Viewing NEF images

[exdragon]

Hi - can anyone tell me if there's a way to view NEF images from my Nikon D300 on a laptop which doesn't have Photoshop or any other similar programme installed? At present, the only solution I can think of is to temporarily install my copy of Nikon View and then remove it after viewing.

I'm off to New Zealand and would like my daughter to be able to see my photos but don't want to shoot in both RAW and JPEG.

Another problem concerns backing up to DVDs. I think we probably have enough storages space, but it would be nice to be able to back up while we're there. I did try sending her a CD with a few images on: she copied it to the desktop (obviously without being able to open them) and then copied them again to a new CD which she sent me. Unfortunately, I couldn't open it.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Canis Vulpes]

I think Nikon View is the best browser application to view NEF's. Although it maybe possible to view using windows with the right codec.

Hope this helps.

[exdragon]

Just realised I meant Viw NX, which came as a free download from Nikon, so I don't have a CD for it.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand your last sentence!

[Canis Vulpes]

View NX (formally Nikon View) is available for free download at the Nikon website, under customer services.

It is possbile to navigate to a folder using windows containing NEF's. If you select view-> thumbnails, thumbnails of the photo's should appear. A preview might also happen if the folder is in my pictures. For the thumbnails and pre-views windoows needs to de-code the NEF information and a codec is used to do this. If View NX is installed it might present the codec to windows which may remain even if View NX is uninstalled.

[exdragon]

Ah, I see, thank you. I couldn't remember if downloading View NX was dependent upon having purchase any of the other Nikon stuff, to use a technical term! I'll get my daughter to download it and then try to look at the images she should already have on the laptop.

[yelvertoft]

exdragon,

There is a very, very easy way to do what you want, as long as you're running a PC with Windows XP or Vista on it that is. All you need to do is download the NEF Codec from here:
http://www.nikonimglib.com/nefcodec/index.html.en
and follow the instructions towards the bottom of the page. You will be able to view NEF files directly in a Windows environment without needing to install any other application, or need to uninstall anything afterwards.

Regards,

Duncan

PS, there are similar codecs avaiable for Canon and Pentax raw files to for others who don't use Nikon.

It is worth using View NX as it does a pretty fair job of auto-editing .nefs (to the extent that it is a good 1st stop weed-out prog & sometimes sets a challenge to improve on it). It also includes basic editing facilities eg exposure, white balance, colour boost and allows viewing at whatever size/detail appropriate for the pic upto 400%

[exdragon]

Yelvertoft - that looks exactly what I need, thanks!

Chris - thank you, but I only wanted to be able to show the fruits of 3 weeks' worth of photography. We've got the usual array of imaging programmes at home, BreezeBrowser, CS3 etc. We're not taking our own laptop with us, as we'd be fighting over who does what and wouldn't have enough time to be sociable with the family!

Between us, we've got the P5OOO and P2000, plus an assortment of cards, so should be ok.