I have just started using photoshop cs to tweak my digital photos and the first thing I discovered was that there was no raw support installed by default, so I wandered around for a while and found the Nikon NEF plugin and found where to put it and presto I could fool around with nef files. Now I am reading that somewhere (maybe on the goodies cd’s I have) there is a fabled Abode RAW plugin. If a manage to find this goodie, is it somehow "better" than the Nikon plugin? Are there things I can do with the Nikon plugin that I cannot do with the Adobe and visa versa? And why doesn’t this stuff "just work" 🙂 And can I get photshop to move my RAW images from my D70 to my computer, or do I have to use Nikon software to do that? Dave
Yes, Adobe Camera Raw is MUCH better than the Nikon software. It’s installed as part of the default CS installation. If you couldn’t see your Nikon RAW files, it just means you had not updated to the current Adobe Camera Raw 2.2 plug-in and you have a newer model Nikon camera (like the D70, for instance); but I bet the older version is already there, where it’s supposed to be. Update to 2.2 ASAP, your camera’s NEF files will be supported. It’s a free download from the Adobe customer support download site.
Just follow the instructions to replace the plug-in that you’ll see in the download page. Equally important, you MUST also remove the Nikon plug-in; it interferes with Adobe Camera Raw, which is infinitely superior.
And can I get photshop to move my RAW images from my D70 to my computer, or do I have to use Nikon software to do that? <
Dave I’m not really familiar with the Nikon system, (I use Olympus and Phase One), but you can use a card reader to transfer you files, or you should be able to connect the camera via USB or Firewire if supported to your Mac and it should see it as a portable storage device (hard drive) and you can drag & drop the files where you want to put them. Same for a windoz box. You shouldn’t need to use the Nikon software to move the files.
The issue Dave has is something entirely different; it’s not about getting the files to the hard disk, but to have the NEF (Nikon RAW) recognized by Photoshop. Photoshop can’t do that by itself, it needs the plug-in (either Adobe Camera RAW 2.2 or the Nikon RAW plug-in).
RAW files are NOT like JPEGs or TIFFs. They are essentially unprocessed files for which there’s no universal format; each camera produces its own different type of RAW files: NEF, PEF, etc.
Dave already has the files where he needs them.
He couldn’t open them because his specific camera MODEL was not supported by the first releases of Adobe Camera Raw, that’s why he needs to update to ACR 2.2, and delete the old ACR plug-in as well as the Nikon plug-in he has already installed.
RAW files are essentially uncooked (raw) grayscale files as they come out of the sensor, before being processed in the camera even to bring out the colors. All processing must take place in the computer.
Equally important, you MUST also remove the Nikon plug-in
Is the Nikon plug-in something different than Nikon Capture? With PS 7 I could tweak with NC and open in PS and carry on from there. Now, with CS, the changes made in NC aren’t recognized by PSCS even though they have been saved.
I much prefer Nikon Capture to ACR, but obviously there is no point in using it if I want to continue in Photoshop as all NC changes are ignored.
Why would ACR be considered "infinitely superior"?
Because, by all accounts, the Nikon plug-in software is very poor. That’s according to countless Nikon users and the few times I used it when I rented a Nikon digital SLR to try with my Nikon lenses.
The issue Dave has is something entirely different; it’s not about getting the files to the hard disk, but to have the NEF (Nikon RAW) recognized by Photoshop.
Whe Dave said
And can I get photshop to move my RAW images from my D70 to my computer,
I read "move" as transfer from my D70, not "open" or recognize by photoshop. He can use a card reader for cable for that. He already stated that he was going to find/get an updated version of Camera Raw. It looks like he already knows that he can use CR to view, and process(open) the NEF files.
You’re right, I had missed that last part. I never cease to be amazed by folks who want to "download", "import" or "move" image files by means of photo software. Not the way to go at all.
Just a FWIW, You were asking if Camera Raw is better than….I think you will be happy with what you find. I bought a Olympus E20n (ZLR) when they first came out. It was my first entry into the digital camera pond, it does a good job, not in the same ballpark as our PhaseOne H20 digital back ($20,000) but for $1,500 It was a good place to start.
After seeing/working with the extremely high quality files from the PhaseOne I was a bit disappointed with the E20n files. There a bit noisy, but OK for repro up to 8.5". A bit of color fringing on chrome products/ highlites.
When we upgraded to CS and I started using Camera Raw to process my Raw 16bit files, I was amazed at the difference in the quality of the files. Much less noise, I could remove the color fringing, better gray balance, and way faster processing (opening) of the files.
Hats off to Thomas Knoll!!!….He got it right…. and breathed new life and longevity to my E20n
Thanks for all the feedback folks, I downloaded the new raw plugin (2.2) and it works fine. BUT since I had stuck the Nikon plugins in the plugin folder earlier it is NOT ENOUGH to just move the old Nikon plugins out of the plugin folder!! YOU MUST also get rid of the stale photoshop preferences files also. As an old friend used to say, "This has all the user friendliness of a cornered rat! " So far, the most I do with the first photoshop panel that comes up for raw files, is mess around with the white balance. The rest I do in the regular photoshop menus. Shadows and highlights is very Kool. 16 bit … well err… 12 bit really seems slick. I do not do the CD save thing until I figure out which images I like, and have at least taken a wack at optimizing them. Then I put the whole shibang to CD (all 16 bit nef’s or psd’s). I am still trying to figure out how to manage my images. Before, everything was jpeg and I just stuck them in iphoto. But iphoto doesn’t do 16 bit, so I am thinking I will put "snapshots" in iphoto, and "photographs" will go ??? Oh yeah, I know, I will loose them like I always do. Dave
So far, the most I do with the first photoshop panel that comes up for raw files, is mess around with the white balance.
You’re missing quite a bit there! I highly recommend Bruce Fraser’s brand new book "Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop".
The 25-minute Camera Raw QT-movie lesson in Julieanne’s Kost 2-CD set on the new features of Photoshop CS < http://www.software-cinema.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PRO D&Store_Code=SC&Product_Code=PSCSNF> was what prompted me to immediately upgrade to CS. If you don’t want to read Bruce’s book, at least try to get a hold of that movie. I picked up my 2-CD set on eBay for a ridiculous $15, used, but I was prepared to pay Software Cinema the full price of $99, and I would not have been disappointed. <http://www.software-cinema.com/>
Just to give you an idea about some of what you can do in RAW, here’s part of the QT-movie blurb:
Lesson 2 – Camera RAW – The Digital Negative
Maintain the highest quality possible in your images using Photoshop CS’s built in Camera RAW feature. You can control white balance, and adjust images while they’re in the RAW format, apply sharpening while removing noise, compensating for lens artifacts and Vignetting, apply settings to multiple images for batch processing, and even fine-tune Camera RAW’s built in to create your own custom profiles.
What did you find out? I’m trying to avoid buying yet another expensive software package and learning yet another complex software package with yet more problems.
All I want to do is bring images in, white balance them, color balance them, turn them into jpgs, burn them to a CD, send them to the lab, and be done.
It’s not clear to whom you are addressing your question, what your question is, where you posted it, and whether you have actually read this entire thread or not. Care to clarify?
My message was to Dave Rolf, who asked about the Adobe Raw plug in. I just e-mailed you as well, Ramon, to see where I could get the plug in, and what its name is, for Nikon RAW files.
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