D610 NEF are not compatible with Aperture--options?

<p>Hello,<br>

I took the plunge and bought the D610 today to be my primary camera with the D7000 as my backup. I made most of the customizations I like (e.g. 14 Bit RAW, AF-on, etc) and took some test pictures. I went to import them into Aperture when I discovered the D610 NEFs aren't supported. This is a big deal for me as I currently only use Aperture and NIK. I've left a note with the Aperture support and Nikon support teams, but suspect my chances of getting a timely solution is best on this forum. <br>

1) Is there a conversion tool that would convert the D610 NEF to a RAW file that Aperture recognizes? <br>

2) What other options exist (to still shoot in RAW)? I'm not ready to add photoshop to my work flow just yet.<br>

3) Has anyone heard when or if Aperture will be updated to support D610 NEFs?<br>

Thanks!<br>

Scott</p>

<p> </p>

<p>1) DNG converter?<br>

2) Nikon ViewNX<br>

3) Apple doesn't announce their schedule - but I suppose it won't take long.</p>

<p>You can download Nikon View NX2, ver 2.8.1 for free to read your D 610 NEF images. Or download Nikon Capture NX2, ver 2.4.4 to process your NEF images. It is free for 30 days. Make sure you download the correct version for your operating system. In Capture you can make a TIFF that you should be able to import into other programs.</p>

<p>You probably got a software disk from Nikon with your D 610. Use it to load View NX2; you might have to upgrade to the latest version, 2.8.1, that reads D 610 images. Loading from the software CD loads other needed software to get View NX2 to be fully functional. You can find the upgrades/software at www.nikonusa.com.<br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>Here is the link for current Nikon software versions:<br>

<a href="https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/61#Anchor-1">https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/61#Anchor-1</a></p>

<p>I will be getting my D 610 next week. I use Nikon Capture NX2 to process my NEFs on win 7 64 bit and View NX2 as my browser. If I run into any issues I will let you all know.<br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>1) DNG converter <em>when Adobe updates it to support the new file format</em>.<br>

2) ViewNX2 as a temporary conversion mechanism.<br>

3) Why on earth are you asking here? Go check Apple's website, as that will be the first place an announcement will appear.</p>

<p>The vendors will update their software as quickly as possible; they always do. But that's the joy of new technology: waiting until everyone else catches up.<br>

Patience and workarounds seem the order of the day.</p>

<p>Thanks for the responses.<br>

So with these tools, do you end up with a DNG or Tiff file....or is it a different type of RAW file that might be accepted into Aperture? I would like to continue doing my white balance among other edits with in the same tool to keep my workflow as simple as possible. //Scott</p>

<p>Hey Gary....as mentioned...I did post on Apple's Aperture site first....I got workable solutions here and have heard nothing from Apple at this point.... :)</p>

<p>Raw processing programs need to be updated to support each new raw camera format as it is release. Time will be required to -</p>

<ol>

<li>understand the new camera's raw specification</li>

<li>plan when to make the changes</li>

<li>ensure that the changes will be compatible with work that is already in progress</li>

<li>reassign programmers who were working on something else when the announcement was made</li>

<li>make the code changes</li>

<li>test the code changes</li>

<li>ensure that the changes don't introduce bugs that cause problems with existing features</li>

<li>package the new software into a release</li>

<li>test the release</li>

<li>make last minute fixes and tweaks, if necessary</li>

<li>upload the release for download</li>

</ol>

<p>This is not a trivial effort, and it can't be completed overnight. Give the Aperture developers a few weeks to catch up. In the meantime, shoot in RAW+JPEG mode, and avoid using brand new gear for critical projects.</p>

<p>I think you may be able to do rudimentary but high quality raw conversions in the interim using Nikon's free View NX2, and then import the jpg/tiff files into Aperture. I think over time camera support will be added to Aperture.</p>

<p>When the D700 came out, I recall that Capture NX didn't allow conversion of the D700 files, you had to upgrade to NX2. But the files were almost identical and a 3rd party conversion tool quickly appeared. Perhaps this is the case with D610 and D600 files as well, let's hope you get this quickly sorted out.</p>

<p>See <a href="http://d610.org/open-d610-raw-files-nef/">this page</a>, particularly the part near the bottom titled ExifTool. This should solve the problem. If, when Apple adds support for D610 NEF files, you can always change the files back using the same tool. (Obviously, the command line you use wouldn't include the ".exe" at the end of "exiftool" since you're on a Mac.)</p>

<p>This will make the file usable by all of Apple's raw-handling software. (Aperture, Preview, iPhoto, FCPX, etc.) It should also allow Adobe tools to read the file.</p>

<p>I really can't understand why Nikon do this - change the format of NEFs with every new camera model. There seems to be no need or advantage to it; neither to the customer nor to Nikon themselves. What was wrong with the 'old' D600 NEF format? Same sensor, same bit-depth, same image processor; so why the need to change NEFs?</p>

<p>This kind of nonsense just antagonises new and existing customers alike. What's more, if a little independently designed RAW processor like GIMP's UFRAW plugin can manage to open <em>all</em> RAW formats without any issue, then why can't expensive commercial software be more universal?</p>

