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d7200 raw file format and editing software

nef paintshop x7

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5 replies to this topic

#1
lseven

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I've had a d7000 for a few years and started out using NX2 to edit and convert RAW (NEF) to jpg. That was fine for a while but I wanted to add watermarks mostly and went to Corel paintshop Pro to avoid the ongoing fees of PS. That was a bit better and fine as well although a bit cumbersome really. I just upgraded (yesterday) to a D7200 and took it out to try some shots and see what it could do. To my horror the shots looked awful in Paintshop x7. They were washed out and flat with a red tinge and not crisp at all either, like looking at them through a hazy pink filter or something. I shot jpg as well so loaded those from the card direct. They were fine. I also found the NEF files looked fine in NX2 BUT I could not edit them. Even cropping just got me a blank screen and 'unsupported file type' message. Nikon's file in Nikon's program?!

 

Ok writing this I had a thought. What about transferring straight from the card/reader instead of patch cable from the camera as I always did with the 7000. Tried that and they looked fine. Problem with this is navigating to the folder I want to save them too becomes a bit more arduous. The other thing is doing the same with NX2 still tells me unsupported file type even directly off the card. 

Can anyone shed some light for me. I read somewhere of an inability to transfer files with a cable. I'm guessing that is only NEF files. Oddly the card transfers seem slower than the cable transfers even with the d7000 (I did 500 the other day so tried the card). Not just slow for a huge batch but each image was taking quite a while then I was used to with patch cable. Can anyone shed some light. BTW my NX2 is the latest version available. Thanks.



#2
Merco_61

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NX2 does not support the D7200. Nikon broke off their association with Nik and developed Capture NX-D together with Silkypix instead.

When it comes to the transfer speed, remember that the D7200 files are 50% larger than you were used to. 

As the NEF format is changed, PSP probably struggles with the files. I don't know if they license their NEF codec or reverse engineer it. 

If it is only the watermarks you need PSP for, Photo Mechanic might be worth looking at, combined with either NX-D, DXO or PictureNinja for the raw conversions. Photo Mechanic is a very fast DAM solution with solid export presets, at least on the mac... I haven't tried a modern Windows version, so I don't know how it handles raw files. It used to be much slower than the mac version when working with NEF files, I don't know if that is still the case.



#3
TBonz

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PhotoMechanic works on Windows as well - I haven't used it on Windows and I can't specify that it works well on all versions of Windows, but a pro friend of mine is required to use PM for work and they use Windows.  I will second that it is an excellent and fast tool!  On another subject, I haven't cabled any of my cameras to any computer in years...to me it seems easier to pull the cards and dump the images that way...I have card readers attached to my system in my office that I normally use and some "backup" readers that travel with me on the road when I will need to dump away from the office.  Back when I had my older bodies I didn't even have to worry about that as both my old Windows system and my Mac had built in SD readers.  Pull the card, and use Windows Explorer or Finder to pick or create a folder and copy files to that folder, eject the card and return it to the camera, reformat and ready to go again!



#4
lseven

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Thanks for that. I've been away for a bit so a bit slow here. I have been using my built in card reader in the computer. I realized after a bit the files are likely 50% bigger but it is easily twice as slow even using the reader as opposed to cable as I always did before. I just have to leave it churn away when there's a lot I guess. I look into the photo mechanic. Thanks again.



#5
TBonz

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You are attaching via USB either way...unless there is a USB version difference between your camera's cable and your card reader's cable (or the port you are plugging into), I don't see how there could be any real difference other than the fact that you are dealing with larger files which can certainly happen as you upgrade to a new body.  



#6
lseven

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You are attaching via USB either way...unless there is a USB version difference between your camera's cable and your card reader's cable (or the port you are plugging into), I don't see how there could be any real difference other than the fact that you are dealing with larger files which can certainly happen as you upgrade to a new body.  

The difference could be the new software (no choice here) processes the image more slowly as that is the other change made at the same time. I would think the build in reader would be faster than the USB but maybe not. At any rate it is what it is. 







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