Do Nikon NEF files look different in Capture NX2 than in Lightroom or other RAW editors?
Asked 4/3/2011
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I’m starting to shoot RAW on a Nikon D90 after using JPEG. I’ve read that Nikon stores camera settings and picture controls inside the NEF file, and that Nikon Capture NX2 may read this information more completely than third-party software.
Is that true? If so, what practical difference does it make to image quality or editing? Also, what software options are commonly used to open and edit Nikon NEF files?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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I'm not a Nikon shooter, but I would seriously doubt that a company like Adobe is left guessing at information in the NEF format as that would mean Nikon wasn't interested in professional work which we all know isn't the case! In general, the following commercial packages are going to handle the NEF format just fine:
- Adobe Lightroom
- Adobe Photoshop
- Apple Aperture (if you have a Mac)
- DxO Optics Pro
- Capture One Pro
- Bibble Labs
There are more options as well, but these are amongst the most common. I've tried not to link specific versions, you should generally go with the most recent one. I couldn't do that with Capture One.
Now, some open source software also will handle the Nikon NEF format, but it is the case were there's some reverse engineering going on. Having said that, it's not so hard and it's generally been done. Bear in mind that they'll get access to a lot of images over time and Nikon is going to be pretty common. Anyways, one of the best options here is Raw Therapee which offers a host of features (and I would suggest the beta over the old, but stable version).
As for myself, I use Photoshop CS5 in general, but I've also used Raw Therapee on machines for which I don't have Photoshop installed. If you're willing to spend some money, however, I would recommend Adobe Lightroom 3 as your best choice as it's very powerful while being very friendly to the newcomer.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—Nikon’s own software has historically had the best access to Nikon-specific metadata and in-camera settings stored in NEF files, such as picture controls and some processing choices. Third-party RAW converters can still read NEF files perfectly well, but they may not reproduce Nikon’s in-camera look exactly.
In practice, this usually affects the starting appearance of the image, not whether the file is usable. RAW editors like Lightroom, Photoshop/Adobe Camera Raw, Aperture, DxO Optics Pro, Capture One Pro, and Bibble can all handle NEF files well. They simply apply their own camera profiles and rendering instead of matching Nikon’s interpretation exactly.
So the main difference is color/rendering defaults and how closely the software matches Nikon JPEG output or Nikon’s own RAW interpretation. It does not mean other software is “guessing” badly or unusable.
If you want the closest match to Nikon’s in-camera look, Nikon software is the safest choice. If you want a broader workflow or different tools, major third-party editors are widely used and work fine with NEF.
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