It appears libraw now supports Canons R5 Mark II in beta. Will darktable wait for this to come out of beta? Assuming this is probably the case can anyone estimate when darktable might incorporate this version? Does Libraw generally keep things in beta for a long time? Obviously I know that can vary for various reasons. Just trying to get a sense when we can start using the R5 Mark II cr3 files in darktable. I am sure there are many of us chomping at the bit.
They need to release it in GutHub. GitHub - LibRaw/LibRaw: LibRaw is a library for reading RAW files from digital cameras
Thanks and that makes sense. Once released does darktable immediately pull it? Any idea of the timeline? I greatly appreciate the contributions of darktable. I wish Canon helped the open source community. They must have agreements with Adobe since they already support the camera.
Just wondering at this point in libraw’s beta are we days, weeks or still a month away. Sorry if I sound anxious…I am.
Check LibRaw release policy. It can be a while. It’s up to them. If they release, then a dt maintainer will do a PR to point the submodule to that commit to merge it to master. You will then need to build master or wait for dt next release (twice a year).
Thanks again for the response. I got the darktable executable from the popOS repository. I guess I will have to compile it when ready. I do not want to wait for the next release to get camera support. I’ll go over to Libraw and check their policy
It would be nice if we could just pull the Libraw file and then make the change in a config file.
If you’re going to build it yourself, you can probably pull whatever version of libraw you want.
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Otoh, you cannot just drop in another version of libraw and use it with your current binary: libraw is statically linked into the executable.
From my understanding of the README, there’s no guarantee of API/ABI compatibility between (major) versions or snapshots. Which makes dynamic linking a bit useless. And that lack of API stability implies that you may have to adjust the darktable code where it uses libraw (not saying you will have to do that, just that the possibility exists).
It does not (formally and publicly). I don’t see any updates on GitHub - LibRaw/LibRaw: LibRaw is a library for reading RAW files from digital cameras
using my PR and compiling either darktable 4.8.1 or git works just fine Add support for Canon R5 Mark II and R1 by piratenpanda · Pull Request #667 · LibRaw/LibRaw · GitHub
of course you’d need this as well Add Canon R1 and R5 Mark II support by piratenpanda · Pull Request #17376 · darktable-org/darktable · GitHub
no idea where OP got the idea anything is official or in beta
edit: the noiseprofile for darktable can be found here: Add R5 Mark II noiseprofile by piratenpanda · Pull Request #17347 · darktable-org/darktable · GitHub
white balance presets in case somebody uses this here: Add finetuned Canon R5 Mark II white balance presets by piratenpanda · Pull Request #17394 · darktable-org/darktable · GitHub
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But creating those PRs may have been a bit more than just dropping in a new libraw version 
Also, it looks like neither of the two PRs are accepted so far, so that’s a gamble as well for someone who is unfamiliar with coding and the code of the projects involved.
@pilgrim : From what I see, your best bet for now is to convert your raw files to DNG (while still keeping the original raw files). That at least will allow you to see the potential in your images, and work with them in darktable.
Depending on how many images you have, it may be worthwhile to create a number of styles from the DNGs. Those can then be applied to the raw files, once darktable/Libraw understand them.
Sorry for ignorance on this matter and for hijacking this thread but if the brand new Canon R5ii support is already on the way to being available, and the almost year old LUMIX G9ii isn’t, does this suggest that the G9ii won’t be supported by Darktable anytime soon? I have to decide whether to keep the open box G9ii I got from Amazon in the next couple of weeks or send it back. The workarounds to get DT to read the RAWs are a bit clunky and I don’t fancy having to continue using them indefinitely. Thanks
If no one shows an interest in a camera (and no one provides the raws needed), support won’t be added.
A quick look didn’t show any pull requests or issues concerning your camera on the Libraw github linked above.
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Thanks. What does this mean? I see the phrase pull request often but have no idea what it means. Also GitHub is a complete mystery to me. I’m seen it, I’m no idea how to use it. It’s not exactly intuitive
It is a suggestion for code to be modified, usually one that fixes an issue or adds a feature.
For the G9ii particularly, there is an open issue you can follow:
Apparently LibRaw has a fix and that can be used (see the comments), so it works. (Did not test it myself.)
Great. Thanks for this. I kind of thought it must mean something like that with no knowledge of the process. But then so much of life is nodding along to stuff that you kind of sort of think you understand as long as no one asks you for an actual explanation. I’ll take a look. I know it must be baffling to deal with such levels of ignorance
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Read through this. Very useful. Thanks again. Can I do anything more than has already been done by other users? I see that the issue has been opened and closed several times. I have a GitHub account but I have no real idea what the protocols are for posting into that request.
i saw a message about a beta version. I can’t find it at the moment. Sorry if I jumped the gun. I am sure many people are frustrated to discover it can take months before a camera is supported.
I understand these are free open source applications and very appreciative of the efforts. I just think there should be a way for darktable to stay up to date with new cameras without having to wait for an update. The same thing for LibRaw.
I thought I saw the R5 Mark II in beta but now can’t find it. It appears it can take a number of months. Am I naive to ask why must they as the general public for RAW examples? One would think after all these years there would be professional photographers providing this info. Yes there are too many cameras but there also are many professionals that upgrade each time a new camera is introduced.
One might expect darktable would have connections with photographers for this purpose. If they want these applications to compete then why is this not more organized? The user group can understand and accept a certain amount of delay. After a certain point in time one might ask why use these applications. They can compete with lightroom with quality. They need to compete in camera support.
Well libraw comes from a commercial company, who only release every six months. The libraw in their own products is much more up to date, I’m sure.
In that case, one would be wrong. darktable is community made, that includes raw samples. In the case of libraw, they do what they want.
Compete with what, exactly? darktable developers make a raw developer they want to use, and they’re kind enough to share it with us. We, the passionate users, do our best to help out with support and promotion and testing.
Then the users should get involved and change what they want or find something else that works for them. This is an entitled view and I’d suggest you inform yourself of how things work and check your privilege.
That is a question on you can answer. I use darktable because it’s powerful, it’s open source, and I can affect change in it. I also like the developers and other users that hang around. I consider them friends.
I don’t think any darktable developer thinks that darktable competes with lightroom. I don’t. We aren’t competing, we’re trying to build our own thing. If it works for you, that’s great, we’d love you to contribute, and if it doesn’t work for you then you should find a tool that does. Having a bunch of users doesn’t really get darktable anything, we don’t take money.
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Darktable does have connections with photographers, it’s called the community.
What it does not have is a budget (let alone one comparable with lightroom’s).
Also, non-disclosure agreements are a bit tricky with open source…
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