Nikon has released an updated version of their Raw (NEF) Codec for Vista that resolves an issue that caused it to suddenly stop working last week. Apparently the problem had something to do with an expired certificate.
The new codec is still labeled version 1.01. However, if you uninstall the old 1.00 or 1.01 codec, and install this new one, you’ll be back in business.
I mentioned back in January that I have stopped shooting JPG images, in favour of only shooting RAW (NEF) images. I am still using the following photography pipeline:
- View, sort, and triage NEF images: from Vista’s File Explorer and Windows Photo Gallery.
- Load into Nikon Capture NX: for post-processing. This program has earned my respect with its ability to store my edit history in the RAW file, and also one ingenious feature (yes, I think ingenious is exactly the word for it) called Color Control Points. However, I have nothing positive to say about Capture NX’s user interface: it desperately needs keyboard shortcuts, and lacks basic navigational functionality like mouse-wheel zoom. I found a great resource for Nikon Capture NX tips and tricks here at Nikonians.org.
- Batch export to JPG: using Nikon Capture NX’s batch processing
- Upload: to Flickr.
There are two challenges with this pipeline:
- First, the Vista codec still isn’t particularly quick, even on a relatively beefy laptop (Vista Overall Experience Index: 3.0; Processor: 4.6, Memory: 4.7, Graphics: 3.6). You can flip through photos quickly enough, but if you want to delete a photo, Vista spins its wheels while the codec renders the high-res image. To work around this, I use the keyboard shortcuts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) to quickly “rate” all my photos, and then delete all the bad ones in one go.
- Second, although you can associate metadata (“tags”) with NEFs in Photo Gallery, using the above-mentioned codec, the tags don’t show up anywhere I can find them in Capture NX. Therefore I am not tagging my images on Vista (defeating a lot of its organizational potential) and instead am just tagging the JPGs on Flickr, which, by that point, have become disassociated from the original NEF images. Some day, if I want to sync them, it may be an intractable task (or at least an image processing challenge).
So my Vista-Flickr NEF pipeline experience is good but not great. I am still going to keep shooting RAW (NEF) only, as I am learning how to make subtle and powerful changes to my photos using Capture NX, which I find very valuable. After all, if it’s worth shooting, it’s worth trying to shoot it right!
[February 2009 Update]
I posted some updated thoughts on NEF Codecs for Vista and Windows 7 for 32- and 64-bit installations. Thank you for all the thoughts and discussion here and I hope this continues to be helpful.
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Gordon says
Hi Robert,
Thanks for the update, you might want to check out exiftool…
to add iptc data (which flickr recognizes), and windows xmp data (for photo gallery) to your photos.
Gordon
May 28, 2007robburke says
Gordon, thanks very much for the tip. I will check out exiftool for sure. It sounds like what I’m looking for. I should note that a significant part of my metadata problem arises from the fact that flickr doesn’t accept NEF files. If it did then my life would be a lot simpler.
May 28, 2007Darren says
Robert, Like you I tend to shoot mostly RAW images, however if you’re actually able to use the Nikon NEF previewer, you must only be running Vista on a 32-bit machine.
As soon as you move to a 64-bit machine so that you can access more RAM like I did (I configured an AMD machine with 8GB of RAM so I could work more quickly with these large file sizes), you’ll find that neither Nikon nor Microsoft have developed a 64-bit version of the file previewer.
July 8, 2007Nikon says they have no plans to develop for 64-bit at this time. Personally I think it’s outrageous that they wouldn’t have a file previewer for Vista, and I think it’s discouraging that Microsoft hasn’t done it either.
So my Vista x64 experience with .NEF raw images is a pretty crappy one. Fortunately products like ACDSee Pro do let me browse folders and such with previews for .NEF files. So at least I have that as a work around.
robburke says
Darren, thanks for the note, and I’m sorry to say I was also very disappointed by the lack of 64-bit support for the Nikon NEF previewer. I was immensely frustrated when previously trying to run 64-bit Vista (not only by the lack of support for the NEF previewer – there were other missing drivers), and at this point I would not go back to 64 bit until the support for it is dramatically improved.
