🚀 go-pugleaf

my understanding is that D100 uses formats compatible with NV5 upwards, but 
that the '5000 uses an older version compatible with NV4 only.

there is something on the Nikon website about this.

I got caught with similar when I first got my D100 and thought that I could 
continue without having to swap out the older NV. I also know that the very 
latest NV 6.2.1 does resolve this, but 6.2.0 does not work with the older 
formats.

apologies for the long link, but here's a good starting point...
http://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nikoneurope_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=-uvLC8mh&p_lva=&p_faqid=9180&p_created=1077115384&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTEzOSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PW5pa29uIHZpZXcmcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT0zJnBfcHJvZF9sdmwxPTEmcF9wcm9kX2x2bDI9fmFueX4mcF9jYXRfbHZsMT1_YW55fiZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=





"no way" <dhi@dart.net.au> wrote in message 
news:cis7fd$o7u$1@gnamma.connect.com.au...
> Hi everyone...
>
> I'm in a bit of a pickle - I took some photos with the D100 in RAW mode 
> and
> some photos with the Coolpix 5000 in RAW mode.
>
> Only after doing so, did I find out that Nikon uses a proprietary format 
> and
> its not RAW, but NEF.  I finally fished around in my Nikon box and found a
> disk labelled Nikon View 6.0 and installed it.
>
> It did allow me to VIEW the NEF images and they look great.  (Whew!)
>
> However, when I try to convert from NEF to JPG (the only conversion option
> available), the NEF photos from the D100 converted beautifully.  However,
> the ones taken with the Coolpix 5000 come out as Black and White!??!?!?!
>
> I had them all grouped together and all were converting at the same time, 
> so
> it makes sense to me that if it works for the D100 that the same run 
> should
> work with the Coolpix 5000.
>
> I'll reiterate that the NEF images are all color and look fine inside of
> Nikon View.
>
> I tried upgrading the version of Nikon View from 6.0 (the latest that I
> have) to 6.2.2 (the latest I'm aware of), and it demands a serial number
> from the USA.
>
> *sigh*
>
> Being in Australia makes that a bit difficult...
>
> Does anyone have version 6.2.2 of Nikon View and if so, can I get it from
> you?  It's not piracy as I own 4 Nikons - I just don't have an American
> Serial Number.
>
> OR - does anyone have a possible solution for my Color NEF to Black and
> White JPG problem?
>
> Naturally, this is due yesterday, so any information you can help me with
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Cheers!
>
> -Joel
>
>
> 

"no way" <dhi@dart.net.au> wrote in message
news:cis7fd$o7u$1@gnamma.connect.com.au...
> Hi everyone...
>
> I'm in a bit of a pickle - I took some photos with the D100 in RAW mode
and
> some photos with the Coolpix 5000 in RAW mode.
>
> Only after doing so, did I find out that Nikon uses a proprietary format
and
> its not RAW, but NEF.  I finally fished around in my Nikon box and found a
> disk labelled Nikon View 6.0 and installed it.
>
> It did allow me to VIEW the NEF images and they look great.  (Whew!)
>
> However, when I try to convert from NEF to JPG (the only conversion option
> available), the NEF photos from the D100 converted beautifully.  However,
> the ones taken with the Coolpix 5000 come out as Black and White!??!?!?!
>
> I had them all grouped together and all were converting at the same time,
so
> it makes sense to me that if it works for the D100 that the same run
should
> work with the Coolpix 5000.
>
> I'll reiterate that the NEF images are all color and look fine inside of
> Nikon View.
>
> I tried upgrading the version of Nikon View from 6.0 (the latest that I
> have) to 6.2.2 (the latest I'm aware of), and it demands a serial number
> from the USA.
>
> *sigh*
>
> Being in Australia makes that a bit difficult...
>
> Does anyone have version 6.2.2 of Nikon View and if so, can I get it from
> you?  It's not piracy as I own 4 Nikons - I just don't have an American
> Serial Number.
>
> OR - does anyone have a possible solution for my Color NEF to Black and
> White JPG problem?
>
> Naturally, this is due yesterday, so any information you can help me with
> would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Cheers!
>
> -Joel

Does Camera Raw import in Photoshop CS deal with this ? At least then you
can choose TIFF and keep some of the detail in the images (if it does).

Uninstall all your NV .. and re-download from there.
6.2.1 is avail as a bundle with 6.2.2 as an update.

http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

=bob=

"no way" <dhi@dart.net.au> wrote in message 
news:cis7fd$o7u$1@gnamma.connect.com.au...
> Hi everyone...

> I tried upgrading the version of Nikon View from 6.0 (the latest that I
> have) to 6.2.2 (the latest I'm aware of), and it demands a serial number
> from the USA.

