Software for D70 NEF processing

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

On 23 Jan 2005 in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems, Ken Tough wrote:

> What I would like, ideally, is a slimline program that will open
> a NEF file, let me adjust saturation of the red/green/blue channels,
> contrast and white balance, crop and save as JPG. I don't want my
> images organized for me, or any auto-corrections.

IrfanView will do some of that http://irfanview.com/ It's free; while it
will do some editing, the level of control it gives you isn't great.

TheGIMP (http://www.gimp.org/) doesn't meet your lightweight criterion,
but does everything else you want, and it's also free. You'll also need
a plugin, something that uses dcraw, in order to import the .nefs.
http://pages.quicksilver.net.nz/pe [...] Linux.html - This
is a Linux page, but the plugins he mentions for Gimp, if you check their
pages, also have Windows versions.

--
Joe Makowiec
http://makowiec.org/
Email: http://makowiec.org/contact/?Joe

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

paul wrote:

> Joe Makowiec wrote:
>
>>
>> IrfanView will do some of that http://irfanview.com/ It's free; while
>> it will do some editing, the level of control it gives you isn't great.
>
>
>
> Irfanview doesn't read NEF's though maybe they have a newer plugin, mine
> is fairly recent. It says 'invalid raw file'


They do have a new plugin but it is very very slow.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

I love irfanview but it is noticeably slow with Nikon D70 NEF files for
me. It took me 10 minutes to batch a dozen files on a new Dell
workstation grade laptop & about 8 seconds just to display one file. It
is indeed lightning fast in other file types as long as they are not
really big. I continue to use it as my default image association but not
with NEF's unfortunately. That means I need to keep them in special
folders (which is a good idea anyways).

I wish it could handle them better because that would be good for
batching proofs.


Fred Zafran wrote:
> Just a quick note:
>
> IrfanView will in fact read the D70 .NEF files (no plug-in required). The
> files won't be visible under <FILE.OPEN> unless you set the "Files of type"
> to "All files (*.)"
>
> NEFs will then be visible, preview displayed and they can be opened.
>
> IrfanView is a great program and worthy of support (my 2 cents).
>
>>
>>
>>They do have a new plugin but it is very very slow.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

I think Breeze Browser can do all this very well for $60 though my trial
ran out before I knew what all to check.
http://www.breezesys.com/BreezeBrowser/features.htm
It does handle color space conversion, etc. correctly & is a very fast
RAW browser with some cool features.

With Nikon View I only see a very very basic jpeg batch conversion tool.
The editor has only preset options for white balance and exposure
compensation with other options for RGB, brightness & contrast,
sharpening, auto contrast. The photoshop RAW import plugin shows the
actual white balance temperature it was shot at & a live preview slider
to adjust (versus 5 presets) and it includes a few types of noise
reduction, chromatic aberration correction, etc. The difference is big.
Even nikon capture doesn't offer much more than nikon view. Capture does
support adobe RGB vs sRGB & a bit more options than View but only
photoshop allows

Sheldon wrote:
> I'd still like an opinion on NikonView for converting NEF files. I've heard
> it's better than PicturePerfect and as good as that $99 program Nikon sells
> (just for file conversions). I think it's a free download.
>
>
> "Ken Tough" <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:B8azzFAlW28BFw9Y@objectech.co.uk...
>
>>What I would like, ideally, is a slimline program that will open
>>a NEF file, let me adjust saturation of the red/green/blue channels,
>>contrast and white balance, crop and save as JPG. I don't want my
>>images organized for me, or any auto-corrections.
>>
>>From what I've seen, PictureProject isn't worth loading for me.
>>
>>Is NikonView any better? Looks to me like it's just a previous
>>version of PictureProject. Do I need NikonCapture? What about
>>IrfanView, I've heard good things there but can I change the
>>parts I want to change? What's the most basic PhotoShop I'd need,
>>if I had to go that way?
>>
>>
>>--
>>Ken Tough
>
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

"Ed Ruf" <egruf_usenet@cox.net> wrote in message
news:s22bv05tgg5i2dgl7evqbk0n9bv7ij7s06@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:04:37 -0700, in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
> "Sheldon" <sheldon@XXXXXXXXsopris.net> wrote:
>
>>I'd still like an opinion on NikonView for converting NEF files. I've
>>heard
>>it's better than PicturePerfect and as good as that $99 program Nikon
>>sells
>>(just for file conversions). I think it's a free download.
>
> I had been using NV to process NEFs from my 5700 before anyhow. I tried
> PP when I got my D70 and found it's interface to be lacking, so went back
> to NV. There is a limited number of variables compared to Capture in
> either PP or NV. NV is a free dl, in the US you will need a valid serial
> #,
> be sure to get the update as well. Note that NV and PP can NOT co-exist
> according to Nikon. NV will allow output to 16 bit jpg/tif, whereas IIRC
> PP
> is only 8-bit.
> ----------
> Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
> See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
> http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Phot [...] index.html

Are you saying that Nikon View "will" convert NEF files to TIFF files? I
just need something that will allow me to shoot NEF/RAW and then send them
on in a file anyone can open with PhotoShop.

Sheldon

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 19:05:27 -0700, in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems
"Sheldon" <sheldon@XXXXXXXXsopris.net> wrote:

>Are you saying that Nikon View "will" convert NEF files to TIFF files? I
>just need something that will allow me to shoot NEF/RAW and then send them
>on in a file anyone can open with PhotoShop.

Yes.. But if you have the latest version of PS you are better off with the
Adobe Raw Converter. If not when you install NV it should install it's own
plug-in to allow you to open NEF in older versions of PS. If you install it
after the new version of PS this plugin will conflict with the raw
converter and should be removed.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Phot [...] index.html

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital.slr-systems (More info?)

Ken Tough <ken@objectech.co.uk> wrote:

> What sort of minimal photoshop can I get away with? I'd like to
> process R/G/B channels separately, desaturate, white balance,
> adjust contrast, maybe sharpen. Not a lot more than that really.
> Do I need CS* or can I get by with the slimmer version?

Photoshop Elements 3 will do what you want.

--
Jeremy | jeremy@exit109.com