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I am using a Sony Alpha-100 DSLR camera (and don't use the Sony software). The files, both RAW (*.ARW for Sony) and *.JPG, have a DSC (Digital Still Camera) prefix then a number. The photos are in a DCIM (Digital Camera Images) folder and there is a separate 1 KB file SONYDSC.CFG. What is this configuration file used for? Can it be deleted when I download the photos?

I do a batch rename (using Adobe Bridge) to change the file names. A set of small (5 KB) *XMP files (Adobe Extensible Metadata Platform) is added when the RAW files (*ARW) are renamed. Don't the RAW files hold the metadata? If so, are the *.XMP files redundant?

Please explain.

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The config file is not needed for offloading the files. It is probably used for internal camera purposes and doesn't need to be copied off the card. The XMP files are used because many software packages that work with RAW files are non-destructive. In other words, they work with new files to store changes instead of altering the original image. Storing the meta data changes outside of the original file prevents changes to the originals.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ What happens if you do delete the CFG file? Do you lose some settings you may have set on the camera when you reinsert the card? \$\endgroup\$
    – Octopus
    Jun 3, 2013 at 22:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Octopus - that I don't know. My camera doesn't use a config file on the card. \$\endgroup\$
    – AJ Henderson ♦
    Jun 4, 2013 at 1:09

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