I am curious about the DNG format and if many people out there are using it? I use a Nikon and shoot raw (NEF) and process raw using Capture NX2 and save raw, so that my entire work flow is in the NEF format. Thats fine for staying with Nikon products but if I want to use another non destructive photo editor like Light Room, I can't see any of the work I have done in NX2. :( Also cataloging is a problem with NEF.
As I can see it, your first issue is if you want to go from Capture NX to LR is that once you have processed the image in NX you need to make the conversion and save as a tiff file - then your changes in NX will become permanent. The problem there is that you cannot undo those changes once converted.
Caveat: I only used NX for a year and only did the RAW conversion in it, saved to TIFF then opened the file in PS for post-processing.
I am assuming you have Lightroom. If so why not use it. Any changes you make are saved in the sidecar file and only implemented when you save the file into a TIFF or JPG.
DNG is basically an open format RAW file, so converting your NEFs to DNG still leaves you with the same issues of post-processing your images.
If you have Lightroom, it has good cataloging capabilities, uses Adobe Camera Raw to process images, is non-destructive and appears to be a better answer for you.
As I mentioned, I have not used NX enough to know if a workflow can be adopted that solves you problem so perhaps one of the Nikonians may have more insight.
There is nothing to prevent you from using your NEF files in LR. Yes, you won't see edits done in CNX2. That is normal among all the non-destructive editors, including Aperture. They all store the edit info in a proprietary way.
Thanks for the info. Trying to find the best fit for the things I like to do. I was hoping the DNG format would take away the problems of the "proprietary way". A universal format (DNG) should allow the users to move between software applications.
Ann: I shoot raw with Nikon equipment and use Lightroom for cataloging + raw adjustments, then edit in Photoshop CS5 for the added control it provides. I used to convert to DNG when importing to LR. I liked the fact that DNG holds all the raw conversion history in the single DNG file (no sidecar files to get separated or otherwise lost). Also, the fact that Adobe publishes their DNG format appealed to me because of its non-proprietary nature.
All of that said, I have recently stopped doing the nef -> dng conversion and now simply save my nef files. Other than that my workflow is unchanged. Why? 1) Given the market share that Nikon (and Canon) has and the number of NEF files out in the wild, I can't imagine a viable business case for a software manufacturer to drop support of this format. I believe backward compatibility will exist for a very long time. 2) DNG has never really caught on with the camera manufacturers insofar as in-camera use of the DNG format. 3) When I come back home to process a couple of CF cards full of images, LR takes a very very long time to convert them all to DNG.
Two things got me to rethink my use of DNG. The first was reading the ever-insightful Thom Hogan's take on this (http://www.bythom.com/dng.htm). The second was the observation that at least one of the major photo competitions requires finalists to submit their camera raw files (e.g., Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition ... not that I'm expecting to be a competitor there anytime soon, but you never know :o).