Thank you for the tip about ACDSee Pro; I would definitely consider using it as and when I make the jump back to 64 bit. For now, though, I think 64-bit support is only sufficiently adequate on the server side. That is very much a personal opinion and I should qualify that I don’t think it applies only to Nikon and Microsoft.
July 27, 2007Will Foster says
Darren: I hear your pain, I too have decided to get Windows Vista Home Premium x64… and I am just realizing that I can not use Nikon’s NEF previewer. This is absolutely RIDICULOUS! It’s hard to think that I am about to go out and purchase a Nikon D300 next month, and my operating system doesn’t even support the image format that I PREFER to use… what the heck? I wish there was an alternate FREE version other than ACDSee Pro. I don’t feel it is fair for me to have to purchase an application to do what I could do for FREE with Windows Vista on my old laptop. How do I contact Nikon or Microsoft about this? This really disgusts me.
October 16, 2007Perry K says
The real shame is that the 32bit code would almost certainly work on x64 Vista as most 32bit code does – Vista x64 even provides completely parallel library structures so that 32 bit code gets 32 bit libraries, etc. Probably the only thing preventing Nikon’s code from working on Vista x64 is their installer which simply bounces you out.
Capture NX, arguably more complicated, works fine, for example.
Nikon should be nagged about this – it is inexcusable for “professional” software not to work on a professional OS.
October 24, 2007Paul L says
No 64bit support!!! I specifically chose my new Nikon Digital SLR camera to ensure I have the best. I also purchased a new system which can address greater amounts of RAM and make my image and video editing tasks much more quick. The fact that Nikon, NOT MICROSOFT, does not have a 64bit solution for us professionals. This is horrible.
December 5, 2007Will Foster says
It’s all good, I have learned to cope with it. The Nikon plugin for windows isn’t really a huge part of my work flow anyway. Just means more overhead to deal with. Although it would be nice to have support from our brand, but it isn’t completely necessary. I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CS3, and it works with my RAW files perfectly on my Windows Vista Home Premium x64! :)
December 5, 2007robburke says
These days I am the same as you, Will — the reality is that the Nikon plugin is a nice-to-have rather than an essential part of my workflow. But since organization and search is such an important part of the value of Vista for home users, the lack of NEF support really does detract from its value. So I’m still on 32-bit Vista even though my machine could support 64-bit.
December 5, 2007Will Foster says
Oh definitely! I would absolutely LOVE having NEF support on my Vista x64! It was one of the first applications that I tried to install. It was actually a sad moment when it didn’t work. I got the computer for photography (and gaming, but thats extra). I didn’t know what to do. And since Nikon thinks that 2% isn’t important, do they realize that it isn’t decreasing, but only increasing? If more companies would just put a little effort into making their applications x64 compatible, that 2% would grow much faster! I have also been having the same issues with the music service Rhapsody! But, from what i heard, they are actually working to release a x64 version because so many people pressed them. I guess when you have 2% that can’t use your service, and you charge $12 a month, it becomes some sort of priority. The 2% doesn’t look like much, until they swarm the company forums, and the call support! 2% of 10,000 is 200, but 2% of 1,000,000 is 20,000!!! Those are both very large numbers.
December 5, 2007Spinner says
Gah, I was sure Nikon had this sorted out by now, but no, alas, no help and no ETA on a 64-bit driver.
I did manage to get my point across though, through some personal contacts, but I did not get the impression that they care too much about developing support for 64-bit…
By the way, if you wish to help med “nag” them to respond, try to go here:
http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?goingto=cu_contact1&cmd=init
Best of luck to us all!
- Spinner
January 6, 2008http://www.managerleague.com
Brandon Clinger says
Lack of x64 support by Nikon is disturbing. Don’t they think that photo enthusiasts would want more ram?
January 6, 2008Okeif says
Does Nikon intentionally remove the keyword phrases 64-bit, 64bit or 64 bit from it’s website?
Doing a global search at Nikon revealed 0 search results..