<p>Edit: From that <a href="http://d610.org/open-d610-raw-files-nef/">Exiftool workaround</a>, it seems like a very trivial thing to have a RAW reader simply ignore the camera model tag. That also kind of gives the lie to the complexity of Dan's software development scenario. OK, there are obviously some advantages to having the camera model identified by a RAW editor, but it wouldn't be rocket surgery to add a simple "ignore camera model" switch in the user interface somewhere.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>What's more, if a little independently designed RAW processor like GIMP's UFRAW plugin can manage to open <em>all</em> RAW formats without any issue, then why can't expensive commercial software be more universal?</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>I believe its because these pieces of software don't apply processing information from the camera - ie if you have your camera set to take raw files, but with vivid picture control, you still get a very neutral raw file. I do at least, using any of the open source tools. I think the thing is, raw files are just a bunch of information, there's no reason expensive proprietary software can't open them, they just can't be opened the way people expect them to be, and Nikon (and everyone else) is weirdly possessive of their proprietary stuff.</p>

They probably didn't change anything

but the camera name in the exif. It is up

to the raw converter to recognize which

code to run based on this tag. It's not

really Nikon's fault that third party

software lags behind.

They'll get the raw compatibility done soon. Meanwhile you're stuck with Nikon software. Use View NX to make TIFF files

(can it export 16bit per channel TIFF?) that aren't overly contrasty or sharpened and bring those into Aperture. They're

not raw and they use a lot of hard drive but they work as a temporary solution.

<blockquote>

<p>Edit: From that <a href="http://d610.org/open-d610-raw-files-nef/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Exiftool workaround</a>, it seems like a very trivial thing to have a RAW reader simply ignore the camera model tag. That also kind of gives the lie to the complexity of Dan's software development scenario. OK, there are obviously some advantages to having the camera model identified by a RAW editor, but it wouldn't be rocket surgery to add a simple "ignore camera model" switch in the user interface somewhere.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The model isn't really being ignored. ExifTool is writing "NIKON D600" to the NEF model tag, replacing the original tag (presumably "NIKON D610"). This only works with downstream raw converters because the D600 and D610 file formats are (presumably) otherwise identical, and the correct parameters can therefore be applied to the modified files (which are now effectively D600 files). A similar trick works with D70s NEFs, which can be processed as D70 files by changing the tag (e.g. when using ACR 2.4, which can otherwise only read D70 files). But you can't change the tag to some other, unrelated model and expect the conversion to work.</p>

<p>Otherwise, Nikon's own converters do an excellent job, and ViewNX can indeed output 16-bit tiffs.</p>

<p>The point I was trying to make is that it doesn't require a major software re-write to make any old RAW converter read any old RAW file.<br>

Surely it would be better to be able to open the file - even without making it emulate the camera's degenerated JPEG - rather than not be able to open the RAW file at all? The camera model tag <em>could</em> quite easily be ignored, as evidently does UFRAW.</p>

<p>It's not a change in the file format that makes one camera's RAW file different from the next. It's that there may be differences in the RAW data between one sensor and the next. For example, if you take the D610 file and use ExifTool to change it to D600, then open it in ACR using the "as shot" settings, you get one result. If you instead change the camera model to D7100, you get a different result. The white balance, tone curve, and even the image size are different. Adobe is applying a different profile to try to normalize the result to a consistent one no matter what sensor was used to make the image. Other camera model strings can result in an unusable result.</p>

<p>Because the D600 and D610 use the same sensor, I believe, changing the EXIF camera model string should produce a good result. But it is possible that there are subtle differences that will require adjustment of the profile Adobe uses. If you are talking about two totally different sensors, the differences can be quite significant. So, yes, you can construct a RAW converter that will demosaic most RAW sensor data, but that doesn't mean its output will be ideal unless it has been tweaked for the sensor in use.</p>

<p>UFRaw is a front end to Dave Coffin's DCRaw software. DCRaw also uses camera profiles to adjust its operation based on the sensor within. While DCRaw allows you to convert a RAW file for which it does not have a camera profile, the results are not likely to be useful in all cases. From the DCRaw site:</p>

 

<dl><dt><a name="card"></a><strong>Why does dcraw output have a green tint and weak color?</strong></dt><dd><a name="card"></a>Because dcraw doesn't have a color matrix for your camera model, it outputs raw color instead of sRGB. To fix this, I need a photo of a <a href="http://www.targets.coloraid.de/">Wolf Faust</a>, <a href="http://www.calibr8.com/">Calibr8</a>, <a href="http://www.cmp-color.fr/eng%20digital%20target.html">CMP</a>, <a href="http://www.xrite.com/product_overview.aspx?ID=820">GretagMacbeth</a>, or other calibrated color chart.</dd></dl>

<p>I just got my D 610. NEF files can be converted into 8 bit or 16 bit TIFFS or Jpegs using Nikon View NX2, ver 2.8.1. Nikon Capture NX2, ver 2.4.4 will process the NEFs too. I just did both on my win 7 64 bit laptop.</p>

<p>For some reason, the download for the D 610 manual from Nikon is not working. I have reported this to Nikon. I hope they fix it.<br>

Joe Smith</p>

<p>All is well. The RAW converter came out today, so Aperture 3.5 seems to handle the D610 NEFs just fine (very limited testing so far) It looks like ACR was also updated today. Thanks again for the interim suggestions.<br>

Best,<br>

Scott</p>