Canon CR3 raw & DXO

[DigPeter]

Has anyone experience of processing CR3 raw files with DXO?  What workflow do you use?  Are there any problems with metadata written in IMatch?  My camera is a Powershot G5X mk2.

[JohnZeman]

Peter I can't answer your question about CR3 files because my cameras shoot the CR2 format but for what it's worth here's my general Canon/IMatch/PhotoLab/Affinity Photo workflow which works great for me.

I import the CR2 photos from the camera or card using the FastStone image Viewer.

Then I convert the CR2 files to DNG format with the Adobe DNG converter which puts the DNGs in my IMatch !Queue folder.

IMatch imports the DNGs where I cull, rename, categorize and add metadata before moving them to their permanent folder.

And finally I use an IMatch Favorite to send the DNGs to PhotoLab.

PhotoLab processed the images and exports them as 16 bit TIFs.

I send the TIFs to Affinity Photo for final processing which exports the final images in JPG format back to the same IMatch folder the DNGs are in.

Versions are established and finally I stack the DNGs and JPGs.

Done.
No issues at all with metadata between PhotoLab and IMatch.
Awhile back I had a problem with Affinity Photo stripping some metadata from the JPGs during export but I made some changes in the metadata fields I'm using and now everything is fine.

[bekesizl]

I can't tell you very much of a workflow yet, but I have an issue with CR3s from my Canon M50 in DxO Photolab after IMatch metadata writeback.

See following thread: https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=9487.msg67069#msg67069

No reply from DxO yet.

[Mario]

I can't tell you very much of a workflow yet, but I have an issue with CR3s from my Canon M50 in DxO Photolab after IMatch metadata writeback.

See following thread: https://www.photools.com/community/index.php?topic=9487.msg67069#msg67069

No reply from DxO yet.

Shame, really.
The DxO developers should be able to look at your files and figure out why their software is the only one having issues with the metadata.
Since more than a month has passed, I'm not all to amazed by their support...

[DigPeter]

@John
Thanks for you explanation.  As a matter of interest, why do you use DNG and TIF?  I go straight to JPG.

There is a metadata problem between CR3 and DXO, as explained in bekesizl's link.  I recently bought a G5Xmk2, which creates CR3 raw files.  My usual workflow relies on the old off-line Lightroom 5, which of course does not support CR3 - I do not not want to go the Abobe Cloud route.  Despite CR3 being now nearly 2 years old, there is very poor support out there for CR3.  Canon's DPP4 does quite a good job converting CR3, but does not transcribe XMP to the converted file.  Neither Affinity's Windows version does not support the camera, nor Corel's Aftershot Pro.

[DigPeter]

@bekesizl
Thanks.  I missed that thread.  That is the same problem ("..EXIF data cannot be read or is corrupted") I am having, after I have applied metadata in IMatch.  If metadata has not been applied, DXO accepts the CR3 file.  Other RAW formats that I use do not have this problem.

Let's hope DXO comes up with a solution.

[JohnZeman]

@John
Thanks for you explanation.  As a matter of interest, why do you use DNG and TIF?  I go straight to JPG.

Peter several years ago I decided to convert my raw files to DNG because DNG gave me the option of having a 100% preview.  Now that I'm using versions and stacks the DNG format really doesn't have an advantage for me but I'm still using it to keep things consistent.

The raw files I export from PhotoLab are in TIF format because I like to do my finally processing in Affinity Photo.  After processing the TIF Affinity Photo exports the final image as an 80% quality JPG which becomes a version of the original DNG.  The TIF is then deleted.

[Mario]

Unfortunately, DNG has become 'corrupted' somewhat by the too many variants out in the wild.
Adobe changes DNG whenever they need something for one of their applications.
Camera vendors and software vendors take liberties when implementing DNG support.

I've just had two case where DNG files were not processed by the standard WIC DNG codec in Windows 10. But by the old FastPictureViewer codecs, which are unmaintained for years. Strange. The author of FPV is also the person behind the WIC codecs in Windows.

Unfortunately, issues of this kind often boil up in IMatch - when users try to use their DNGs for the first time with a second application. This is just how it is.

DNG is not allowed for a long-term archival format for libraries, institutes and commercial clients for a reason.
While it uses the TIF file structure internally, it is much less compliant and compatible. For long-term archival I would always use TIF or JPEG. No patents attached, 30 years of ongoing support, open source reference implementations for all platforms and tons of programming languages etc. And a ZIPped TIF is quite efficient. While still having 16 bits per channel support, lossless, embedded XMP metadata etc.

[DigPeter]

Thank you John & Mario.  I am glad I am not missing anything with DNG!