All:
I now have a "second copy" made in a separate hard drive when I import files from my camera cards. I want an untouched file for possible comparative "developing" or rendering in DxO or PhotoNinja. Might convert everything to DNG someday.
Asking LR to do this at the top of the Import pane is I assume, creates a copy *and* makes NO changes to the RAW data.
OTOH, Lightroom will offer me the image in Camera Raw to view, create, and interpret my edit/develop decisions. But I have been thinking about this and need to ask all of you: Is that CR2 file in my dated Lightroom database folders a changed file in any way from the RAW file while it was still on the card? The decision to hold edit data in sidecar files plays a part in this, right? External sidecar files means even after edits I can copy the CR2 file and use it in other [RAW]converter's software?
jonathan7007