Any LX-5 / Aperture users tried converting the RAW files to DNG???

Ray Sachs

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Not too far from Philly
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you should be able to figure it out...
I'm half thinking about adding an LX-5 to my little family of cameras (OK, fully thinking about it, but only about half likely to actually act on it), but don't want to do it until I can process the RAW files in Aperture 3. I'm sure Apple is still a month or two or several away from supporting the LX-5, so I'm looking for a near term workaround...

LR already supports the LX5, right? Which means that the DNG convert program should support the RAW files and convert them into DNGs. But has anyone actually tried opening them in Aperture?

I downloaded the DNG convert program (free from Adobe) and converted a handful of RAW files from my EP2 and a handful from my S90. DNG convert indicated that all were converted, but Aperture was able to read the converted S90 files but was NOT able to read the converted EP2 files. I did a little digging and it sounds like it has something to do with the lens correction - all of these cameras have a good deal of lens correction, but for some reason Adobe doesn't seem to translate the Oly information correctly or something. Maybe because there are so many different lenses???

So anyway, all converted RAW files SHOULD work, but in reality some do and some don't. So I'm trying to find out whether LX5 files do or don't work before I decide whether to buy this camera or not. At least in the near term.

Has anyone tried? If not, would anyone who has both an LX5 and Aperture be willing to try? OR, would an LX-5 owner be willing to shoot me a couple of RAW files from the camera to try out myself?

I can't find an LX-5 anywhere in the local area to go take a few shots with or I might have tried that before asking.

Thanks much for any information and/or assistance.

-Ray
 
Never mind. Found some LX5 RAW files online. Downloaded them, converted them, and tried to open them. No luck. Damn.

OTOH, I can't really justify another camera right now anyway and now I won't have to...

-Ray
 
Ray,
BB has everything you need for testing.
I will help any way I can but I use LR.
No issues! Did you download the proper DNG converter? It sounds like you have the LR /PS version.
Let me know what I can do....
Don
 
Did you download the proper DNG converter? It sounds like you have the LR /PS version.
Let me know what I can do....

I only saw two versions - one for Mac OS and one for Windows. I think its the right one. It works on the Canon files just as its supposed to. But not on the Olympus files. And not, it appears, on the LX-5 files that I downloaded from the Photography Blog review. It did work on the EX-1 files from the Photo Blog review. So I think its the camera/lens - not the converter. And it has nothing to do with whether Apple supports the underlying RAW - they do with the EP2 and S90 and don't with the LX5 and EX1, so there's no pattern there, except random...

If the EX1 could compete with the speed and handling of the LX5, I'd probably go that direction anyway because of the articulating screen. But it sounds like its as relatively slow and non-responsive as the S90, so I'll sit tight for a while and then see once Apple gets around to adding LX-5 RAW support.

-Ray
 
Ray,

I don't use a Mac however I do use the Adobe DNG converter a lot for use with my older version Lightroom which does not support my EX1 files.

Anyway try this

Open up the DNG converter program and click on the "change preferences". It is option 4 on the Windows version. This will open a new dialog drop down where you can select the version of Camera RAW you are going to use. The DNG standard has changed over time which allows for new meta tags for lenses and in camera presets. Anyway at the bottom of that list you should see a "custom" choice. Select that and you should see several options. On the Windows version it says DNG 1.3 and DNG 1.1

Select the DNG 1.3 which is the true open source version of DNG that does not have any Adobe Meta Tags with it. That should work for you. If not then select DNG 1.1

Newer cameras have newer Meta tags in the RAW files that Adobe puts into Camera RAW but that are not really part of the true DNG. Also make sure that you have the option selected to embed a medium sized JPG as that makes everything run much easier.

Your issue is that you are not using Camera Raw and as such Aperture does not know what to do with the extra data. Since some cameras do not support or have this extra data they will still work. It should be noted that this extra data is not really needed for your RAW files but the Camera makers put it in to make it easier for their software to process the RAW files with in camera presets. Adobe hacks that so Camera RAW can use it also
 
Wallace,

Thanks for the advice. I was already using the setting for DNG 1.3 and it didn't work. I just tried 1.1 and still no go. Someone on DPreview indicated that the DNG files made from RAW files from the LX-3 never worked in Aperture either, even well after the camera's RAW was supported directly, so there's little hope in the LX-5 community that DNG files from the LX5 will work either. Probably just have to wait for Apple to get around to it sometime in the next few months. The DNG files made from the EX1 and S90 worked just fine, however, (at DNG 1.3) so I think it really does come down to the RAW files for individual cameras. Not a problem to wait a while.

-Ray
 
Sorry that did not work for you Ray. Another idea that I have used before is to use the crappy software that comes with the camera to batch process the RAW files with minimal adjustments to 16bit TIFF files then import into Aperture and/or Lightroom. This will save all of the data in the RAW files and should work in Aperture with no issues
 
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