENTAX K Quote
I have been using Photoshop Bridge to convert my PEF's to DNG, as I download them. The problem with this is, the conversion takes too long cause of these file sizes. Maybe I should just load the PEF's and skip DNG conversion.
The quickest way to convert as you download is through the Adobe DNG converter, free from the Adobe website. It is far quicker than Bridge.
07-04-2008, 11:07 PM   #14
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QuoteOriginally posted by gamgee Quote
What do you use?
Somebody said that PEF holds little bit more information than in camera DNG.
Is this true?
Since using in camera DNG results in bigger files it seems that best way would be to shoot PEF and convert with DNG converter. Would those converted DNG files hold all of information from PEF (assuming that statement about the difference between PEFs and DNGs is true)?
The reverse is true. DNG is not compressed and as such it holds more picture data than the PEF which is compressed.
07-04-2008, 11:39 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by RiceHigh Quote
The reverse is true. DNG is not compressed and as such it holds more picture data than the PEF which is compressed.
The PEF is LOSSLESSLY compressed, that means that it is compressed WITHOUT losing data, unlike lossy compression used in jpegs. Do some research on wiki.
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