More RAW Camera Support Coming

[MacRumors]

Though perhaps obvious, it is reassuring to know that Apple is very aware of the need for RAW support in unsupported cameras.

Joe Schorr, Sr. Product Line Manager of Photo Applications at Apple reassured customers in this thread:

As I'm sure many of you know, it's not Apple's policy to provide a public "ETA" on future releases, so I can't post anything like a timetable for when support for the newest RAW camera formats will become available.

But I can tell you this. We at Apple are ACUTELY aware of the pressing need to get support for the newest round of camera into your hands as soon as possible. This is a top priority. We have members of our own team using these cameras, so you can imagine how interested we are in seeing this support integrated into the Mac OS and our photo applications!

We fully intent to give our customers what they need in this regard.

Thanks!

Joe Schorr
Sr. Product Line Manager, Photo Applications
Apple

Article Link

[justflie]

Well then hop to it

I know it would be a PITA, but rather than try and release RAW support for 50 cameras all at once, why not break it down? ie if they already have 25 done, push them out the door rather than make people continue to wait while the other 25 are finished.

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by justflie

...rather than try and release RAW support for 50 cameras all at once, why not break it down? ie if they already have 25 done, push them out the door rather than make people continue to wait while the other 25 are finished.

You are right, what needs to change is Apple process.

Currently RAW support has been updated when new releases of Mac OS X come out. Raw support is handled in a core library that iPhoto, Aperture, Preview and other all use. They need to bust out that Library so they can send out timely updatres independantly of the rest of Mac OS X.

[Rocketman]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

You are right, what needs to change is Apple process.

Currently RAW support has been updated when new releases of Mac OS X come out. Raw support is handled in a core library that iPhoto, Aperture, Preview and other all use. They need to bust out that Library so they can send out timely updatres independantly of the rest of Mac OS X.

There are a few, not so many things, Apple deals with that causes real input snarls or choke points. Compatibility with a growing morass of camera file formats is certainly one of them.

Steve should tell manufacturers the top 5 or so file formats they prefer manufacturers use and make a mini-SDK for that. It would be less work than wrangling cats.

Rocketman

[harcosparky]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

There are a few, not so many things, Apple deals with that causes real input snarls or choke points. Compatibility with a growing morass of camera file formats is certainly one of them.

Steve should tell manufacturers the top 5 or so file formats they prefer manufacturers use and make a mini-SDK for that. It would be less work than wrangling cats.

Rocketman

I guess that was what I was trying to say, though I think a better solution is for the camera industry to adopt a single RAW format, so that the consumer will be confident that any camera they pick up will work.

As a photographer I would look to the camera manufacturer for a solution, not the OS manufacturer. If I bought a camera and it was not compatible with my OS, I would return it. I would also call the camera manufacturer and let them know clearly that they lost your business because they were incompatible.

Of course as a consumer I also know to look into compatibility issues with hardware I purchase.

[Small White Car]

Originally Posted by harcosparky

I guess that was what I was trying to say, though I think a better solution is for the camera industry to adopt a single RAW format, so that the consumer will be confident that any camera they pick up will work.

I don't think you really understand what a RAW file is. Doing this would mean that all cameras would have the same exact chip and electronics inside. Besides the lens, every camera would be nearly identical.

Besides patents making this unlikely, is that really the sort of choice you want to have? One basic camera put into different company's cases?

There IS a format that does what you're asking. It's called TIF and many cameras use it. The access to RAW data is still something that the most dedicated photographers demand. And that's fine, they should have access to it. But they need to understand that they're getting into something more complicated than TIFs or JPGs and that complication comes at a price. This sort of delay and non-standards are all part of the price. If they don't like it they can always fall back on the more "consumer-friendly" TIF format.

[CalfCanuck]

Originally Posted by harcosparky

I guess that was what I was trying to say, though I think a better solution is for the camera industry to adopt a single RAW format, so that the consumer will be confident that any camera they pick up will work...

I think the issue is that there are many sensors out there, with different characteristics. Saving data to a format which doesn't match your camera's sensors means throwing away potentially useful data.

