Canon RAW file thumbnail view.

[Tzetsin]

Hi guys, I've been a long time photography buff who has decided that the hobby has become affordable enough to get into. I bought a canon D60 with the 18-200mm kit lens and a 1.4 50mm prime. I've thoroughly enjoying the camera and the 50mm lens, the kit lens is.. ok, but you know... anyway, I've taken a gazillion pictures and am starting to have a real problem.

I've got a pictures folder with more than 2k pictures in it and im finding it almost impossible to find the pictures that I want without importing the entire lot into lightroom. I've got the software suite installed that came with the camera, but in microsoft's "thumbnail" view, all the RAW files just show up with the RAW icon, not the picture. Is there a way to make the thumbnail view show the pictures, or am i stuck importing them into software to see them?

[Ambrosia76]

I had the same problem so to avoid having to load up tons of photos to find one I break my files down into sub-folders,usually named by the date taken or uploaded.

I do this for all files not just raw.

If it is a certain project I am working on like photos of my granddaughter I will mark the file with her name and date. I tend to be OCD about organization but in this instance it is a life saver.

[NZMXr]

I use Picasa to view my Canon RAW thumbnails ... Just have it constantly monitor your import folder ...

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by Tzetsin

Is there a way to make the thumbnail view show the pictures, or am i stuck importing them into software to see them?

Just download and install Canon RAW codec.

[dlambert]

It sounds like you need to install a codec for Canon RAW files. If you google this, you'll see some people who've gotten this working with a codec download from Canon, and others who've gotten it working by installing Windows Live Photo Gallery. I ended up getting the codec pack from these guys: PSD, CR2, NEF, DNG codecs (and more) for Windows 7, Vista and XP (FastPictureViewer Codec Pack)

[PurpleQuest]

Hi,
I did a search and found your very helpful post... just went to Canon site and it gives me three options for downloading the Canon codec but asks me to choose the appropriate driver or software from the list. Do you have any idea how I know which one to choose?

Canon U.S.A. : Windows Vista : Canon RAW Codec Software

[LoveDSLR]

First, choose the right OS from the combo box (Win7, Vista or XP). Then download the latest verison v1.70 (rc170upd_7l.exe).

[Tzetsin]

thanks for the help guys! i screwed up though, i have a 60D, not a D60... (wtf canon??) there isnt a codec for this camera on their site. i did download and install v1.7 codec anyway, but i have to wait till i can install microsofts photo gallery software. I also found out that it doesnt support x64. another WTF moment for me canon!??? photo editing is one of maby 3 good reasons to have a 64 bit operating system...

[PurpleQuest]

Thank you...the codec works well with raw in Win. Photo Gallery although, it doesn't work with Micro. Office Pic. Mgr. but it's a great improvement to be able to see the pics in at least one place.
You guys have put my mind at ease...I thought I was nuts having so many folders for edits and final and compressed versions but it seems I'm not alone. If I send pictures by email through Outlook, it does the compression for me but if I'm sending pictures via Yahoo I have to compress and save them first which, of course, creates another folder!
Just out of curiosity, I have bridge but have never put it on my system for fear it will crash everything. (When I originally got PS, I had tremendous problems with conflicts) Is it that much better than using Windows or DPP for organizing?
Another question; (I'm new!) When searching for updates to posts I've made, I simply search for my moniker as I haven't figured out where to find them except to go through everything in a forum page, by page. Is there a better way?

[Tzetsin]

Hi PurpleQuest, You have some very good questions there. However what you have done by asking them whithin this thread is called "threadjacking" kindof like "hijacking" a car, you've hijacked my thread. This is considered extremely rude in almost all internet communities. Dont worry, you havent particularly upset me by jacking my thread. I'm just letting you know so that you have a better chance of having your questions answered by creating your own thread, as the people who can best answer those questions may not look here as they dont have an answer for mine.