RAW file format

[Donald is #1]

Excellent advice everyone! One of my excuses in upgrading from my D100 to my D300 was to shoot RAW. handicap18, thank you so much for the stat
s on RAW with your D300. Maybe it won't be so bad afterall on memory space.

I did buy 2 8G cards today and once I come back from WDW in 2 weeks, I think that I will start watching the prices on B&H to watch if the prices come down.

I have been using Compact Flash for probably 8 years now, so I have quite the memory card selection, 64 MB -> 4G and now 2 8 G cards.

Unfortunately, I am not as good with editting through my pictures as jann1033 is. But I am getting better.

As for processing programs, my inital plan was to use Photoshop Elements 6 to start and see how it goes.

 

[handicap18]

I'm not big on post processing either. I just use Nikon ViewNX. It does everything I need except crop. It will allow you to change exposure compensation, white balance, picture control, sharpening, D-Lighting, Contrast, Hightlight and Shadow Protection, Tint and has a color booster. Best of all, its free and keeps any changes you make in camera because it is Nikon's software. Other programs wont do that or you have to download special plugins (after finding them) to be able to do that.

 

[LilSweetPeaPhoto]

I shoot RAW. I have a children's photography biz. And RAW has saved me more times then I care to admit, LOL! When you're chasing a 1 year old from sun to shade and shooting full manual, you don't always get the time to change settings.

 

[YEKCIM]

Thanks to some gentle encouragement on this board, I have been shooting RAW, almost exclusively, for the past year or so. I have shot JPEG only when I needed the buffer space that RAW would not allow. As has been said, the cost of storage and memory cards has come down so much that it is essentially almost a non-issue. The downside is the additional time it takes to open and tweak a RAW file before doing the final editing in (for me) Elements 5. The ability to correct exposure and white balance with a click of the mouse makes RAW a must for YEKCIM.

 

[°O°Joe]

RAW exclusively for me. Quick question, has anybody tried RAWTherapee (freeware)? I started out on it, and have tried a couple others including CaptureNX. I keep going back to RAWTherapee for it's simplicity and handy sliders.

If you haven't tried it I suggest you give it a shot!

http://www.rawtherapee.com/

 

[DVC Jen]

Once you shoot raw you won't go back.

 

[handicap18]

RAW exclusively for me. Quick question, has anybody tried RAWTherapee (freeware)? I started out on it, and have tried a couple others including CaptureNX. I keep going back to RAWTherapee for it's simplicity and handy sliders.

If you haven't tried it I suggest you give it a shot!

http://www.rawtherapee.com/

Joe how well does it work with the .NEF files, especially those that you may have made some changes to in camera? Does this RAW processor recognize the tweeks or does it just give you the flat raw file.

 

[°O°Joe]

Joe how well does it work with the .NEF files, especially those that you may have made some changes to in camera? Does this RAW processor recognize the tweeks or does it just give you the flat raw file.

It recognizes the cameras white balance, but I think that's about it. It won't recognize Active D-Lighting or color modes or anything like that. For me though this is a non issue. I have a preset within RAWTherapee that I use to start with. It saves all the slider settings that I make to 95% of my photos. From there I just make minor adjustments. I'm among the minority in a sense that I prefer to do most of the work in RAW rather than in camera. I mean, I still choose my apertures and shutter speeds VIA S priority and A priority modes, and occasionally fully manual. And of course ISO adjustments. But as far as colors, levels, highlights and shadows - I prefer to do the work in RAW.

 

[Donald is #1]

Excellent advice everyone! Keep it coming.

 

[annnewjerz]

So, I have been shooting in RAW since getting my D60 in order to have more control over editing (and in some cases, fixing) my photos. I have been adjusting the WB and using the exposure comp using ViewNX (the free software that comes with Nikon), then converting to JPEG and editing things like color and sharpness in PE6.

In another thread recently, I saw something mentioned about a "Camera Raw" plug-in that you can download for PE6. I downloaded it and maybe I'm missing something...but I still can't open up .NEF files. I followed the directions on the Adobe site and then re-started, opened up Editor, did a file--->open, select a random .NEF and then get an error message.

Is there something I'm missing?

I'm still considering purchasing Capture NX2 or Lightroom 2 to better edit my RAW files, but would like to try out PE6 for RAW editing first if possible, since I already own it.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

 

[spinetnglr]

So, I have been shooting in RAW since getting my D60 in order to have more control over editing (and in some cases, fixing) my photos. I have been adjusting the WB and using the exposure comp using ViewNX (the free software that comes with Nikon), then converting to JPEG and editing things like color and sharpness in PE6.

In another thread recently, I saw something mentioned about a "Camera Raw" plug-in that you can download for PE6. I downloaded it and maybe I'm missing something...but I still can't open up .NEF files. I followed the directions on the Adobe site and then re-started, opened up Editor, did a file--->open, select a random .NEF and then get an error message.

Is there something I'm missing?

I'm still considering purchasing Capture NX2 or Lightroom 2 to better edit my RAW files, but would like to try out PE6 for RAW editing first if possible, since I already own it.

Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

I can open RAW files in my PE6. If I open Elements then FILE>Open> and double click the raw image I want to open. When I do that a new window opens with the picture that says Camera Raw 4.2 - Nikon D40 at the top of the page. I dont recall having to do a plug in for this to happen it just was that way from the start. I have been using the ViewNX also. I am starting an online course January 7th for PSE and can maybe give you more information once I know a little. Right now though I am as confused as you about it if not more.

 

[Merrywheather]

I can open RAW files in my PE6. If I open Elements then FILE>Open> and double click the raw image I want to open. When I do that a new window opens with the picture that says Camera Raw 4.2 - Nikon D40 at the top of the page. I dont recall having to do a plug in for this to happen it just was that way from the start.

I also use PE6. (I shoot Canon and the raw files are .CR2). Like spinetnglr, the images just open right up in Camera Raw when I click on them. I never had to download any extra plugin. Hope you can get it figured out!

 

[annnewjerz]

Nope, still not working. Are all of your files .NEF?? The message I get is:

"Cannot open (filename).NEF because it is the wrong type of file" and the only option I have is to press okay. I have tried double-clicking the file, clicking it once and pressing open. UGH.

 

[Quicklabs]

Ann, when I downloaded my plug in, I had to replace a file in the program file in my computer as well. Read EVERYTHING there is about it on the Adobe site. That was the only way I could get mine working.

 

[annnewjerz]

Ann, when I downloaded my plug in, I had to replace a file in the program file in my computer as well. Read EVERYTHING there is about it on the Adobe site. That was the only way I could get mine working.

Unfortunately, I did that. I had to go into Program Files, then into Adobe, PE6, Plug-Ins, and lastly File Formats. I followed all of the instructions on the Adobe site. I then had to copy it from the Program Files folder to somewhere more easy to find, and then double checked to make sure that it was not only in my Program Files folder, but also the download folder. Very confusing, but I think I did it all according to the directions.

It's not only the plug-in though...I could never open RAW, even with the older Camera Raw that came with PE6. Because of this, I never even knew RAW editing was possible in PE6 until that thread from yesterday.

I think I may delete all of the files and re-download. If it still doesn't work, I'm bringing my laptop to the IT department at work and having them take a look-see.

 

[YEKCIM]

You may have already done this, but in addition to downloading the new Adobe Camera RAW plugin, you have to manually remove the existing plugin, if there is one, and replace it with the new file you downloaded. I have PSE5 and navigate thusly:

Adobe>Photoshop Elements 5.0>Plugins>File Formats

In the File Formats folder are several plugins (icons look like a standard two prong AC plug), one of which is Camera Raw. To update the plugin, you have to manually move the old plugin to someplace where you can find it later if you need it (maybe a folder on the desktop named "Old ACR Plugin" or something similar), and manually move the new plugin to the File Formats folder. A bit convoluted, but works fine.

I believe the latest ACR version for Elements 6 is 5.2, here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4220

Good luck with the necessary geek stuff . It's worth the effort, I can assure you!

~Ed

 

[spinetnglr]

Nope, still not working. Are all of your files .NEF?? The message I get is:

"Cannot open (filename).NEF because it is the wrong type of file" and the only option I have is to press okay. I have tried double-clicking the file, clicking it once and pressing open. UGH.

My .NEF files open right up with PE6 so it must be something in the download of the plug in. I never had to do a plug in so I cant be of much help.

 

[annnewjerz]

IT WOOOOOOORRRKKED!!! Thank you so much! I had everything in the right place, but I also had the old Camera Raw file in the plug-ins folder. As soon as I deleted it, I tried to open one and it worked.

Thanks again, I just got "PE6: The Missing Manual" so now hopefully I can learn to use the program to it's fullest advantage!

Edited to Add: OMG - this is the best discovery EVERRRRR. I just opened a file and adjusted the WB and Exposure using Camera Raw instead of ViewNX and wow - it was so much easier/faster/better in general (IMHO). This made my weekend!!

You may have already done this, but in addition to downloading the new Adobe Camera RAW plugin, you have to manually remove the existing plugin, if there is one, and replace it with the new file you downloaded. I have PSE5 and navigate thusly:

Adobe>Photoshop Elements 5.0>Plugins>File Formats

In the File Formats folder are several plugins (icons look like a standard two prong AC plug), one of which is Camera Raw. To update the plugin, you have to manually move the old plugin to someplace where you can find it later if you need it (maybe a folder on the desktop named "Old ACR Plugin" or something similar), and manually move the new plugin to the File Formats folder. A bit convoluted, but works fine.

I believe the latest ACR version for Elements 6 is 5.2, here:

http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=4220

Good luck with the necessary geek stuff . It's worth the effort, I can assure you!

~Ed

 

[YEKCIM]

I just opened a file and adjusted the WB and Exposure using Camera Raw instead of ViewNX and wow - it was so much easier/faster/better in general (IMHO). This made my weekend!!

Also try the noise reduction on high-ISO stuff. I think it's the middle tab. Works very well. The WB presets are pretty accurate, too.

~Ed

 

[ferretxxxferret]

Thanks for the link! This worked for me! Now I need to start shooting in RAW more...