So every "RAW" format is different, but that's because the camera companies are trying to give us better images at the expense of universal standards. Not sure I think that's a bad thing, either.

[EagerDragon]

NAB is coming so they will need to add even more RAW support as new camera models are being anounced allmost daily (pre NAB).

I assume Apple will also update Aperture at NAB.

[pyramid6]

Originally Posted by EagerDragon

NAB is coming so they will need to add even more RAW support as new camera models are being anounced allmost daily (pre NAB).

I assume Apple will also update Aperture at NAB.

Do you mean PMA?

According to the web, CoreImage is being updated with D3/D300 support on 10.5.2. Despite his pronouncement, if they don't add camera support soon, I'm looking for new software.

P6

[spazzcat]

Originally Posted by pyramid6

Do you mean PMA?

According to the web, CoreImage is being updated with D3/D300 support on 10.5.2. Despite his pronouncement, if they don't add camera support soon, I'm looking for new software.

P6

I'm in the same boat...It's really frustrating that it takes Apple so long with raw support.

[Rocketman]

Is there a spot somewhere that we can see what cameras are already supported in case our need is immediate? Macrumors.com would be best of course.

Is there a list of say the top 20 cameras "on the verge" of support? That is needed. I have a video file from a HD camera from Sony that is not supported and not viewable.

Oh, and Steve, as a defacto electronics hardware and software leader, please tell those camera companies in a very public way what file format(s) to use. Use your bully-pulpit. Spend that RDF!

Rocketman

[TMay]

Originally Posted by Rocketman

Is there a spot somewhere that we can see what cameras are already supported in case our need is immediate? Macrumors.com would be best of course.

Is there a list of say the top 20 cameras "on the verge" of support? That is needed. I have a video file from a HD camera from Sony that is not supported and not viewable.

Oh, and Steve, as a defacto electronics hardware and software leader, please tell those camera companies in a very public way what file format(s) to use. Use your bully-pulpit. Spend that RDF!

Rocketman

Tech specs for aperture has a link if I'm not mistaken.

Is your camera a digital still camera or an HD videocam? It's difficult to understand from your post. If it is a videocam, then Quicktime/ Quicktime Pro or iMovie/Final Cut Express/Final Cut Studio would have your solution.

[Roller]

Originally Posted by pyramid6

Do you mean PMA?

According to the web, CoreImage is being updated with D3/D300 support on 10.5.2. Despite his pronouncement, if they don't add camera support soon, I'm looking for new software.

P6

PMA is in just a couple of days, and I'm hoping that 10.5.2 with support for additional RAW formats will be released by then. I also wouldn't be surprised to see a new version of Aperture.

Based on Joe Schorr's comment, it's impossible to tell if support for the Nikon D300/D3 has been held up for some technical reason or because Apple was waiting for the rest of 10.5.2 to be done. If it's the latter, Apple really needs to find some other way to release these.

[Michael73]

Current list of support cameras can be found here:

http://www.apple.com/aperture/raw/cameras.html

[Rocketman]

The one I am referring to is not on the Aperture list you linked.

The camera that captured the HD motion image was a Sony HDR-CX7, which created a file of the form xxxxx.MTS. The file sizes measure in Gigabytes.

Quicktime Player 7.3.1 did not handle it.

The main problem being we like the camera so much we wil probably buy 4 of them and that's a lot of content to injest. It would be handy if we could simply import the files directly rather than "play" them real-time through the camera.

Rocketman

[Azurael]

I gave up waiting for Apple's RAW support for the Fuji S7000 to surface and went the way of Adobe Camera Raw and Lightroom... I note that OS X & Apple apps now support Fuji .raf files from the S7k, a camera which I've long since stopped using...

Apple need to work a little bit faster - I bought the camera a good year after it came out, in 2005, and it wasn't supported in Apple apps until the end of 2006, despite being a 3 year old model by that point - It's not like it was an unpopular model either. I suppose I should be thankful my Oly E500 is supported. After all, it's still under 3 years since release...