Nikon NEF files

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Lotte Simons

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Lotte
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Is it just me that wants to throw my camera at a wall because of Nikons idea of RAW?:bang:
I've shot in it before and I obviosuly know the benefits of shooting in RAW and I would all the time trust me....but because they compress them to NEF files I cannot open them on any of my software. I've tried the software that comes with the camera and (i'm probably just an idiot) had trouble figuring it all out...though that was a few years ago..may give it another try.
I've used photoshop and lightroom and NEF files don't open on any of them and I have no idea of how to convert them.


Actually, the first time I shot in RAW/NEF/whatever we want to call it, a couple of shots did open in photoshop, the RAW options box popped up just as it should but after a while that stopped working.



Anyone and everyone that shoots Nikon...help me?? Cause i'd obviosuly like to stop shooting in crappy JPEG but at the moment if I can't convert the files then RAW is useless to me, may as well have not done the shoot.
 
Use DNG converter (free) or upgrade PS.

Unlike JPG which is JPG in any language, the raw format varies from camera to camera, model to model so a camera released after your version of PS will not be recognised. Maybe previously you opend a JPG file in CR which is possible......?
 
Don't really understand, my D5000 (and D60) both have RAW, RAW+N, +B and +F, all of which open in Lightroom and Photoshop, no problem (but not in any Microsoft program) NEF is the Nikon version of RAW.

Sounds like something else to me, not the file type or the software.
 
CS5 opens them.
Actually all software opens them you just need to left click, right click and your in. I know its a pain but once you get into the habit of it; it works well.
 
Just a small point, but Nikon don't "compress" to NEF, it's their uncompressed format. Sounds like you have software issues, client-side, rather than any inherent flaw in the NEF format, I'm sure you can get it working fine!
 
Nikon View NX should open them for you or you could fork out for Capture NX (2).

Some Nikons can compress raw files, reducing file size by 40-55% with almost no effect on image quality. (quoted from the D700 manual). There are also 2 bit-depth options - 12 or 14 bit.
 
Nikon's own free editing program, View NX2, will handle .nef files from your D5000 just fine. It is a big step up from the old View NX, which was dire, and will edit video files from the D5000 as well.

Get it here.
 
DoctorJ said:
Don't really understand, my D5000 (and D60) both have RAW, RAW+N, +B and +F, all of which open in Lightroom and Photoshop, no problem (but not in any Microsoft program) NEF is the Nikon version of RAW.

Sounds like something else to me, not the file type or the software.
Click to expand...

If you're having trouble viewing/editing in some Microsoft program then it most likely due to not having the most up to date codec installed on your computer. This can be downloaded foc from the Nikon web site.

The D5000 is relatively new camera so the camera raw software for Lightroom/Photoshop/Elements/etc needs to be updated. This can be downloaded from the Adobe web site, again foc.

You should be able to view and edit the NEF files in the software that came with your camera - ViewNX and/or Capture NX2 - straight out of the box.
 
Just to clarify a few things:

NEF is Nikon's suffix for a RAW file.

A NEF file is DIFFERENT for each camera type as it is a file containing the RAW data from the sensor of that particular model of camera PLUS the information from the camera (EXIF data etc)

NEF files CAN be compressed OR uncompressed but this does not actually change anything, your RAW convertor will work with either or neither.

As new models come out each software package that reads RAW files will need to be updated.

DNG is a universal RAW format developed by Adobe and so once in that format your file is readable by any software capable of reading DNGs

On a Mac once you have the latest update which includes the RAW update for your camera you can open compressed or uncompressed RAW files as if they were JPG or similar.

Any new camera will usually cause problems re RAW files until the converter's updates are downloaded.
 
Lotte Simons said:
Is it just me that wants to throw my camera at a wall because of Nikons idea of RAW?:bang:
I've shot in it before and I obviosuly know the benefits of shooting in RAW and I would all the time trust me....but because they compress them to NEF files I cannot open them on any of my software. I've tried the software that comes with the camera and (i'm probably just an idiot) had trouble figuring it all out...though that was a few years ago..may give it another try.
I've used photoshop and lightroom and NEF files don't open on any of them and I have no idea of how to convert them.


Actually, the first time I shot in RAW/NEF/whatever we want to call it, a couple of shots did open in photoshop, the RAW options box popped up just as it should but after a while that stopped working.



