Nikon D5200 - Convert NEF (14bit) into DNG (only 12bit?!)

Question

Hello,
I have a problem concerning the DNG converting process of my NEF (RAW) files of my Nikon D5200 to DNG files. NEF file should have 14 bit color space (according to the manual`s on p. 234 - - http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/dslr/D5200RM_NT(11)01.pdf - the camera does ONLY capture NEF file as 14 bit file, not in 12 bit files; there is no setting like in den D7100 to change this e.g. to 12 bit). My problem in lightroom is that when I convert my NEFs in lightroom in DNGs it shows me that the DNGs are only 12 bit?! If I go to library > right toolbar > metadata > DNG > "Bit pro sample" it says 12 and NOT 14
How could that be? Is there any chance to fix this and if so, which way to correct this?
Many thanks for your help!

Answer 1

I read the EXIF data with RawDigger (many thanks to ssprengel!) and it seems that the "bits per sample" (RawDigger > EXIF) are the SAME in ALL DNG files (= 16 bit), no matter if I converted a 12 bit lossy or lossless or a 14 bit lossy or lossless NEF file. What I was able to seen in the EXIF data of the DNG files was if the "NEF compression" is lossy or lossless, although is was a DNG file. So I was able to "reconstruct" if this DNG file was once (= before the conversion) a lossy or lossless NEF file, but nit if it was once a 14bit or 12bit NEF file.
As soon as I opened the NEF file in RawDigger I was able to read if the file is a 12 bit lossy, 12 bit lossless, 14 bit lossy, 14 bit lossy. But when I compared the e.g. 12 bit lossless NEF file with the equivalent DNG file, I WAS NOT ABLE to see any difference in terms of quality. Both are exactly the same in terms of their image quality, the e.g. 12 bit lossless NEF file and the converted DNG file. The only differnce between the both is size. The equivalent DNG files are a lot smaller (and it seems the Adobe has a much better compression algorithmus without compromising the image quality):
12 bit lossy NEF (10,9 MB)               = equivalent DNG (7,4 MB)            --> 32% less
12 bit lossless NEF (12,2 MB)          = equivalent DNG (7,5 MB)            --> 39% less
14 bit lossy NEF (13,8 MB)               = equivalent DNG (12,2 MB)          --> 12% less
14 bit lossless NEF (16,2 MB)          = equivalent DNG (12,7 MB)          --> 22% less
So, to summarize, the good news is that no matter what option you chose to save your NEFs in your camera (12 bit lossy, 12 bit lossless, 14 bit lossy, 14 bit lossy) when you convert them in DNGs the quality DOES NOT change. The only downfall is that the metadata in lightroom is somewhat missleading and confusing:
12 bit lossy NEF           = 10 "bits per sample" DNG (in lightroom`s metadata: right toolbar > metadata > DNG), but exactly the same image quality as the 12 bit lossy NEF
12 bit lossless NEF      = 12 "bits per sample" DNG (in lightroom`s metadata: right toolbar > metadata > DNG), but exactly the same image quality as the 12 bit lossless NEF
14 bit lossy NEF           = 12 "bits per sample" DNG (in lightroom`s metadata: right toolbar > metadata > DNG), but exactly the same image quality as the 14 bit lossy NEF
14 bit lossless NEF       = 14 "bits per sample" DNG (in lightroom`s metadata: right toolbar > metadata > DNG), but exactly the same image quality as the 14 bit lossless NEF
Many thanks to all of you and hopefully this help someone who has the same "troubles".