RAW / ORF confusion, questions

[PSA DC-9-30]

Hi,

Bear with me, I'm both a beginner at digital photography and a newbie on this forum.  :

I recently bought an Olympus SP-500 and have been enjoying using it the last couple of months. I have shot film for years with an OM-2S and finally thought it time to plunge into digital, but I am holding off on a DSLR for now. One thing that attracted me to the SP-500 is its ability to shoot RAW.  Anyway, after a couple of months, I finally got around to downloading and installing the ORF plug-in from the Olympus website. Upon importing the ORF file into Photoshop CS2, this "Development" window with the photo appears. It seems to have most of the options that Camera Raw has (color temp., contrast, sharpness, etc.), but it is clearly not the Camera Raw window (at least as I've seen it in my Photoshop CS2 For Dummies book). My question is: how do I get the Camera Raw window to open and deal with the ORF file? Am I stuck with this Olympus "Development" thing? Can / should I convert to .dng??

Also, I've read many discussions about RAW, and know all about the arguments in favor of using it, but I've never seen any discussion of what bitmap file type is best to save the manipulated RAW file for printing. Tiff? PSD? (I don't own a printer and am relying on my nearby Lens And Shutter store for prints) Jpgs are not the greatest file format for printing and I'm looking for something better!

Thanks!

[dobson]

I can't help you with your RAW problems, but I can answer your second question. I usually to do my editing in 16 bit mode with PSDs (because my defaults are psd), but TIFFs function almost identically. The file size will end up the same as long as you maximize compatibility, (the check box). The best argument for the use of TIFFs, is the fact that the format is not proprietary. If you plan on using anything other than Adobe software, or are concerned with archivablitity, I would suggest you stick to the TIFF format. For printing 8-bit is fine and will save disk space.

Phillip

[Richowens]

You don't need the Oly software to open ORF files in ACR. As I read it the Oly software installs under import-export. It will not open them in ACR.

Are you copying your files to your hard drive first or trying to open them out of the camera?

My workflow is to put the card in a reader, make a new folder on my hard drive and copy the files to that folder. Then I can use Bridge to navigate to that folder and double click the one I want to open in ACR.

Does this help?

Rich

[PSA DC-9-30]

You don't need the Oly software to open ORF files in ACR. As I read it the Oly software installs under import-export. It will not open them in ACR.

Are you copying your files to your hard drive first or trying to open them out of the camera?

My workflow is to put the card in a reader, make a new folder on my hard drive and copy the files to that folder. Then I can use Bridge to navigate to that folder and double click the one I want to open in ACR.

Does this help?

Rich
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=110171\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Rich,

It's me, Kevin (I sent you a PM).

I've been downloading the files to my desktop using a USB cable. Is this causing a problem?  

Anyway, I just opened Bridge and see no way to open the .orf files in ACR. Double clicking opens them in Photoshop CS2.

Thanks,
Kevin

[TurnerJon]

Do you have the latest version of Camera raw (3.7)? Your camera is listed as supported. It is a free download found here...http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=106&platform=Windows

You can also get the DNG converter as well. I convert all my .ORF's to DNG for editing, but still keep the ORF's for archive.

[Richowens]

Hi Rich,

It's me, Kevin (I sent you a PM).

I've been downloading the files to my desktop using a USB cable. Is this causing a problem? 

Anyway, I just opened Bridge and see no way to open the .orf files in ACR. Double clicking opens them in Photoshop CS2.

Thanks,
Kevin
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=110177\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Hi Kevin,

Downloading files from the camera will work, shouldn't cause a problem. It's just that a card reader is more efficient and usually faster.

You said the files open directly in PS? If so, this leads me to think they are a format other than raw files.

If you like I can walk you through this via email. Grace should have my address.
If not you can use Vicki's.

In the meantime it would be a good idea to have the latest version of Camera Raw installed.
 
Rich

[bcf]

There is probably the Olympus RAW plug-in in your Photoshop plugins folder: just remove it, and the ORF files will open with ACR.

However IMHO ACR is not very good for ORF files (at least Olympus E-1 ones). The best raw converters for them are, I think, Raw Developer (MAc only) and Capture One.

[PSA DC-9-30]

Thanks everyone. I will try some of the suggestions here.

Hi Kevin,


You said the files open directly in PS? If so, this leads me to think they are a format other than raw files.

 
Rich
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=110297\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks Rich. Actually, I misspoke; double-clicking the ORF file launched CS2 but an error message came up right away saying that the file type is not recognized (or something along those lines).

I'll be in touch soon.

Kevin