Anyone and everyone that shoots Nikon...help me?? Cause i'd obviosuly like to stop shooting in crappy JPEG but at the moment if I can't convert the files then RAW is useless to me, may as well have not done the shoot.
Click to expand...

What you said in para 2 suggests that there are software issues in the equation. For software to work then suddenly not work indicates something has changed.
Up to date Photoshop or Elements should open .NEF files.

When you right click on an .NEF file do you get an option to "Open with Photoshop etc...."
and if you click on that what happens?
 
http://nikonimglib.com/nefcodec/

That is the link to the Nikon codec for windows. Once installed you can see iamges in windows explorer and picture gallery/viewer.
 
arclight said:
What you said in para 2 suggests that there are software issues in the equation. For software to work then suddenly not work indicates something has changed.
Up to date Photoshop or Elements should open .NEF files.

When you right click on an .NEF file do you get an option to "Open with Photoshop etc...."
and if you click on that what happens?
Click to expand...


Yeah I get that option and then photoshop comes up with a message saying "could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document"


Also, I downloaded the codec and resintalled my camera software and it's opening/editing .nef files fine, but i'm still having to convert files into tiff to edit them in photoshop.
 
Lotte Simons said:
Yeah I get that option and then photoshop comes up with a message saying "could not complete your request because it is not the right kind of document"


Also, I downloaded the codec and resintalled my camera software and it's opening/editing .nef files fine, but i'm still having to convert files into tiff to edit them in photoshop.
Click to expand...

I think the problem may well be that your software is not up to date enough to recognise your camera.

I had PSE7 and it opened .NEF files from D700.
When I got my D300s, PSE7 would not open .NEF files from it, but threw up a "file type not recognised" message.
I upgraded to PSE8 and it opens .NEF files from both the D700 & D300s.
 
arclight said:
I think the problem may well be that your software is not up to date enough to recognise your camera.

I had PSE7 and it opened .NEF files from D700.
When I got my D300s, PSE7 would not open .NEF files from it, but threw up a "file type not recognised" message.
I upgraded to PSE8 and it opens .NEF files from both the D700 & D300s.
Click to expand...


It's highly likely this is the case, I just thought that it's possible the .nef files were taken on my D40x
in which case, yes that would definitely be the problem! I'll test it, take a shot on my other camera and see if it opens. I suspect this is very much the case though.
 
No that didn't work. Same message for an earlier model...going to try downloading all the codecs everyone has suggested, already got the nef one for view nx2.


also, if I shoot nef and then convert to tiff in view nx2 to edit them, is there actually any problem with that? like how will it affect the quality of the images?
Thank for the suggestions so far everyone!
 
Lotte Simons said:
No that didn't work. Same message for an earlier model...going to try downloading all the codecs everyone has suggested, already got the nef one for view nx2.


also, if I shoot nef and then convert to tiff in view nx2 to edit them, is there actually any problem with that? like how will it affect the quality of the images?
Thank for the suggestions so far everyone!
Click to expand...

The whole point in shooting raw is to get the opportunity edit the raw file and thereby get control over things that you canot adjust in jpeg or tiff. Therefore you would be denying yourself that aspect.
 
Try Rawtherapee which supports your D5000. It is free, fast, very small footprint, and has a pretty good manual. It is very powerful and takes a bit of experimenting to get the best out of it but I now use it all the time for my conversions. Get the stable 2.4.1 version here.
 
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arclight said:
The whole point in shooting raw is to get the opportunity edit the raw file and thereby get control over things that you canot adjust in jpeg or tiff. Therefore you would be denying yourself that aspect.
Click to expand...


no but the point is i can edit the nef file to an extent in view nx2, so adjust the exposure and WB and then save a copy as a tiff file which I can then open up in photoshop to do the airbrushing and things.
 
If the .nef file opens in View nx2 then the .nef file is OK.

What version of Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw are you using? (Help > About in Photoshop should give you versions.)
 
jomike said:
If the .nef file opens in View nx2 then the .nef file is OK.

What version of Photoshop and Adobe Camera Raw are you using? (Help > About in Photoshop should give you versions.)
Click to expand...


My photoshop is CS2 version 9.0, but like I said before I managed to open nef files in it once before from my D40x and it now won't do that.
I don't know about ACR though, is that info in the same place?
 
Not sure what the issue might be with the D40x files, but CS2 will not support .nef files from the D5000.

