jfbacks
Well-known member
I lost a bunch of side car NEF data files quite a few years ago. Admittedly they didn't lose themselves, it was something I did, I can't remember what at this point. I got so irritated I started converting all my NEF files to DNG as part of my work flow so I wouldn't have to worry about moving extra files around again. I've always considered my ability as a photographer more of a limiting factor than any difference between a NEF an DNG file. When I got my Z9 I started using star HE raw files as you were less likely to run into buffer problems and more images could fit on a particular card. I have been able to convert star HE files to DNG from day one. There was a real advantage to this as I prefer to use DxO PureRaw for most of my noise reduction. DxO still doesn't accept star HE files but will accept the converted DNG files. I've tried post processing a few images as NEF vs DNG and can't tell any difference. I couldn't get anymore feather detail in the shaded areas of the eagle image and the face of the owl wasn't sharp enough to make any difference either. Converting to DNG does significantly bloat the file size, frequently more than double. I don't care once they're off the memory card. I did a non scientific test taking an image of a tissue box and found that an uncompressed NEF and a star HE raw converted to virtually the exact same size, 67-75MB and 31-75MB. I presume Nikon gave Adobe the secret sauce. I believe you lose a few things like focus point converting to DNG, but I don't care about that, you can't change it. I'll probably start using uncompressed once cards get a little faster......and cheaper.
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