We never heard the term "RAW converter" more often than the last 2 months. Two years ago only a few die hard digital photographers believed that the work with RAW file conversion was worth the extra effort. Now everyone seems to believe that RAW is the way to go and even some well known names in the digital world are to embrace RAW:

• PhaseOne announced a RAW converter for Canon 1D/1Ds and later Nikon
• Adobe previewed a future Photoshop RAW converter plug-in at the PhotoPlus Expo

Digital Outback Photo is dedicated to the digital RAW file workflow and will follow up on all of these new developments.

Even after so many years (Kodak has the longest history in supporting RAW format) that the top digital cameras (and now even consumer cameras) support RAW file formats there is still a lot room for improvements:

• Quality (Profiled colors, WB, contrast, noise and sharpening)
• Speed
• Workflow integration

Just keep in mind that if you photograph in RAW your photos actually improve over time. How that? The improvements of the RAW converters let you get better photos over time. We get today much better results from our RAW files that we shot 2 1/2 years ago and there are indications that the future RAW converters might even do better.

• Here is what we have to say about RAW conversion and it's advantages
• We also offer our readers camera specific e-booklets to improve their RAW workflow. The main reason to write these e-booklets is to get you started without getting too much into all the complex issues.