Hello CyVan,

What you're looking at here is quite complex, and it's not as simple as "one piece of software does it better than another".

All cameras record RAW information then process that information in-camera to generate JPGs. Depending on your settings, that RAW information will be stored (in your case as .RW2) or discarded.

When you open a RAW photo in software, such as PhotoDirector, LightRoom, or PHOTOfunStudio, the software has to do a certain amount of processing to allow you to view the RAW data. Of course, Panasonic software will be better able to make the RAW file from a Panasonic camera look like the JPG! It knows the algorithms used by the camera!

There are no compatibility issues with PhD7 and RW2 files from the Panasonic G7



Photo editing software, like PhD, does not set out to create previews that look just like the camera generated JPGs. Its task is to generate a viewable photo that can be edited/adjusted. It's only a compatibility issue when the software either cannot interpret the data or gets it horribly wrong!

If you're interested in understanding more about the complexities of RAW processing, the following links might help:

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/41327/why-do-raw-images-look-worse-than-jpegs-in-editing-programs

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1617134&seqNum=2

https://www.slrlounge.com/school/raw-vs-jpeg-jpg-the-ultimate-visual-guide/

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Pix, ok so basically PhD doesn't do as good a job as the other 2 of interpreting the RAW file.

I downloaded and tried DxO Optics Pro 10 and its doing a much better job. What would be the best way to integrate it into my workflow with PhD? Have DxO process the RAW then export as a different format , for example DNG?

CyVan,

I may have just wasted some time posting the information above

Agreed, DxO Optics does a good job of creating an preview image that looks like the JPG. On import, it detects which camera was used from the EXIF data and downloads appropriate modules (containing the algorithms referred to above). See attached screenshot.

If you wish, you can download the Adobe DNG Converter (free) - https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=5919&fileID=5979 It supports RAW files from the G7 - https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-plug-supported-cameras.html#Panasonic

You have a number of options to consider.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Ah, thanks. So far I think I'll stick with DxO until the trial runs out since it seems to have a lot of advanced RAW processing capability for my camera. I'll export them to maybe DNG if I need to do additional work that can only be done in PhD, esp since I've already bought PhD.

I see this is still an issue. I now have a GX8 and despite the fact that I've paid for this photo editing software I still can't use it to load my camera's RAW files



I've used DXO, CaptureOne and even ACDSee Ultra and they all render the RAW files beautifully on import. But PhD still loads them looking dark and desaturated. Are there any plans to fix this?



Based on some experimentation for any RAW I load I need to push vibrancy AND saturation up to 55 to get it somewhat resemble the OOC JPEG or the previews of other vendors software. if I set a preset to do this by default would I lose that range for vibrancy/saturation or would it take that as the new 0 starting point for both?


Makes no sense for me to keep PhD installed if I have to do my editing in other software.