Agreed. But the film, processing and the labs that could do this were an option the day I purchased the film. That's not the case today and it should be. This isn't about a conversion process. It is about the choice of that process which to some of us is rather important. The rational that I can process that data using the supplied manufacturer's converter doesn't wash, the entire force of process is the issue.
Hi Andrew,
I also like full control of my images/data. But I also don't mind switching to another application/process if that gives me better results. It's the result that counts for me. It also makes the workflow more complicated for me, but I don't believe there is a single universal best solution either.
This means that the file format, or the container of my image data, does not constitute the biggest weight in my decision process. For you that may be different, no problem with that.
However, DNG does not solve these issues,
it's just a convenient container mostly when used in combination with Adobe software (less so with other software, currently). And Adobe, with their "perpetual pay or be locked out" subscriptions, is not exactly the first company I think of when it comes to unrestricted access to my data. So maybe that's another reason I'm not overly enthusiastic about that proposition.
The DNG container does not solve my issues, especially when it 'forces' me in the arms of Adobe it tends to do the exact opposite.
Raw data is not just a set of RGB values that needs to be stored in a predefined space in the container, it also requires info about black-points, saturation point, color-balance between CFA filter transmissions and spectral range/overlap, CFA layout, color temperature of the dominant illuminant if Auto WB fails due to subject colors, sensor response curve (usually linear but can also be gamma encoded like with Leica raws), has sensor calibration data to adjust for PRNU noise and/or amp glow, maps out hot/dead sensels, may incorporate lens parameters, just to name a few obvious ones.
The container it comes in is not the problem as such, nor is it the solution, but it's the decoding of the data that makes a difference. And that decoding is more complex than deciding if we're dealing with a Color negative or Reversal film process. Such is the nature of the beast we call digital photography. We may or may not like the complexity of the process, but we do like the results when good image quality is the result. The container is not the issue.
Cheers,
Bart