Downloading raw images

[David Hoadley]

Having trouble downloading my first attempt at RAW photography. I have Windows 7 with “Windows Live Photography Gallery” on a Dell laptop. After inserting the camera’s memory chip in my laptop to transfer a set of 8 test photos taken with a Nikon D5200 (4 jpeg. and 4 raw), I saw the four jpeg. images but then saw 4 identical default system images (mountains and seashore) where the raw images should have been. After clicking the download button, I got the message “some photos…can’t be displayed…” Then I was prompted to download the FREE Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (6.3.9721.0). I got to the download page and was instructed to click on the *Download* button --but there was none. I couldn’t download it. Microsoft Tech service referred me to Dell, which wants me to pay a technician for the answer. Nuts to that. Can anyone help me download this software, so I can see my RAW photos and begin adjusting exposures in Windows Live Photography Gallery? Or do I need different software --and how much more complicated does this get?

 

[Mark Blue]

Hi David,

If you're trying to work with RAW photos you've taken with a Nikon, I would think they would have provided you with a CD or DVD along with your purchase that has the software you need to view and work with the photo files. I have a Pentax and a person has to be a legit owner to download the software updates from their website. The serial number is what they require to validate ownership.

Now if you're trying to attach photos to a post here on the forum and cannot get it to work that's an entirely different matter. Please let me know if it's the latter and I'll look into adjusting the forum software.

Thanks,
Matk

 

[Dan Robinson]

David, Mark's advice is spot-on. Either that, or you'll need either a newer version of Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom that can open the RAWs, or download Adobe's DNG converter software. DNG converter will create files for each image that can then be opened in older versions of Photoshop/Lightroom. I'm not familiar with non-Adobe products, so maybe others can chime in.

Here is the link:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5519

 

[Taylor Wright]

I found this link, which is showing a download button for me.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26829

I'd also recommend using software like Photoshop or Lightroom, to get the most out of shooting in RAW. Adobe has a deal where you pay 9.99 per month for a both Photoshop and Lightroom, so you can only buy one month if you need to.

 

[Mark Blue]

This looks like what you need from the Nikon site: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/capturenxd/

It's free and will accomplish the basics, which sounds like what setting out to do.

 

[Jeff Duda]

My D40 came with a software CD that had ViewNX on it, which is what I can use to view RAWs taken with that camera.

 

[Kevin Rimcoski]

Ableraw (i think thay's what it is) lightroom, and the software your camera comes with should have a way to view it and/or change to a viewable file

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[David Hoadley]

Thanks for the advice and suggested download sites. I will try these. Re Mark's earlier question, my Nikon D5200 did not come with any Cd or DVD to download.

 

[David Hoadley]

I have now successfully downloaded this Nikon program! Couldn't make either of the preceding web sites work, so opened some choices in Google and eventually found one that did. Its an old problem for seniors like me when it comes to computers. We tend to think linear, so when one choice doesn't work, we are just stopped --instead of thinking a variety of alternatives at the same time and being flexible. Thanks again, now just have to learn all the "bells and whistles."

 

[Mark Blue]

I was just thinking about you David, and I'm glad things are looking up today. I searched out the product page for your Nikon model earlier today. There are three tabs on the product page, the one on the far right is for software. Here's the link if you decide to explore the other manufacturer options available to you: http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/24/D5200.html.

Please let us know if there's anything else we can help you with.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Greg Campbell]

There are several freeware RAW converters.
http://rawtherapee.com/ is one of the better ones.

 

[David Hoadley]

A question (fourth para. below) to those, who frequently modify RAW images to improve photos.

After some family delays, I have begun the slow, arduous trek through layers of detailed instructions in the 41 page “Capture NX-D Reference Manual” on how to use the “NX-D” command page (Windows Live Gallery said to download that software for my first venture into RAW images.)

Like most contemporary electronics manuals for digital TV screens and cameras, cell phones, and computers, I was given a detailed set of geek-terminology instructions on every exotic and remote feature, which will never be used by 95% of buyers! I have just begun to copy and cross reference the initial NX-D features, including such arcane functions as “compression ratios“, “imbedded ICC profiles“, “Cache settings“, “Dropper Sample Sizes,” “synchronizing edits“, “palettes“, etc.. I already have three font-7 pages of notes from the last few days and have just begun. I expect to spend over 50 hours to copy, define, cross reference and attempt to understand each feature, including which are the right choices from many options (only one correct answer in each case!), before I can even touch the first RAW image.

Question: Is there anything out there like a “Cliff-Notes” summary, which gives a few clearly written pages for the most frequently used features? Never mind, fine tuning every detail for museum quality work --just a compressed, simple list (step 1, step 2, etc.) that will provide even a 50 or 60% improvement over standard JPEG images. Perhaps there is simpler software? Thanks for any help (will check again in a few days, when I need another break), as I plod along - - -

 

[Jeff Duda]

Did you try ViewNX? Granted, there's a big difference in age and experience between us, but it seems way simpler than the Capture NX-D program you are describing.

 

[David Hoadley]

Thanks Jeff. I already have a considerable time-investment in NX-D and am beginning to understand parts of that program. I hate to throw in the towel, if there is progress. However, if it becomes too much of a challenge over the next week or so, I will try your suggestion.

 

[Bill Hark]

Dave, I am a bit late to this thread but I found online a NX-D tutorial. You might consider viewing this YouTube video:

 

[David Hoadley]

I have given up on opening and modifying the four, test, RAW images taken with my Nikon D5200 camera in August. After some delay for family matters, I returned to and successfully downloaded the Nikon NX-D software to my Windows 7 Dell laptop.

After 20-30 hours of studying much of the complex “…NS-D Reference Manual,” I think I finally figured it out. I have now copied dozens of small, 7-font type, definitions and explanations on a crowded and detailed 4-page chart --ranging from “intensity” and “sharpness” to cache capacity, astro noise reduction, and “axial color aberration” (whatever the Hell that means!!) --plus a dozen more obscure terms and about six ways to save certain changes. Of course, nothing basic about simply how to modify a RAW image! I thought that once NX-D was downloaded, I could transfer the RAW images from my camera‘s memory chip. That software does list other, regular photos in my laptop.

However, as before, when I tried to download the 8 images (four regular and four RAW) from one day‘s test shoot, the same default message again popped up, saying “Some…can’t be displayed… To view certain types of files, you need to install software called a codec.” When I tried to download the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (6.3.9721.0), I was told to “Click the Download button.” Well, there is no such button (as before). I tried both Dan’s and Jeff’s suggested sites but still came up with the requirement for a codec file. I give up. If I can’t download RAW to my computer, then the issue of which software to use for image enhancement doesn’t even come up. I suspect it is partly a generational problem of mine --just too old to understand what I am doing wrong.

Thanks, again, but I am ending this time consuming, maddening, and fruitless pursuit.