The Digital Negative  is an an open standard RAW file, an unprocessed digital camera file format. For most advanced digital camera users, shooting RAW is considered essential because it can be processed precisely as the individual desires.

However, until Adobe introduced the Digital Negative (DNG) in 2004, there was no standard format for RAW files.

Digital cameras use a variety of proprietary RAW formats. Because of this, not every RAW file can be read by all software programs. So if you shoot RAW and own two digital cameras made by two different manufacturers, you may not be able to open or process RAW files using the same image editing program.

As the DNG format becomes more widely acceptable, it will ensure that photographers can access their image files in the future.

Adobe offers a free Adobe DNG converter for both Mac and Windows computers. The program automatically converts RAW files from more than 200 cameras to .DNG

There is a growing list of camera and software manufacturers that support Digital Negative.

Source: Adobe