Working with DNG Files

[Joe Copalman]

I recently bought a 70D and am really liking it so far (haven't shot enough to love it, hoping to change that soon).

One of the problems I've run into with it is that Lightroom 3 doesn't support its RAW files, and the only workaround I've found online (aside from upgrading to LR5, which is now on the to-do list) is to convert my RAW files to DNGs and then process them just as I would my RAW files. 

Does anyone in the group have any experience working with DNG files?  Any advantages/disadvantages I should be aware of?  Anything I *can't* do with them that I can with RAW files? 

[Paul Dumm]

Joe, if my brain remember right DNG is just Adobe's file so you can use you RAW photos years from now when no one remembers what a Canon 70D. As far as I remember it is a RAW file and act the same way.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/extend.displayTab2.html?promoid=DNRIB

[FelipeG]

I used DNG back in the day, but found no reason to add the extra step of converting to DNG (I did this for that same "what if .CR2 files in the future...." excuse), don't recall any loss of functionality, but I was using Photoshop CS back in the day, with my Rebel XT.

That's an interesting workaround, I never thought about it, and I do know that newer versions of software are slowly dropping support for older Macs. Since I'm going kinda backwards with cameras, this isn't that much of a concern, and so far I still get full support for my EOS 1Ds (made between 2002-2004).

My concern with DNG would be support in the future by non Adobe companies, should I, for any reason, go away from using Adobe products; I suppose that keeping files as DNG and RAW (if space is not a concern) could be be a viable idea.

[Joe Copalman]

I've been editing my shots from the PASM night shoot as DNG files, absolutely no noticeable difference from editing RAW files. 

[FelipeG]

Did you notice a reduction in file size? for some reason I recall my DNG files being between 1-2 MB smaller than the RAW files.

[Joe Copalman]

I did, yes, but I expected that after reading about DNGs.

[Jay Beckman]

The "safety net" of DNG is that it's a universal format (ala JPEG, or TIFF) and you shouldn't suffer if Canon or Nikon decide, on a whim, to alter their CR2 or NEF respectively to where it's an entirely different format that suddenly can't be read by current software.