[KPhotoAlbum] Importing Canon raw files

[Shawn Willden]

On Tuesday 09 May 2006 12:22, Robert L Krawitz wrote:
> With the Rebel that workflow wasn't much of a problem since the JPEG
> is embedded in the RAW file, and I could pick the size I wanted (well,
> I could once I installed the Wasia firmware).  With the 20D it's a bit
> more problematic with KPhotoAlbum.  The 20D seems to embed a 1.5
> megapixel JPEG in the .cr2 file, but it's not quite the same as what
> the Rebel did -- the embedded thumbnail is too low in resolution to be
> of much use, and it's relatively low quality (about 500 KB, which is
> the "normal" quality).  In addition, the embedded thumbnail doesn't
> carry the EXIF data; it's stored in the .cr2 file (and in the
> explictly saved JPEG).

Your Rebel was the original Rebel, right?  It sounds like the way it works is 
different from the 20D and from the Rebel XT that I have.

My XT embeds different JPEGs in the RAW file depending on whether I'm shooting 
RAW+JPEG or RAW only.  In RAW+JPEG mode, the embedded JPEG is the same as the 
separated JPEG (Large/Fine) with the only difference (AFAICT) being that the 
embedded JPEG does not contain the EXIF data.

If I shoot in RAW-only mode, then I get what you get from your 20D, a RAW file 
with a lower-quality embedded JPEG, also with no EXIF data.

> I like to shoot both JPEG and RAW.  It's a lot easier to process
> having the high quality JPEG around from the start, and the current
> FOSS tools for RAW processing (dcraw, and my hacked up dcraw) still
> have a ways to go.  However, it's a real pain having KPhotoAlbum
> import both files, especially since it doesn't show the filename
> extension so I can't tell which one I'm selecting.

Hehe.  Use exiftool to strip the PreviewImage out of the RAW files, then 
you'll be able to tell the difference quite easily.  Of course, you won't be 
able to tell one RAW photo from another.

> The behavior I'd like is to import the JPEG file if it exists, and
> otherwise fall back to the RAW file. 

I think that's a good approach.  Ignore the RAW file if the JPEG is present.  
I know it doesn't address all of the other multi-file scenarios that everyone 
else has mentioned, but it solves the problem RAW+JPEG shooters have very 
cleanly.

Of course the mechanism to identify that RAW and JPEG files are the same image 
would be purely by filename.  If two files have idential names and paths, but 
differ only in the extension, they're considered to be the same image.

> I'm tempted to hack my own 
> version of KPhotoAlbum to ignore .cr2 files altogether for now; my
> wife and I are going to Alaska next month and I expect to take
> thousands of shots (all of them will be RAW+large fine JPEG) and I
> need my workflow to be efficient during the trip.  Hopefully not more
> than 8000 or so; that's about the limit of my disk.

I've been considering either hacking KPA to ignore the CR2 files, or perhaps 
modifying my scripts to store the RAW files in a different directory tree, 
parallel to the one that stores the JPEGs and is seen by KPA.

Actually, the more that I think about it, the more I'm considering just moving 
the RAW files out of the way.  That would have the advantage that I could 
more easily continue keeping copies of all of my photos on my laptop drive, 
by keeping the JPEGs and archiving the RAW files on my file server.  The RAW 
files are great to have, but I've had this 350D for less than a week and I'm 
already seeing that I'm going to have to start limiting the files on my 
laptop -- or I won't have any room to store the files my employer gave me the 
laptop for!

	Shawn.