Photo Mechanic in a DxO raw workflow

[Recked]

Hello,

Very new to digital after shooting film for many years. I have decided to go with DxO Optics as my raw conversion software, but this poses a bit of a problem with regards to getting the files from camera to computer as DxO recommends that it be the first software in the workflow as any changes to file data will not allow the DxO lens/camera modules to work as they should.

I would like to purchase Photo Mechanic due to the great number of positive reviews and speed I have read about, but does it allow a user to bring files in without touching any of the EXIF or metadata? Read only would be great.

Thanks for any help offered

[Kirk Baker]

Very new to digital after shooting film for many years. I have decided to go with DxO Optics as my raw conversion software, but this poses a bit of a problem with regards to getting the files from camera to computer as DxO recommends that it be the first software in the workflow as any changes to file data will not allow the DxO lens/camera modules to work as they should.

I would like to purchase Photo Mechanic due to the great number of positive reviews and speed I have read about, but does it allow a user to bring files in without touching any of the EXIF or metadata? Read only would be great.

Photo Mechanic does append various data to the end of your files if you do certain operations like setting Color Class, 5-star ratings, Tags, or Crops.  If you never caption your images (or if you do and you instruct PM to use XMP sidecar files) then nothing will be embedded into the middle of your RAW files.  The only function that modifies EXIF data is the Adjust Capture Times dialog and you can always ignore that feature.

My suggestion would be to download the free 20-day trial version and use it to Ingest (download) some images and put it through your workflow.  If there are no incompatibilities then go ahead and purchase Photo Mechanic.

HTH,

-Kirk

[Recked]

Thanks for the quick reply Kirk.

I think I already installed Photo Mechanic a few months ago but never got around to trying anything out as I was so frustrated that I was ready to just go back to film.

Is there any way to get an extension if the app is still on my workstation?

thanks again

[Kirk Baker]

Thanks for the quick reply Kirk.

I think I already installed Photo Mechanic a few months ago but never got around to trying anything out as I was so frustrated that I was ready to just go back to film.

Is there any way to get an extension if the app is still on my workstation?

Contact the support folks at support@camerabits.com and explain your situation. They will be happy to accommodate you.

-Kirk