What’s Your Preference?

senorfrisk · #1 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 02:17 AM

What should I use to process RAW files? I have been using Picasa, but I was shooting in jpeg. Also, I have Nikon transfer, Photoshop CS4, and Picasa. I haven't done much in Photoshop, probably because it is way too intimidating (and I paid a small fortune for it). Can I use CS4 for this? Is there another program(hopefully free or cheap) out there that I should be using?

I am going to Yosemite in 2 days and I plan on taking a lot of photos. Please help!

Digidave · #2 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 05:57 AM

Nikon has the free program, View NX2. You can do quite a lot with it. If there is more you wish to do, you could always save as a TIFF & send to Photoshop.

DanielLane · #3 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 07:46 AM

I have been shooting RAW for a long time. I have tried Nikons tools and some other ones out there. But now I pretty much exclusively use Photoshop CS4 (until I can afford CS5) to process all RAW images. I even convert everything to the Adobe DNG file type through Adobe Bridge (though you can do it with some free tools as well.) You don't need to save as a TIFF to go to CS4 btw. Depending on when you got your copy, at worst you may need to download a patch for the raw tools that contains the info for your camera. Other than that, CS4 works in RAW from Nikon very well. I just convert to the .dng file format for two reasons. One is that they are smaller files. When you shoot about 1000 photos a week, size of files matters. The other is that the .dng file format has a better likely hood of existing in 20 years as opposed to the .NEF file format

PS is a Powerful tool for photo processing. The Nikon Tools are ok, But you can't do everything you may want to do. If you need some instruction on the RAW tools in CS4, go to Lynda.com and check out the tutorials there. Best tutorials out there for it, as well as many many other pieces of software. There are some free ones, but to get it all, they do a monthly subscription. Once you use it though, you won't regret getting it. It will raise your skills on PS or Illustrator or Bridge or whatever higher than you could imagine.

Have a great trip out to the big mountains of the west!

dlambert · #4 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 12:21 PM

One of the benefits of using RAW files is that you've got the flexibility to go back later and re-process your photos using the original data that came from your camera, so whatever you decide to use, keep those original RAW files. You can decide later to try out different RAW processing software, techniques, and so on, and you'll always retain the ability to go back to "square 1" and start all over again without losing quality in your photos.

Digidave · #5 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 01:52 PM

Quote:

The other is that the .dng file format has a better likely hood of existing in 20 years as opposed to the .NEF file format

Now that is a load of crap! You think Nikon is going to pack up their bags & split tomorrow? NEF format will be around for a very long time. Even if they were to change the RAW format to something else, they would certainly make it possible to use the old NEF files.

Quote:

You don't need to save as a TIFF to go to CS4 btw.

No you don't need to use a TIFF if you go straight into PS. If you use View NX2(VNX2) as the first step in your RAW processing, & then need to do something in PS that VNX2 can't do, you then will need to convert to a TIFF in order to preserve the changes you have made.

Quote:

One of the benefits of using RAW files is that you've got the flexibility to go back later and re-process your photos using the original data that came from your camera, so whatever you decide to use, keep those original RAW files.

The beauty of using Nikon's own software is that any changes you do make are preserved within that NEF. No sidecars or whatever else that call them. You can go back at any time & redo or undo anything you have changed.

Step 1
Make changes in VNX2 to your white balance, exposure, tint, brightness, etc....

Step 2
Click: SAVE You now have your NEF with all changes preserved which can be reversed at any given time.

Step 3
Click: SAVE AS You can now save as a JPG if you are happy with what you have. If you need more work that VNX2 cannot handle, move on to step 4.

Step 4
VNX2 has the capability to open your file in another program with one click as a TIFF.

DanielLane · #6 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digidave

Now that is a load of crap! You think Nikon is going to pack up their bags & split tomorrow? NEF format will be around for a very long time. Even if they were to change the RAW format to something else, they would certainly make it possible to use the old NEF files.

I didn't mean to say Nikon would just pack up and go away. It's more to the thought that they may change their file formats in the future is all. That and if you decide in the future to change cameras from Nikon to say Cannon, you may not have the software down the road to work with NEF's. I find that the .dng format is a little more widely used than the .NEF is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digidave

]The beauty of using Nikon's own software is that any changes you do make are preserved within that NEF. No sidecars or whatever else that call them. You can go back at any time & redo or undo anything you have changed.

This is very true. But I came to my conclusions based on what I do. I do a lot of photography, but I am also a graphic designer, so sticking to PS makes more sense in my work flow. You will get the .xmp sidecars in PS when using the .NEF files in PS. Yet another reason in my workflow to convert to .dng.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digidave

No you don't need to use a TIFF if you go straight into PS. If you use View NX2(VNX2) as the first step in your RAW processing, & then need to do something in PS that VNX2 can't do, you then will need to convert to a TIFF in order to preserve the changes you have made.

This is true as well. My reason for not going this route is speed and storage. It takes time to jump between software over and over when processing a load of photos. And time = money with most projects. The storage part is that when you go that route, you will now have the original .NEF, plus the .TIFF (which tend to be large) and whatever file format you save the final as, be it .jpeg or whatever, and if you want to keep all the layers, effects, masking and whatever else totally intact and editable, you will also have a .psd file. I just need to conserve a little more space. Already having 5TB of storage full up of archived work makes you want to keep it down a bit.

All great info on here. I think the main thing here is to decide what you need to do now and possibilities of where you want to go in the future and plan accordingly.

Digidave · #7 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 06:29 PM

Quote:

This is true as well. My reason for not going this route is speed and storage. It takes time to jump between software over and over when processing a load of photos. And time = money with most projects. The storage part is that when you go that route, you will now have the original .NEF, plus the .TIFF (which tend to be large) and whatever file format you save the final as, be it .jpeg or whatever, and if you want to keep all the layers, effects, masking and whatever else totally intact and editable, you will also have a .psd file. I just need to conserve a little more space. Already having 5TB of storage full up of archived work makes you want to keep it down a bit.

That is why I do 99% of my post-processing work with Nikon software. I haven't mentioned using Capture NX2(CNX2). In my opinion, the coolest thing with CNX2 is the ability to preserve multiple versions of 1 file all within the 1 NEF. For instance, I can have 1 photo processed to a B&W then reprocess to a high-key appearance, then reprocess for a low-key appearance, then reprocess it to look way over saturated & alien like. As long as I titled & saved each process I can at any time reopen that 1 NEF & choose any one of those or go completely back to the original. The NEF grows in size but not like a Tiff. If I were to choose to then open that file in PS, CNX2 will create a TIFF but that could be erased to conserve space after the PS adjustments. The reason is because PS will not read any of those adjustments made to that NEF within Nikon software.

DanielLane · #8 (**permalink**) 06-10-2011, 06:38 PM

Interesting! I had no idea you could do that in the Nikon software! I guess I am also stuck on PS because I've been using it for so long (over 20 years) so my opinion may be a bit skewed... lol