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General discussion

Nikon encrypting RAW files?

May 6, 2005 12:59AM PDT

I picked this up from a photo mailing list, but was unable to find it on the author's site.

> Almost 30 years ago I chose Canon over Nikon. What foresight,
huh?
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thursday, May 5, 2005
>
>
>
> THIS WEEK IN CIRCUITS: Wireless Living, The New Photoshop
>
>
>
> Pixels and Protocol
>
> Ever since my review of semi-pro digital cameras a couple
of
> weeks ago, my e-mail box has teemed with comments like this one:
> Continue...
>
> "How can you review a Nikon camera without mentioning that
the
> company is now encrypting its photo files? Nikon apparently thinks
that my
> work belongs to THEM, not to me! If they someday decide to change the
> format, they can hold my photos hostage forever!"
> OK, whoa. What?
>
> Warning: Wiggling toward the truth of this tale involves
very
> technical language, eye-glazing terminology and a whole lot of
overheated
> emotion.
>
> Thomas Knoll, co-author of the original Photoshop, ignited
the
> firestorm on an Adobe bulletin board a couple of weeks ago. "Nikon
made a
> significant change with the Nikon D2X and D2Hs cameras," he wrote,
> referring
> to two popular professional models (costing $5,000 and $3,500,
> respectively). "They decided to ENCRYPT the white balance data inside
the
> NEF file for these cameras."
>
> The English translation of this shocking statement
requires a
> few more sentences, but it goes something like this: Most expensive
> digital
> cameras can save files in a format, called RAW, that's white-hot in
the
> photographic community these days. When you transfer a RAW file to a
> computer and open it in a program like Photoshop, you can
miraculously
> "reshoot" it with different exposure, sharpening, white balance and
other
> settings. (That's because a RAW file contains all of the original
> camera-sensor data, before it's been processed and compressed into
the
> more
> common JPEG files.)
>
> The trouble is, there is no one standard RAW format. Each
> camera
> maker - and even each individual model - produces a different RAW
flavor.
> (Nikon doesn't even call them RAW files; it calls them NEF files.)
>
> It's the never-ending task of software companies like
Adobe,
> therefore, to keep their software updated as new camera models come
along.
> (No wonder Adobe is promoting a single universal standard called the
> digital
> negative format, or DNG, which would offer the same advantages of RAW
> files
> but eliminate this Tower of Babel effect. So far, few major camera
makers
> have embraced the idea.)
>
> Nikon admits that it has encrypted parts of its RAW format
in
> the D2X and D2H (as well as the upcoming $900 D50 model) - including
the
> white-balance data. (White balancing is when a camera compensates for
the
> color cast in a photo, correcting it for the differences in lighting
> conditions: sunlight, overcast, indoor incandescent, and so on.) "We
built
> certain levels of protection into those files to protect proprietary
> intellectual property about how our cameras work," says a Nikon rep.
"It's
> an industry-wide practice. All other camera manufacturers offer
varying
> levels of protection."
>
> That may be true, says Kevin Connor, Adobe's director of
> product
> management. "But this is the first time we've encountered encryption
on a
> major camera that we didn't have help from the manufacturer on
working
> around."
>
> So who cares?
>
> People who use Photoshop, for starters. Without knowing
how a
> Nikon photo's data is structured, Adobe is forced to improvise,
writing
> its
> own auto-white-balance algorithms into Photoshop. "Sometimes it's
better;
> sometimes, it might be worse," says Mr. Connor. "But it's not what
people
> expect. You can still go in and adjust it to get the right result. If
> you're
> experienced, great. But others might not know which way to drag the
> sliders.
> You have to do more work."
>
> Some photographers are accusing Nikon of implementing this
> encryption as a way to boost sales of Nikon's own, extra-cost RAW
editing
> software, which is not, ahem, best known for its speed.
>
> Nikon protests that it has offered Adobe, and everyone
else, a
> solution. "We offer an SDK [software developer's kit] that's
available to
> any legitimate software company, including Adobe."
>
> Unfortunately, using Nikon's SDK it isn't a palatable
option
> for
> Adobe. "It does give you consistency, so anyone using that SDK will
get
> exactly the same results," says Mr. Connor. "But it doesn't let us
add
> extra
> controls - like highlight recovery, a Photoshop feature. By using all
our
> own algorithms, we can offer some different controls, as well as
> consistency
> across all RAW formats."
>
> If all this sounds like a lot of technical babble, the
> emotional
> outcry among professional shutterbugs is much easier to understand.
"WAKE
> UP
> IDIOTS!!!! You're allowing Nikon to hold your data hostage into the
> future!
> " writes one shocked customer. "It's a tax to control a Nikon
purchaser.
> Do
> not buy Nikon pro devices until this is reversed," writes another.
>
> The reaction seems a bit overblown. You can still open
these
> camera files in Photoshop or several other RAW editors, and you can
still
> adjust the white balance; you just lose the "as shot" setting as a
> starting
> point.
>
> Nikon's sole public response has been a weirdly worded
> statement
> that acknowledged none of its customers' unhappiness and defended its
own
> actions. The company seems to have missed the lesson of, say, the
Tylenol
> and Intel disasters: Once a PR disaster blows up in your face, you
don't
> stand firm and say, "You consumers don't know what you're talking
about"
> (even if they actually don't). What you do is cave in and fix the
problem.
>
> I was delighted to hear that, only two days ago, Adobe and
> Nikon
> were, at last, on the phone with each other to discuss a way out of
this
> mess. May the pixel gods smile on their conversation.
>
> Full product information on the Nikon D70.
>
> Full product information on the Canon Digital Rebel .
>
> This week's Pogue's Posts blog.
>
> Visit David Pogue on the Web at DavidPogue.com.
>

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