In so many ways DNG is the perfect photo archival format, but of course you had to actually save the DNG when you shot the image (unlike JPEG capture when it deleted in camera).

This is due to excellent compactness in relation to the amount of image information recorded and also the wide range of metadata fields included and the increasing readability in more and more software.

The point is made above that we are assuming a lot in imagining that things will carry on for us for ever ... such as 'the internet'! And its also an assumption to imagine that todays DNGs will always be readable in future software, but it seems to be our best bet.

Algi, you reminded me about my video files as well - I have a mixture of camera original .avi / .mov, and edited output videos from Nero and Sony Vegas in .MTS / MPEG2 / MPEG4 formats. How secure are these in the longer term, even if I succeed in maintaining copies of them on workable drives and readable discs through the decades to come ???

John its refreshing to see a post that is mostly on topic - ie it is actually about some Pentax dslr settings! But like some other posts I feel it misses the point.

Almost none of the items on my checklist will have any direct bearing on the creative or interpretative aspects of the picture taking. To view the checklist as in someway contradictory to Good creative image making is to misunderstand its scope and intent.

The checklist in fact will assist in and enable the free flow of creative juices precisely because The technical fine points in efficient camera operation will be established and stable,and wont get in the way while out in the field.

John,your list is a very different beast. If you were going out with a tripod and remote control, do you think that presetting the camera as per my list would be helpful? Do you feel i've covered everything?

Yes, of course. I was meaning that wouldn't the photographer have to be aggressively refuse to stop for it to lead to arrest ?

JPGs ??? What about Grandpa's .pefs? Switch to DNG now people !

I'm all for expansions, but as I said at the start, I deliberately made the checklist prescriptive and single focussed, ie just for landscapes on a tripod with remote control.

This specifically is to help me quickly get the camera ready before setting out, but I thought it might be helpful to others by triggering some 'expanded' thinking on how these specific settings relate to differing photographic needs when shooting.

To go back to an earlier example I made .... take the menu item 'Memory - Drive Mode'. As the checklist is for Remote Control operation, the drive mode is set to this. Now, we might want to change lenses during our shoot, so the camera gets turned off. When the camera is turned on again, if the 'Memory - Drive Mode' item was activated, then there you are, straight away the remote light is flashing and your camera is ready to go.

If you had not activated this menu item, then the camera would default back to single shot with shutter button. You would have to go into Drive Mode again and reset 'Remote' every time. Now, that is going to be a pain surely, and delay us getting on with all the artistic vision and inspired creating that many of our colleagues here keep telling us is what its really all about.

I sway more towards the keepers side, that's true, and I agree we have to think forwards and offer up future generations a photographic record of our times.

I think for individual amateurs, in the back of our minds, its the practical side of long term archiving and passing down that's a concern ...

Its our hobby, so we place value on the backing up and we might have a file transfer system going on to move stuff to new drives or discs over the years. The big question is what will happen to it when we're gone ? Even close family members may not be able to maintain the same passion to devote the required time and commitment to even keeping it as it is - let alone continuing the renewel process for generations to come

The old shoebox and cardboard carton weren't such a bad idea.

Surely you'd only be arrested if you were aggressively unreasonable and disregarding of fair safety restrictions?

If some are lucky then we may be faced with a real choice before we even know how to make the choice ! K5II or K5IIs anybody?

That's always the intention But not too much please, don't forget the serious study and complete commitment to memorising that checklist!


The space flight analogies are entertaining for sure, but entirely apt? I have a private pilot licence, which I worked hard for years ago, and navigating a plane around the UK airspace is a demanding and disciplined business, but it does also require improvisation and flexible thinking as things change around you ... but, I'd never have got that licence or ever been let loose hiring a plane if I didn't have those checklists nailed, both in the bag and in the brain.

Hey, those space missions were flown on less computational processing power than goes on in my Pentax K7!

Sure, those astronauts had to improvise when things went wrong, but you can be absolutely sure they weren't let anywhere near the outer atmosphere before those checklists were nailed as well !

The fact that there is discussion about who would benefit ('.. a pro such as Simon is more likely to see the benefit...') demonstrates that the game is much more complicated then in earlier times. I mean, when I started out I had a budget, consumer-grade Canon (eos 300).

But I could have been standing next to a Pro with a Eos 1V, so long as we had the same lens, film and exposure settings, our cameras would have taken identical pictures, with no quality difference despite £100s price difference!

It was the actual work, the conditions, intensity and pressure of the job that necessitated the extra features offered by the top models of the time for the professional. The actual quality of output was fundamentally not controlled solely by the body.

Now it is, so it opens up new questions about the two key aspects of a camera design that dictate its suitability for each category of photographer - 1) sensor output 2) control features, usability & ergonomics, configuration and versatility options.