Converting NEF

[preacherman]

I have a Nikon D50 that I took to Africa this year and I loved it. One problem I have is I took my 300+ photos in the highest res NikonNEF Raw format. Does anyone know how I can convert it to a high quality jpeg? The Nikon software will only convert it to a lower res jpeg for e-mailing. i want to print some of my better shots but no printing company will print NEF photos.

 

[slooowr6]

Do you have Picture Project from Nikon? If not I think you can download it from Nikon.

 

[Howard70]

Several Options

One solution is Photoshop CS3, but that's pretty expensive for just converting. We used to use a great program called Bibble that could do the conversions in batch mode so that you wouldn't have to do each one separately. However, if you're going to be producing high quality prints you'll most likely be doing some image adjustment on each image before sending to the printer. There are two versions of Bibble - they vary in how much image tweaking is supported (among other things).

A link for Bibble is:
http://www.bibblelabs.com/

Be sure and check that it handles the NEF format for your particular camera. Not all NEF formats are the same.

Howard L. Snell

 

[Lost Canadian]

I've been using Nikon's Capture NX, and I really like it. With CS3 something is lost and the NEF saved pictures turn out a little less vibrant. I think it has something to do with CS opening pictures using the adobe RGB colour space. Nikon's use sRGB IIIa as the default colour space, something you may want to change if you go with an Adobe product to convert your files.

 

[Michael Slade]

Bibble is great...I was an early user and gave a lot of feedback when Eric was initially writing it.

Capture NX is also very good...although a bit slow.

I am using Lightroom from Adobe, and I have found it to offer the most control, as well as doing a great job of managing files and creating webgalleries, etc...

Lightroom is $200 I think...I got it a bit cheaper than that from a developer.

 

[Michael Slade]

I've been using Nikon's Capture NX, and I really like it. With CS3 something is lost and the NEF saved pictures turn out a little less vibrant. I think it has something to do with CS opening pictures using the adobe RGB colour space. Nikon's use sRGB IIIa as the default colour space, something you may want to change if you go with an Adobe product to convert your files.

Any raw converter opens the file into whatever color space you have designated. If your images are being saved into an sRGB color space you are discarding a significant amount of information. sRGB is a very old color space and is pretty much obsolete except for when you are saving work to be viewed online.

Adobe RGB, Adobe1998 are both good, but the de-facto color space is now ProPhotoRGB...developed by the late great Bruce Foster, the king of Color Management.

You can also designate what color space you are using within the camera itself. I would shy away from sRGB if I were you...

Lightroom is using a variation of LAB color and doesn't even use the color space the image was created with. LAB is even wider than ProPhotoRGB, and is the color space that is best suited to work with RAW images...in your case NEF files.

 

[Lost Canadian]

Great info, thanks. OK, so when I open a raw file in capture NX, or when I open the shooting menu on my camera I can choose from the following three colour modes 1) I a (sRGB), 2) II (AdobeRGB), or 3) III a (sRGB). The default setting and the one that produces the best pics IMO is #3. Any idea what that is (Nikon sRGB?) or which should produce the best pics? The great thing about the RAW files is you can change the colour space even after you've taken the pics,....thankfully.

 

[Michael Slade]

If you're converting from NEF files, it's true it doesn't matter what the camera is set to as far as color space...you *can* always change it.

But, what you do when you set it in the camera is give a signal to the software that you wish to begin the color management process when you take the image, and you want to use that color space from capture all the way to output.

Also, on many newer DSLR's, you have the option of shooting RAW+JPG. When you select the color space, you are processing the JPG and tagging it with the selected color space, which cannot be changed later.

Like I said...stay away from anything with sRGB in the name. If the images shot in that color space look the best to you on your system, you do not have a color managed workflow that is calibrated.

You have opened a can of worms that is worthwhile to understand, learn and implement...but for most people not worrying about it is easier.

The fact that you are shooting in NEF and asking about color space tells me that you want to take it a step further.

Here's a short document I prepared last summer for my students taking my basic digital/film photography class.

Color Management Basics

Here is a downloadable version.

This was written when the latest version of Photoshop was CS, so the menus may have changed slightly. Please forgive...

 

[preacherman]

not to make light of a good conversation but I just want to print my NEF raw pictures in the best quality possible at a local photo shop. I also want to blow some up. What it the best way to convert 411 nef images into a high quality jpeg?

 

[slooowr6]

not to make light of a good conversation but I just want to print my NEF raw pictures in the best quality possible at a local photo shop. I also want to blow some up. What it the best way to convert 411 nef images into a high quality jpeg?

The easiest way would be using the Picture Project from Nikon. I think you can download it free from Nikon it came with my D40. After open PictureProject, select the pic you want to converto then click File->Export Photos. In the new pop up window, de-select resize check box so your converted JEPG will be the same size as you NEF. There is not option to select quality in PictureProject but the converted file should be good enough for regular print size.

 

[Lost Canadian]

If you're converting from NEF files.......

Wow. OK I've got some reading and experimenting to do. I really appreciate it.

Cheers

 

[Michael Slade]

To batch process, Nikon's software ain't bad...Bibble has a batch function, so does Lightroom.

All of them have a 30-day download trial period. I'd try them all out first.

Apple has Aperture, but I have never used it...so can't comment on it.