Diary of a CrazyFrench

I found some information: Foveon Inc., and their only known licensee Sigma disclosed the XF3 RAW file format with documentation and some sample images. They are just free for pickup in PDF.

I haven't read it yet, but from a company that try to innovate in the area of sensors, I find that from Foveon it is a really smart move to disclose the file format. That means they don't fear that it will be used to compete with them.

Kudos to Foveon Inc.

Today I contacted Canon Customer Support to request the documentation of the CR2 RAW file format of my Canon 20D. Here is my request:

Hi,

I would like to obtain the documentation of the Canon CR2 RAW format in order to write a software to decode and convert the pictures I produce.

Thank you.

Hub

I encourage you, as a customer, to do the same, being Canon, Nikon or whoever else. The idea is that if they get numerous requests there may be a change.

Please, once done, post a comment here.

Thanks.

Update: Here are links to Canon customer support.

• Canada
• USA
• UK
• France

Or look for Customer Support, they all have some way to ask a question.

Nikon answer

Nikon posted some bullshit answer to justify they encrypt third-party pictures when shooting in RAW mode on D2X camera. I see people arguing that this is not the image but only the white balance. I must disagree with that, as this being part of the whole result of the shooting, it is part of the picture, hence, it is the photographer property.

Nikon's answer is simply unacceptable. Basically they consider the providing a binary SDK under NDA is a good subsitute for a fully disclosed file format, which is completely wrong. First of all, they limit your market to the one they decided for the SDK as you can't use the SDK on platform they don't support. I don't know which one as I would have to sign a NDA for that, which leads to the second point: they want to limit who can compete with that as they must approve application first. That is not free market.

As stated above, application for the Nikon SDK is possible for bona fide software companies that send Nikon a written application for the SDK. Once approved, the SDK is provided to the developer at no charge and they are authorized to use it.

What can you do ? If you are a Nikon customer, tell them that you want that documentation. This apply to other manufacturers like Canon.

BTW, if they did a Press Release, it is because they feel threatened by this information spreading, and they should be.

OpenRAW initiative

As a result, someone started the OpenRAW initiative, whose goal is to inform about the problem. This is not a new problem. Just that this time it impact a different kind of people.

Source: dpreview

Dave Coffin interview

And to finish, dpreview has an interview of Dave Coffin, dcraw author. Interesting to read.