[dshombert]

I just took delivery of a K-5. And I mean "just"; it came today and I haven't had a chance to get out and shoot much. But sitting here playing with the new features, I'm a little confused. The review here on PF says that one of the improvements on the K-5 is that one can convert a particular JPEG file to RAW with the push of a button. Supposedly this can be done either in instant review (after the shot) or in playback (long after the shot). I can't figure out how to get it to do that. The review (Pentax K-5: Features worth noting I - Photographic Articles - PentaxForums.com seems to indicate that it has to do with the AE-L button, but I couldn't make that work. Then I thought maybe it was under the RAW/Fx Button Customization menu, but I played with that and still can not get the camera to do what the review says. Or at least what I think it says -- I see a JPEG that I want to convert to RAW, I push a button, and it saves that file in RAW. Maybe it's just the lateness of the hour, but I don't see how to make that happen. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

[yeatzee]

Im pretty sure thats impossible. Im guessing it says RAW to jpeg in-camera conversion which makes sense (haven't personally read the review yet).

[SpecialK]

I think it's in the digital filter section. Crack the manual?

[dshombert]

I'm starting to think it's impossible, too, but that IS what the review says. Further, it's touted as a new feature on the K-5. I had a K-7 before and am familiar with RAW to JPEG conversion; I was looking forward to this new feature, it seems like a really good idea. The review spends some time talking about its newness and its usefulness. Here's a cut-and-paste:

During instant review as well as in play mode, it is now possible to instantly convert any JPEG image into RAW as long as it still resides in the camera's buffer. This adds a lot of flexibility to shooting in RAW, as now, you can easily only convert those photos that turned out to be exceptionally good, thus saving a lot of card space and post-processing time! Yet another fantastic feature.

I've searched the manual. I found the discussion of converting RAW to JPEG, and how to customize the RAW button, but I can't make any of that do what the review says it will do.

[dshombert]

I'm starting to think that the review is worded incorrectly, that what was meant was RAW to JPEG conversion. And yet - that was available on the K-7, and the review presents it as a new feature on the K-5. Also, the review shows a screenshot that pretty clearly - okay, kind of clearly - associates the AE-L button with turning something into RAW. So I'm still stumped.

[DRabbit]

No, it's possible! I actually did it by accident yesterday or the day before. Gotta get camera and look now...

Ok, from what I can tell it only works with the most recent image you took. Like if you realize you messed up and want to convert to raw to try to save it...

Be in JPG mode.
Take a photo.
Hit Play button.
With the image on the LCD youll see AEL->raw in upper right hand corner.
Hit AEL and you get the option to convert to raw!

[rfortson]

That's pretty dang cool!

[dshombert]

DRabbit - I am forever in your debt. It works exactly as you said. And, depending on how you've got the INFO button configured, you see the icon that's shown in the review of the AE-L button writing a RAW file. Push that button and you get a message that the RAW data will be retrieved and saved for this one file.

This leaves only the question of why Pentax doesn't explain this in the otherwise excellent manual. Maybe it's there, but I couldn't find it.

There's lots to like about the K-5 over the K-7, but I'm particularly fond of this feature. Thanks for clearing this up. You da man.

[rfortson]

You da man.

Actually, she da ma'am!

[DRabbit]

You're lucky I noticed it by mistake... So far today I've answered two questions and must seem like I know the k5 so well, but I've only had it a week! LOL

I have the manual downloaded on my iPad and searched through it for a bit just now and if the info is there, I can't find it. It's certainly a handy feature to have, so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be in there...

[glanglois]

Just to clear this up (I hope):

There is no JPEG to raw conversion. Not possible. Wrong direction.

What happens is that the raw image is transferred from the sensor to the image processor for more work. Regardless of raw/JPEG mode setting. The sensor only deals with raw data.

In JPEG-only mode, the processor creates a JPEG version and discards the raw.

With this new capability, the raw is not discarded immediately but held until the next image is taken or the camera is shut off IIRC. So you're not converting anything but simply avoiding the raw image discard of the most recent image if you invoke the feature.

I shoot raw+JPEG so I've not tried it. Glad to hear it's helping others, though.

[robtcorl]

With the image on the LCD youll see AEL->raw in upper right hand corner.

I shoot mainly jpeg, kept seeing this, and planned to look up the function.
Thanks for saving me the trouble!

[sterretje]

Page 84 of the manual You need to read a manual, not just page through it

[dshombert]

Yeah, I knew that JPEGs weren't really being "converted" to RAW. It was late at night and I was too tired to articulate things that carefully. Even before getting the camera, when I first read about this feature I assumed it was just making the RAW data available again. If nothing else, it's useful because it frees up the RAW button (sort of) for other user-selected functions.

Thanks to sterretje for finding it in the manual. You're right, it's better to read the manual, but - if I tried that, I'd be asleep LONG before p. 84. Anyway, it's cleared up now. Thanks to all who helped.

[30v iPentax]

Paras on asettaa RAW tila päälle ja teippaa Jpeg niin ettei sitä tarvitse käyttää ikinä. Tällä ei pilaa yhtään kuvaa jos haluaa kunnon kuvia ottaa..