14bit RAW and CS2 not working

<p>I recently got a D300 and i have been shooting in 14 bit raw. For some reason these files are not showing up in bridge or in CS2. I got a message saying that it was not the right kind of document. I looked for updates and nothing was found. any ideas?</p>

<p>CS2 wont support D300. upgrade to CS3 or 4 or convert to DNG or use ViewNX to convert to TIFF/JPG or use some other more modern raw converter</p>

<p>You may consider Nikon Capture NX2. Then you can convert the image to .TIF, which will be OK with Photoshop CS2. [Nikon has Nikon Capture NX which shipped with the D3 body, but the [almost] same FX format with the D700 requires Nikon Capture NX2 to handle NEF files from the camera. Go figure....]</p>

<p>Your D300 body has a file format that is much <strong>newer</strong> than Photoshop CS2.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Second the recommendation for Capture NX2.</p>

<p>how intuitive is NX? i went to school learning CS2 and i feel that is what i know best. i may do the CS3 upgrade. i just downloaded lightroom 2.0, but i know very little about it. </p>

<p>I use LR2 religiously.</p>

<p>Capture NX2 has some nice features, but I only use it for NEF file conversion. You can convert files one at a time or in a batch (e.g. all files in a folder, subfolders optional).</p>

<p>NX2 renders NEF files the way that Nikon intended them to look. That's the big selling point as far as I'm concerned. Photoshop and Lightroom do a crappy job of importing NEF files. You have to make adjustments to get them to look right - Contrast, Exposure, Saturation, Vibrance - and sometimes you still can match the way it looked in Nikon's software. Sometimes I have to give up and convert from NEF to TIFF in Capture NX2 and them import the TIFF into Lightroom or Photoshop. The TIFF looks fine as soon as you import it. This is problematic as you lose the power of RAW processing after converting, but at least the colors are accurate.</p>

<p>If Lightroom someday learns how to read NEF files properly, I'll consider not using Capture NX2 anymore, but for now it's necessary. Today, NEF conversion in Adobe products is time consuming and "hit or miss."</p>

<p>Once you get your image into CS4 or LR2, you can do all sort of adjustment and fine tuning quite easily. It's theinitial import stage that's bothersome.</p>

<p>It's ironic that images that look great right out of the camera are the most troublesome to import into Lightroom and Photoshop. It's difficult to get them to look "just right." On the other hand, if an images needs a lot of adjustment you can just pull it into CS4 or LR2 and start adjusting like mad. Since it didn't look right from the beginning, Adobe's inaccurate import process doesn't matter. It's like gutting a house and refinishing it from scratch.</p>

<p>View NX will also convert NEF to TIF, and that is free from NIKON or perhaps it came in your camera package. I've not used it for conversion, but my understanding is it uses the same conversion process as Capture NX2.</p>

<p>What Gary's saying is true. You can convert files in View NX. Still, there are some features that make Capture NX2 attractive even if you only use it for file conversions.</p>

<p>(1) It's faster. I don't know why, but it converts files in less time than View NX.</p>

<p>(2) You can convert files in batches. If I need to convert a folder of 300 images from NEF to JPEG, I can set up a batch job and let it run automatically.</p>

<p>(3) Changing "Settings" in batch processing. In Capture NX you can change the settings of every file that you process in a batch. For instance, you could set them all to the same White Balance, apply the same amount of sharpening to each file, or change the exposure compensation on each image. This is a very powerful tool.</p>

 

<p>I use NX2 for all of my D 300 NEF processing. I have Photoshop 7. Never could figure out how to use it. Nikon Capture for me is so much easier to use. And I love the Control Point feature not found in any version of PS. However, is you know and understand CS2, then use it. Get NX2, maybe it came free with your D 300, process your NEF, save it as a TIFF and take the TIFF into CS2. Never discard you original NEF. Joe Smith</p>