View Full Version : Nikon's NEF files supported by Windows
JerseyJay
06-02-2005, 1:06 PM
Wow. Things are getting better and better ;)
Nikon has announced a collaboration with Microsoft which will allow easy access to its raw NEF files in current and future versions of Windows. The project is intended to make NEF more widely accessible through current and future versions of Windows, which is ironic considering that just a few weeks ago it emerged that Nikon had encrypted white balance data in its NEF files which meant it could not be read by Adobe Camera RAW. The next version of Windows, Longhorn, will offer enhanced native support. Microsoft and Nikon have previously worked together producing Microsoft's RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP.
Read more here.... http://www.dpreview.com/news/0506/05060201nikon_nefwindows.asp
Pyrowolf
06-02-2005, 4:34 PM
Microsoft had talked about having native RAW support in various forms in Longhorn for awhile, I suspected it would be silly not to allow some integration of at the least the EXIF meta information for their new file system. Maybe this will be the hot-button in the extension of EXIF usage as the defacto meta format for describing most, if not all forms of digital imagery.
Speaking of RAW support - anybody have any opinions on Adobe's "open" DNG format? Nikon has NEF, Cannon has CRW, various cameras have their own proprietary 'raw' format. Anybody think that DNG could/should be adpoted - and will be the PDF of the photography realm?
paradise
06-02-2005, 6:03 PM
The problem is: How does canon's share of the market benefit by adopting DNG??? The more CRW becomes accepted the more Canons sell. And I am just using Canon as an example. Nikon does the same thing, including this thing w/microsoft. Its all about market share.
I like the fact that it's heading towards this route, be it Nikon or Canon. It means that I won't have to have Nikon Viewer on my computer to be able to see thumbnails of the NEFs.
paradise
06-02-2005, 7:35 PM
Ibn, have you tried that Free utility that lets you see raw files in Explorer? I know that it works wonders for Canon CRW images.
No, I haven't. I've just been using Nikon Viewer to check out the NEFs. The nice thing about Viewer is that it lets me choose which program I can process the images through with the press of a single button. By default, it goes to Nikon Capture, but PS 7.0 and CS is also linked.
that's wierd. i can already see thumbnails in windows. maybe i installed something and just don't remember.
Pyrowolf
06-03-2005, 9:44 AM
The problem is: How does canon's share of the market benefit by adopting DNG??? The more CRW becomes accepted the more Canons sell. And I am just using Canon as an example. Nikon does the same thing, including this thing w/microsoft. Its all about market share.
I think it's more of a usability thing. I don't think the file format has as much to do with any manufacturers market share as much as the equipment and feature sets that consumers are looking for. It would be nice to have an extensible 'raw' format that I can easilly use in any application I choose without a second thought.
Taking it a bit to the extreme, I don't think that it's fair to consumers to lock down the best file format your camera provides in a way that only a software product that the camera company SELLS to you can use it.
Nikon is the one who's been in the news lately, and to give them a little (really little) they've back-peddled a bit with the whole white-balance encryption thing, but still. I don't know about everyone else, but I want my favorite camera company innovating the hardware, not working up ways to lock down the hardware through paid software to get the most out of the camera - just for the purposes of getting more money from me. It's like buying a high-performance vehicle, and you can't get the best gas milage/performance without buying an additional $500 in special software to make it work.
That's what I like about the concept of DNG, or heck - any open and extensible raw file format would make me happy if the manufacturers are afraid of DNG. Bypass the converters, secondary applications, translation plugins, or the like.
Just my two pennies...