[BnH] wrote:
> Uninstall all your NV .. and re-download from there.
> 6.2.1 is avail as a bundle with 6.2.2 as an update.
> 
> http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php
> 
> =bob=
> 
> "no way" <dhi@dart.net.au> wrote in message 
> news:cis7fd$o7u$1@gnamma.connect.com.au...
> 
>>Hi everyone...
> 
> 
>>I tried upgrading the version of Nikon View from 6.0 (the latest that I
>>have) to 6.2.2 (the latest I'm aware of), and it demands a serial number
>>from the USA.
> 
> 
> 
One alternative you might like to explore is Irfanview. This program is 
free and capable of converting your RAW files to any (graphic) format.

Ryadia

Ed Ruf wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:44:11 +1000, in rec.photo.digital Ryadia
> <dontspam_ryadia@hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
>>One alternative you might like to explore is Irfanview. This program is 
>>free and capable of converting your RAW files to any (graphic) format.
> 
> 
> When I tried it a couple of weeks ago with NEF files from my 5700 the
> results were just awful.
> ________________________________________________________
> Ed Ruf    Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
> See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
> http://EdwardGRuf.com

I've never used it on anything but Canon RAWs and the results were first 
rate. Maybe using a different DLL file than the default one would help?

Ryadia

"Ryadia" <dontspam_ryadia@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2rf0pqF19895uU1@uni-berlin.de...
Ed Ruf wrote:
> On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:44:11 +1000, in rec.photo.digital Ryadia
> <dontspam_ryadia@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>One alternative you might like to explore is Irfanview. This program is
>>free and capable of converting your RAW files to any (graphic) format.
>
>
> When I tried it a couple of weeks ago with NEF files from my 5700 the
> results were just awful.
> ________________________________________________________
> Ed Ruf    Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
> See images taken with my CP-990 and 5700 at
> http://EdwardGRuf.com

I've never used it on anything but Canon RAWs and the results were first
rate. Maybe using a different DLL file than the default one would help?

Ryadia

I have to confess that my recent attempts at NEF (nikon raw) conversions in
irfanview were pretty unappealing too (fast though! ;-) and I suspect Nikon
has done some nasty little trick to the raws to prevent non-Nikon software
from handling them... after all they sell their nef handler so I can hardly
see them making it easy for others :-(

Canon however handles fine, and in irfanview, bloody fast.

k

> It's amazing how the RAW/NEF is about 7.5 megs and the TIFF is
> 15.5 megs!  Amazing!

Yep. And it's difficult to grasp the math.  Basically, it goes
like this:

TIF:

The CP5000 Tif image is 2560 x 1920 pixels = 4,915,200 pixels.
These are 3-colour pixels, 8 bits Red, 8-bits blue and 8-bits
green, for 24 bits total per pixel.

So we have 4,915,200 x (8 + 8 + 8) = 117,964,800 bits of image data.
That's 14.0625 Megabytes (at 8 bits per byte and 1,048,576 bytes per
Megabyte).  Add the tif format overhead and you should have about
14.5MB (15.5 seems too high).

NEF/RAW:

The CP5000 image sensor actually has 2574 x 1922 = 4,947,228
single-colour sensors - 1.24M of them behind red filters, 1.24M
behind blue, and the other 2.47M behind green, arranged in the
Bayer pattern.  (see eg
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/digital-camera12.htm )

Each of those records 12 bits of brightness data, so there are
4,947,228 x 12 = 59,366,736 bits of raw image data, or 7.08MB.
Add some file format overhead, and you have the 7.8MB NEF (RAW)
file.

The conversion from raw to a tif is done by some black magic
called Bayer interpolation, which actually manages to generate
one 3-colour pixel for each 1-colour pixel.  The process uses
the values of the surrounding pixels, which is why the tif pixel
count is slightly smaller than the raw count.  The 1-colour
pixels at the edge of the sensor cannot be converted, because
they lack a full complement of surrounding pixels.

> Do you lose a lot of information saving to TIF instead of RAW?

Yes.  Even though the file is larger, it contains less information,
because some was discarded in the conversion - most importantly in
down-sampling from the 12-bit to 8-bit grey scale.  Unless you
seriously stuff up exposure or white balance, what's discarded is
generally considered to be unimportant.  But if you do stuff up,
the RAW will give you a much better chance of recovering a useful
image.

> Can someone explain to me the *real life* advantage to shooting
> RAW/NEF images?

Basically, it's the above.  Plus the greater flexibility in post-
processing, for those who need it.

> Would you be throwing away a lot of vital information by using
> TIFF instead?

Not really, except as stated.  In fact, many would argue that
little is really lost in using a "fine" (lightly compressed) jpg
in preference to tif.  The much smaller file size (~1.5MB) puts
much less stress on all parts of the data storage and handling
train.

But if you want the best possible results, shoot RAW.