D700 - Capture NX update will not load RAW files

<p>I recently performed an online update to my copy of Nikon Capture - It appears I now have Capture NX ver. 1.3</p>

<p>I tried opening a D700 RAW file and I get the message box saying Capture NX cannot <strong>load</strong> the file type.</p>

<p>I've done a search in the Nikon Forum engine and can't work my way out of it. I can't open either 12 bit or 14 bit images. JPEG files open just fine.......... can anyone offer some guidence here?</p>

<p>I'm a PS user 90% of the time so capture NX is somewhat foreign to me.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, you need NX 2 for the D700: <a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00QMQt">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00QMQt</a></p>

<p>for many moons i used "D700hack.exe" to trick CaptureNX into thinking the D700's NEF files came from a D3 -- which it could open. i recently took the plunge to NX2, which has some nice features -- as well as some irritations. in any case, if can't update your software right away, try the D700hack.exe:<br>

<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~nikond70/">http://home.comcast.net/~nikond70/</a></p>

<p>Thanks for the link <strong>Shun</strong>, I don't know why I didn't find that thread - must have typed the wrong word sequence into the search line...</p>

<p>I must say this is rather outrageous on Nikon's part. Why sell a D700 with software that cannot be used by the camera you have purchased it with?? </p>

<p>I love Nikon cameras and lenses but I have strong reservations as to thier after market customer care factor. In the long term it's not all just about making money. I feel ripped off by Nikon again..... a great pity. <br>

Stuff Nikon Capture NX, I'll go back to Adobe Photoshop........</p>

<p>The hack was also mentioned in the older thread I cited above. Read the post by Richard Williams there.</p>

<p>William, Thanks for the link to the Claff Site - something new to me.</p>

<p>William, how do you feel about being sold limited lifespan software with a high end camera?</p>

<p>I think it's a DICK MOVE!</p>

<p>A camera should come with a software capable of reading, and editing the files it records.</p>

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<p>Nikon seems to be happy in the business of making money...</p>

<p>Try the 'hack' program (as noted above) and you should be good to go.</p>

<p>Nikon Capture NX shipped with the Nikon D3 body; Nikon Capture NX2 did not ship with the Nikon D700 body (as far as I know.) The goal seems to be that you need to spend a bit more to have the right program (NX2) to make life easier for you when you shoot NEF files with your D700.</p>

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<p>I'm wondering if I have downloaded a Nikon update onto my Capture NX that blocks me from using the hack extention?? I can't get it to open the NEF's at all.......</p>

<p>Nup, enough time wasted on this mis adventure, neither exif tool nor D700 hack can get Capture NX to open my NEF's....... the file tag is altering just fine but they still won't open.....</p>

<p><strong>Jerry Litynski</strong>, thanks for the email, I have re-istalled the D700 hack onto my PC and it works just fine now - I feel like a fool as I had capture NX already opened before i was running the image over the hack.......</p>

<p>matthew, back when i initially sought a solution to this problem directly after buying my D700, i was surprised at the amount of heat i took from some of the other helpful users, who in so many words accused me of being too cheap to upgrade my software after "dropping" so much money on the body. i'd just bought a new camera and wanted to look at my photographs, for gosh sakes! even though the NX2 trial came in the box with the camera, my D300 included a fully-functional copy of CaptureNX -- so what's up with that, i thought. especially considering that CaptureNX would open D3 files okay, and i new the D700's were no different (except for that header info). so yes, i was peeved at nikon for that. that probably goes a long way to explaining why i waited 15 months to upgrade to NX2.</p>

<p>I feel I should mention that Nikon <em>does</em> provide ViewNX (now in version 1.5) which absolutely can support D700 NEFs and convert them very nicely to JPGs, TIFs, etc. It also makes a more nimble "front end" for NX2 when it comes to file browsing. ViewNX is <em>free</em>, and is a reasonable piece of software. Capture NX2 is a much richer editing program, and having to purchase it is <em>not</em> unreasonable. I'm <em>glad</em> they charge for it, so they can continue to invest in its evolution. That they once in a while include it as a marketing incentive during certain periods of camera body life cycles is just that: a marketing incentive program.<br /><br />Try ViewNX. It IS the provided-by-the-manufacturer software you're actually asking about. Capture NX2 is, just like Adobe's products: not something that comes without upgrade costs as they put thousands of development hours into it. I wouldn't get upset about <em>that</em> unless you're also upset that a purchase of an early version of Photoshop from years ago doesn't get you perpetual upgrades to CS4+ today and beyond.</p>

<p>"A camera should come with a software capable of reading, and editing the files it records."</p>

<p>And then the price of the camera would be $100 higher. This way is better - you have a choice.</p>

<p>NX2 is a nice software: it's worth upgrading.</p>

 

<p>For what it is worth, you can get readable NEF files for the D700 by processing with ViewNX to create TIFF from D700 NEF files, and by processing again with CaptureNX to create readable NEF files from TIFF files. I believe that if the TIFF files are not compressed, then the resulting NEF files should have identical binary pixels. The first conversion process can be done as a batch process. I have not tried to batch process the conversion back to NEF, but I confirmed that I could convert one image at a time. I am not sure what metadata survives this process and what metadata is lost. I have downloaded D700Hack, and I believe that it will be my preferred method because I believe that no metadata is lost in the process. <br>

I don't understand Nikon's thinking in making D700 NEF's unreadable by CaptureNX. Nikon can easily supply an upgrade to CaputureNX that could read these NEF's. Assuming that CaptureNX2 is far superior to CaptureNX, a Nikon D700 owner will be motivated to purchase CaptureNX2 for the increased capability in any case. But if the D700 owner is content with what CaptureNX does, why should the D700 owner be denied simple access to D700 NEF files? The D700 owner can still process photos as TIFFs and JPGs, and by converting to NEFs using CaptureNX, the D700 owner can process NEFs that come indirectly from the D700 as well with CaptureNX. This can be done without using a hack from a third party. Why should conversion be necessary?<br>

Nikon has done a truly excellent job in maintaining backward compatibility with older lenses as new camera bodies were developed. I would hope Nikon will assure that camera bodies in the future will provide comparable backward compatibility with older Nikon image processing software.</p>

<p>Rolling Stone</p>

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