I'm sure the Canon folks here must have taken notice of the current issues involving Adobe and Nikon.
How would you react if Canon tried to steer you to DPP by stating Photoshop CS's use doesn't go beyond removing stray telephone wires etc? How would you feel if Canon stated DPP was superior to Photoshop CS in retaining image fidelity? Do you think the fight is not really about the "encription" but on Nikon's insecurity and it's attempt to protect NC?
How would you feel if your latest Mark II/d/ds could only spit out images from RAW using DPP? How would you feel if you were limited to using a specific program(which is decidely not the best) to translate your RAW files?
And finally, how do you think Canon would handle the situation and would they release an "unsigned" press release? What should have been done differently?
How has your opinion of Nikon and Nikon management changed since this debacle?
Here is what one source thinks of the latest Press Release by Nikon:
"
What do you think of Nikon's latest diversionary tactic after reading this from a source:
"You people who are buying Nikon's offering of the SDK as proof of their benevolence are completely missing the point. The Nikon SDK does not document the file format, and it does not give developers access to the RAW data. It's a simple "black box" interface that may have a few parameters to allow changing WB Preset or sharpening level, but other than that it's just a simple call that takes an NEF and hands you back a TIFF. This is fine for applications like iView that want to add NEF viewing capability to their applications, but it is not what 3rd Party RAW convertors need.
The whole point of 3rd party raw convertors like RML, ACR, Bibble, and Rawshooter is to provide altnernative implementations of NEF conversion. RawMagick for instance using high-precision floating point calculations to extract far more detail from the RAW data than Nikon Capture does. Pretty much all of the 3rd party convertors have much better highlight recovery than Nikon Capture does. They wouldn't be able to do that if they if they were using the SDK.
The simple fact is that any software built with the SDK will be inferior to Nikon Capture because it can't offer as much functionality as Capture does. Nikon is trying to stack the deck in their favor and take away your choice in RAW convertor. Even if you're one of those people who think NC is a wonderful piece of software and have no desire to use ACR, don't you understand the value of consumer choice? Don't you think that even NC users would benefit from competition?
The level of condescension in that press release just amazes me. All this talk about protecting the "integrity" of the NEF format as if 3rd party convertors represent a threat to your image data is just ridiculous. Get a clue, folks. Nikon is trying to take control of your image data and this is almost certainly just the first step down a very dangerous road."
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
DPP wipes the floor with Capture, from what I used of Capture, DPP has all but replaced PS on my system.
For my everyday work now I don’t load PS at all, I use DPP which is fantastic, it needs a little polish and a few more features would be nice but it’s IMO far more serviceable than the Nikon offering and it’s bundled, I don’t have to shell out more cash, I know one pays for it, but I don’t have to shell out more cash, the price for Canon is what I am asked.
After DPP I use FotoStation exclusively for captioning and emailing ~ Adobe now only gets a look in to fix and repair or for “creative” work, IMO it’s no longer, for Canon DPP users anyway, no longer a must have software.
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White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
[quote
The level of condescension in that press release just amazes me. All this talk about protecting the "integrity" of the NEF format as if 3rd party convertors represent a threat to your image data is just ridiculous. Get a clue, folks. Nikon is trying to take control of your image data and this is almost certainly just the first step down a very dangerous road."
[/ QUOTE ]
.... well I was a Nikon devotee and waiting for an improved D1x or one that just worked. The D100 looked very promising but they needed a sharp JPEG cam for the professional with the reliability of the D100.
When we were expecting it after a long, long, long silence from Nikon, we get treated to a new logo instead of new hardware, if one were to read the press release then it was also for the greater good of the photographer to have a new logo.
So this case of being condescending to its customers is not new by a long way. A recent report concerning Kodak cameras shows Nikon products 7th place in popularity with men and 9th place in popularity with women.
Their condescending nature seems to be driving customers to other brands, they drove me to Canon so have I to thank them for that.
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White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
I would be really really pissed off. DPP is not happening for me, I prefer ACR.
But I would'nt worry about it too much, there's allmost nothing out there that cannot be cracked. I don't know why the Camera makers bother trying to make decent software, its allways been inferior. Take for example another great Nikon 'Lemon'!, their not so great scanning software "NikonScan 3 or 4" one week using that software, and I swear you will never buy anything Nikon ever again.....
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
In general I think it is to a camera manufacturer's advantage to keep conversion code open for third parties to create software for, it gives photographers options. We may eventually find we don't like certain conversion options, but at least we can make that decision on our own. The fact that other companies develop software for different cameras supports those cameras!
I am able to use my preferred Breezebrowser for the various digital files I've captured over the past three years - this is key to a seamless workflow.
If I were to have to make a decision about camera systems today, the flexibility of RAW conversion would certainly be a part of that decision.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
If the company doing this was canon and there were companies that were not, I would vote with my valet and go over to another system if could afford it and if I could not I would start to save up for the long haul. This is just the tip, if this passes muster, there will be another and another encroachment untill they own the ability to process your files completely. Best to be paranoin and nip it in the bud. Did you get a load of the attitude in the statement about continuing with "bonafide developers". What they think they are the Pope and get to appoint the cardinals of "Nikon"? Too bad, I didnt' realise that Adobe and Bibble didn't have any "Real" developers. Nikon is getting obsolete more and more by the day and this makes me glad I jumped ship with the change to digital. To read the Nikon Appologists spin this into an Adobe is evil kind of thing makes me feel sorry for the remaining Nikon ostriches. Sad. This is more important as a belweather of possible future directions rather than the the present impact of the details. Sad and scary.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
When I shoot my Kodak Tri-X, Kodak do not held back the technical data I needed for me to process it in Agfa checmical ( or any others ). The motto is those frame / data are mine when I make them. Why should I be locked to only one set frame of processing arbitery speaking. I respect the Mfr right to control how they want to structure or code their data. I shall not be held hostage to their act of not allowing us the photographer to gain access to all and every part of it. Nikon or Canon or anybody.
White Balance so easy, even our 5 year old can do it.- Melissa Strickland
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