grober Posted June 17, 2009 Share #1 Posted June 17, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Considering the purchase of the D-Lux 4 but I'm puzzled what its native file structure might be. The Leica technical brief on their website is of little help. Leica's phrase "DVD with comprehensive software package" is hardly explicit. Is its "RAW" format DNG or some other odd thing? (If it is not DNG, how do I open this peculiar "RAW" in Photoshop?) Also, what software does Leica ship with the D-Lux 4? Thanks! -g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 17, 2009 Posted June 17, 2009 Hi grober, Take a look here What is D-lux 4's "RAW" file type?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
Zombie Posted June 17, 2009 Share #2 Posted June 17, 2009 Mine had "Phase One for Leica Cameras" It's a tad old so I dnloaded a newer version on the net and used the same license code. Dunno if there is smth special about the Leica version....maybe there are knowledgeable people ot there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 17, 2009 Share #3 Posted June 17, 2009 The name of the file format is: rwl The camera is supported by Capture One. As far as I can tell, the version supplied with the camera provides correction for spherical aberration, but not chromatic aberration. The correction for chromatic aberration (which does not seem to be a common problem in practise) requires a $300 upgrade to Capture One Pro. If you have used Lightroom, or Apple’s Aperture program (Macintosh only, no support for the D-Lux 4 so far) you will not find it difficult to use Capture One, especially if you make use of the online tutorials before you begin. If you do use Lightroom, this article may be of interest: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/c1_lr_workflow.shtml Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 17, 2009 Share #4 Posted June 17, 2009 You might find this thread helpful: Apple - Support - Discussions - Panasonic LX-3 RAW support ... Unfortunately, the link in the Apple thread to the candid discussion in the Adobe forums no longer works. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 17, 2009 Share #5 Posted June 17, 2009 Both LR 2 with the newest ACR update and CS4 ACR 5.3 support D-Lux 4 RAW files. The only difference is IF you convert the RWL file to a DNG. I have no idea about Apple Aperture The name of the file format is: rwl The camera is supported by Capture One. As far as I can tell, the version supplied with the camera provides correction for spherical aberration, but not chromatic aberration. The correction for chromatic aberration (which does not seem to be a common problem in practise) requires a $300 upgrade to Capture One Pro. If you have used Lightroom, or Apple’s Aperture program (Macintosh only, no support for the D-Lux 4 so far) you will not find it difficult to use Capture One, especially if you make use of the online tutorials before you begin. If you do use Lightroom, this article may be of interest: A Workflow Combining Capture One and Lightroom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 17, 2009 Share #6 Posted June 17, 2009 It is true that Adobe's products support the D-Lux 4, but there were some reservations expressed about the way it was being done, with candid comments from Adobe staff that described the support as an interim solution. Not only is the thread gone, there is no cached version of it on Google. The most detailed discussion I recall here is in this thread: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/70133-d-lux-4-colour-fringing-leica.html I just found the details about Adobe's interim solution, the linear DNG file. I do not know if there has been progress in this area since then: Lightroom Journal: Camera Raw 5.2 and DNG Converter Available Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 18, 2009 Share #7 Posted June 18, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Do not miss Jim Radcliffe’s Leica D-Lux 4 photos: Leica D-Lux 4 Photography by Jim Radcliffe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 18, 2009 Share #8 Posted June 18, 2009 Right that is IF you convert your RWL files to DNG's. Not sure why you'd want to do that at this time. Maybe in 2 or 3 years but to my knowledge no camera model has ever been dropped from the list supported cameras. Converting to DNG has nothing to do with whether or not a RAW processor program can read the RAW file. It is true that Adobe's products support the D-Lux 4, but there were some reservations expressed about the way it was being done, with candid comments from Adobe staff that described the support as an interim solution. Not only is the thread gone, there is no cached version of it on Google. The most detailed discussion I recall here is in this thread: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/70133-d-lux-4-colour-fringing-leica.html I just found the details about Adobe's interim solution, the linear DNG file. I do not know if there has been progress in this area since then: Lightroom Journal: Camera Raw 5.2 and DNG Converter Available Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbthum Posted June 18, 2009 Share #9 Posted June 18, 2009 Capture One 4.8.1 doesn't support RWL files. You'll have to convert to DNG in LR - unfortunately, this will increase the file size significantly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 18, 2009 Share #10 Posted June 18, 2009 The RAW files (which are rwl files) of the Leica D-Lux 4 are specifically mentioned in the supported cameras list for Capture One, to which I would be happy to provide a link if the Phase One site were not done in Adobe Flash. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
