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Known Participant
May 8, 2026 3:37 AM UTC
Question

DNG Converter unusable

In order to optimize storage space I convert pictures from NEF to DNG. Unfortunately the Adobe DNG Converter is almost unusable. 

The software works fine on older PCs with four core processors. On my newer PC with 8 cores and 16 threads it is impossible to use. It seems like a memory problem. Sometimes it works but most of the time it renders the whole PC unusable, often crashes Windoes Explorer. Even restarts won’t solve the tangled up DNG Converter. Frustrating. 

    4 replies

    D Fosse
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    May 8, 2026 4:02 PM UTC

    I don’t know why that would happen.

     

    But just so it’s said, if Photoshop/Bridge/Lightroom Classic are up to date - or at least newer than your camera -  they can do the conversion on import, and you don’t need the DNG converter.

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    olidieAuthor
    Known Participant
    May 13, 2026 1:23 PM UTC

    The DNG Converter allows finer settings for the conversion. Plus command line support. Searching for this issue that makes DNG completely unusable (on a newer laptop) shows that I am by far not the only one with this problems. 

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    Claire H.
    Community Manager
    Community Manager
    Sep 14, 2026 7:21 PM UTC

    Hi @olidie, Thank you for reaching out to the Camera Raw Community Forum! Can you send your system info? You can find your system info by going to Help > System Info, copying and pasting it into a text file, and attaching it here.

    Also, can you send:

    1. Expected result - what should happen after executing the last step.

    2. Actual result -  what actually occurred after the previous step.

    Thanks! ^CH

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