April 12, 2008Searching for any of the terms above from the Knowledge Base resulted in number of articles, but nothing specifically identifying Nikon’s stance on 64bit–or lack thereof.
m. pejcic says
I have written to nikon in the uk and find that they have no intention of supporting the 64 bit format for the foreseable future, it seems odd that nikon is unable to provide its customers with a small patch to vista so its customers can see the raw files from their cameras. Also worryingly is that microsoft are planning to release windows 7 in a couple of years. Does this mean that none of the new operating systems from microsoft will be sopported by nikon
July 24, 2008Brent says
Hm – I’m running Vista Ultimate 64-bit and found this thread while googling for NEF Vista. Was disappointed to see that 64-bit wasn’t supported, but figured it had been a few months… so I downloaded from this link http://nikonimglib.com/nefcodec/ and it has installed successfully – I need to restart the PC but figured if I didn’t post a comment now while my browser was still open, then I’d never get back to it. Software says it was updated Sept. 12, so maybe it supports 64-bit now; I’ll know after restarting I guess.
October 4, 2008Rob Burke says
Brent, that is truly the best news I’ve heard all day…
October 4, 2008Brent says
Drat – not so fast; sorry, Rob. The nef codec *did* install and I can still see it in my list of software, but file explorer windows are still just showing me an icon instead of a thumbnail for my NEFs. I too will write Nikon, since I am working with a brand-new Xeon-based server purchased specifically for photography and video with 8GB RAM and need 64bit to access it all.
October 4, 2008Brent says
And Nikon replies:
——————————————
Hi Brent,
Thank you for contacting Nikon Digital Technical Support.
Nikon software is not currently supported on Windows 64 bit operating systems and there has been no announcement of planned support. It is strongly recommended to review hardware and software compatibility before purchases or upgrades. Information is posted at http://www.nikonusa.com as it becomes available.
October 5, 2008—————————————–
Perry K says
Pathetic.
I develop software for both x64 and x32 all day long and I can tell you there is no difference 99.9% of the time. This is a failure of management or a strategic decision to nickle and dime us later on.
October 5, 2008Carl says
The number of images in my current assignments coupled with the growing size of NEF has resulted in more out of memory and general RAM errors as of late. Thank goodness Adobe brought Photoshop and Lightroom to the 64 bit world (albeit Vista). Now these applications run smoothly and operate swiftly running in 8GB of RAM. 64 bit processors aren’t new. Too bad Nikon has been so slow to come around. It is disappointing to abandon their software and even lose icon support in the OS generally.
October 18, 2008Hentie C says
I have managed to get the Windows Photo Gallery working with Windows Vista Home Premium x64. I installed the recent driver package as provided my Nikon, but as this includes only 32-bit drivers, I used the 32-bit Photo Gallery (found in Program Files (x86)). This seems to at least give you thumbnails for your NEF files in Windows Photo Gallery.
October 19, 2008Not the complete fix but a way to get things done.
Shame on Nikon for not having 64-bit drivers out yet.
Martin K says
I followed Hentie C’s tip and discovered the following bizarre result: after you have added the NEF files to the 32-bit Photo Gallery (C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Gallery\WindowsPhotoGallery.exe) on Windows Vista 64-bit, a folder is created in \Pictures\ (I imported from an external flash disk). These imported NEF files *are* displayed in both 32-bit Photo Gallery and Windows Explorer (although information like Dimensions etc are lost). The file sizes of the original NEFs and the ones imported into Photo Gallery (and located at \Pictures\) are also identical.
Very strange indeed. Can anyone else verify this behaviour?
November 11, 2008charlie s says
thanks Martin K and Hentie. I was able to get this to work by runnin windows photo gallery from the c\x86 location. seems like it shouldn’t be a big fix for nikkon to get these files to work in 64 bit land. I really wished that i had stuck with 32bit – would have saved lots of hassles.
February 2, 2009Tuan says
I am shooting with a D3 and using Vista 64-bit but I can not open any Raw files. I have CS3 and have the camera raw plug-in as well. But with the D2H, I have found that I can read the files without any problems. Can someone please assist me with this? Thank you!
May 4, 2009Rob Burke says
Hello Tuan,
There is a more recent post dealing with Nikon Raw codecs here – please head there to continue the discussion.
thanks
Rob
http://robburke.net/2009/02/19/nikon-raw-nef-codecs-for-vista-and-windows-7-32-and-64-bit/
May 4, 2009