behhl Posted June 18, 2009 Share #11 Posted June 18, 2009 Do not miss Jim Radcliffe’s Leica D-Lux 4 photos: Leica D-Lux 4 Photography by Jim Radcliffe Jim shoots jpeg and processes in Photoshop. He does not process any raw file with the DLux-4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 18, 2009 Share #12 Posted June 18, 2009 True. The point was the photographs themselves, which anyone with an interest in photography would enjoy, and any prospective purchaser of the camera should see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 18, 2009 Share #13 Posted June 18, 2009 Capture One 4.8.1 doesn't support RWL files. You'll have to convert to DNG in LR - unfortunately, this will increase the file size significantly. Where do you get that info??? C1 has been supporting D-L4 RWL's for a while now. In fact C1 comes with the D-L4. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandymc Posted June 18, 2009 Share #14 Posted June 18, 2009 It is true that Adobe's products support the D-Lux 4, but there were some reservations expressed about the way it was being done, with candid comments from Adobe staff that described the support as an interim solution. The only reservations were related to how RWL files are converted to DNG; the current DNG format has no way to store lens correction data, so the data that gets stored in the DNG by current version of the Adobe products is corrected data, not the actual raw data. However, unless you are converting to DNG, there no impact at all on how either Lightroom or PhotoShop/ACR handle RWL files, as there is no DNG file involved. RWL is a Panasonic format, btw. Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceflynn Posted June 18, 2009 Share #15 Posted June 18, 2009 sandymc, Thank you. I do not recall seeing anyone make clear in the postings I read that it was the lens correction data that was not being stored in the DNG file. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbthum Posted June 18, 2009 Share #16 Posted June 18, 2009 C1 does not support RWL files from the LX3. Since the LX3 is virtually the same camera as the DL4, I incorrectly assumed they both utilized the same RWL raw format. Apparently C1 recognizes Leica's RWLs, but not Panasonic's. Don't know why the difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grober Posted June 21, 2009 Author Share #17 Posted June 21, 2009 Thanks for all your contributions here but the overall lack of any clear reply to my original questions further illustrates why digital photography is such a pain. Snap the shot and then invest many hours hunched over you bleedin' computer keyboard whilst you try to get a usable print that was close to the original scene. Makes me pine for the simple days of film. Another of my computer-literate friends just bought two used film cameras recently: too much time futzing with pixels when he'd rather be shooting. I may join him in this backward exolution. (How I miss my M7!) -g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 21, 2009 Share #18 Posted June 21, 2009 Lets answer succinctly then. 1. The RAW format is RWL and not DNG 2. It comes with Capture one software. You can open it in CS4 with the newest ACR. For versions of Photoshop that do not support RWL (for instance CS3) you must run it through Adobe's DNG converter. It will open then, but the files will be large (up to 50 Mb) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted June 22, 2009 Share #19 Posted June 22, 2009 Sorry but your comment about digital being harder then film is, IMHO, way off base. If you are not getting printed images that are not close to what you saw when you took the shot then it is you doing something wrong. Either in your color management, printer setup or the printer itself or the program you are using to print the images. I don't have a D-Lux 4 but I have had a Canon P&S, a Nikon D200 and now have 2 M8's. I spend much less time in front of the computer then I ever did developing negatives and making prints of them. Even if I took my film to a lab I still spend (or could spend much less time) in front of a computer to get very good prints of the images I want to print. And at a much lower cost. Right now using the M8's I do very little PP before I print or post the image. There are some shot that I do do a lot of processing on but even with those it would be much more time spent in a real darkroom to get the same effect. As Jaapv says the D-L4 comes with C1 and you can get the newest version free of charge from the Phase One website. You can also use Adobe Photoshop CS4 or Lightroom 2 with the newest/latest ACR update to natively read and edit the D-L4 RAW RWL files Thanks for all your contributions here but the overall lack of any clear reply to my original questions further illustrates why digital photography is such a pain. Snap the shot and then invest many hours hunched over you bleedin' computer keyboard whilst you try to get a usable print that was close to the original scene. Makes me pine for the simple days of film. Another of my computer-literate friends just bought two used film cameras recently: too much time futzing with pixels when he'd rather be shooting. I may join him in this backward exolution. (How I miss my M7!) -g Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandymc Posted June 26, 2009 Share #20 Posted June 26, 2009 FYI, the issues referred to above with Adobe's support of conversion to DNG of RWL files is now a thing of the past; as ACR 5.4/Lightroom 2.4 the DNG file format has been extended to allow the lens correction information from RWLs to be properly encoded. So support for RWLs is now on a par with any other raw format. Sandy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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