What you can do is download the Adobe DNG converter, convert your .nef files to .dng files and edit those in CS2. DNG files have the same advantages as .nef raw files, but are not specific to a particular camera.
 
I had exactly the same issues with CS4, I could not open NEF's from my D300 and D700 and it drove me mad. I had all the latest plug in's etc but it still wouldn't work. In the end I went out and bought Capture NX2 and am very pleased with it, a really good processing package.
 
Roland200 said:
I had exactly the same issues with CS4, I could not open NEF's from my D300 and D700 and it drove me mad. I had all the latest plug in's etc but it still wouldn't work. In the end I went out and bought Capture NX2 and am very pleased with it, a really good processing package.
Click to expand...

Had the same problem with my D90 and CS4 gave up and went back to CS3. Havn't had a chance to try CS5 yet.
 
Lotte Simons said:
I'm glad it's not just me having trouble, I thought maybe i was just totally missing something blatantly obvious.

Will try the DNG converter thanks :)
Click to expand...

The problem is rife, Lotte.

Adobe would like to see .DNG as the industry standard. Pentax use it, but damned few others.
It would save a lot of bother if eveyone had .DNG.
 
Why not just go to the adobe.com website and find out which cameras are compatible with your version of the software?? Simple. Your problem is you don't have the correct version of the soiftware for your camera - there is nothing wrong with Nikon NEF files!
 
:agree:

Lotte, you appear very reluctant to accept that Nikon's NEF file are not the problem but there are tens of thousands of people out there using them with no issues whatsoever vs a few on here that appear to have a problem.

You can have the very latest version of Photoshop/CS5/Elements/Lightroom/whatever but you still have to make sure you have the correct version of ACR installed with it. ACR - Adobe Camera Raw - is a plug-in, not an integral part of the Adobe editing software. As new cameras are released the ACR is updated by Adobe to take account of any camera specific detail changes introduced by Nikon. To be able to read the NEF file from your camera in any Adobe application you must have a version of ACR that supports it.

To check which version of ACR is installed in your editing software (and it may well be different for each program) go to HELP > ABOUT PLUGIN > ACR to see the version number. Next go to the Adobe web site and check if your camera is supported by that version - chances are it isn't. Download the latest version that does supprt your camera and follow the installation instructions - 10 minutes and your done!
 
The OP stated that he/she has Photoshop CS2. The highest Camera Raw plug in version supported by CS2 is 3.7. Here is a list of cameras' raw files that are supported by ACR 3.7:
http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/331/331563.html#Full-List
As you can see, neither the D40x or the D5000 are on that list. Therefore if the OP wants to continue using CS2, the only alternative is to convert the raw file to another format, the best being the Digital negative (.dng) format, as this is supported in CS2 because is is a universal raw file format, not dependant on camera make or model.
I would suggest to use the .dng converter to download and convert the raw files directly from the SD card, that way there are no duplicated files and extra steps involved.

It would be nice if all camera manufacturers, (this problem is not unique to Nikon cameras), would adopt a standard raw file format to avoid all this confusion, but it does not seem likely to happen.
 
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+1 for the DNG converter. DNG is a much more convenient format, especially for archiving. No more messing around with sidecar files, and it's a far more universally supported format.
 
You don't need sidecar files if you process Nikon RAW in Lightroom 3!
 
Bristolian said:
:agree:

Lotte, you appear very reluctant to accept that Nikon's NEF file are not the problem but there are tens of thousands of people out there using them with no issues whatsoever vs a few on here that appear to have a problem.

You can have the very latest version of Photoshop/CS5/Elements/Lightroom/whatever but you still have to make sure you have the correct version of ACR installed with it. ACR - Adobe Camera Raw - is a plug-in, not an integral part of the Adobe editing software. As new cameras are released the ACR is updated by Adobe to take account of any camera specific detail changes introduced by Nikon. To be able to read the NEF file from your camera in any Adobe application you must have a version of ACR that supports it.

To check which version of ACR is installed in your editing software (and it may well be different for each program) go to HELP > ABOUT PLUGIN > ACR to see the version number. Next go to the Adobe web site and check if your camera is supported by that version - chances are it isn't. Download the latest version that does supprt your camera and follow the installation instructions - 10 minutes and your done!
Click to expand...


Yup - nothing wrong with Nikon here - blame Adobe for not making old versions of CS compatible with newer cameras...

But nobody actually pays for their copy of Photoshop, do they...?
 
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