Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

Hello

I am new to digital photography. I recently acquired a Nikon D90 and D750. If I download my RAW NEF files into Lightroom, they are converted to Adobe DNG files. I’ve read that this in not as good as keeping them in the Nikon RAW format.

What Nikon software is recommend for reading and processing Nikon RAW files? I use a laptop with Windows 10.

Thank You

Ysarex Loc: St. Louis

Lightroom is excellent software and good for your Nikon files. Just change the LR import to not convert to DNG. Keep your NEF files in their original condition.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

As to what is recommended... you will get a lot of strong opinions. You will also get a lot of strong opinions on raw vs DNG.

Making the change as Yasarax has said you can process NEFs with Lightroom. If you are comfortable with LR it makes sense to keep using it.

You can also use the Free Nikon software, ViewNX-i or CaptureNX-D, to do the raw conversion and editing. Only the Manuf knows the secret sauce for their raw files. I find the color is a tad better, using the Nikon software. However it is A very minor difference. And you can take advantage of the camera settings using the Manuf softwares. The Nikon software is clunky and crash prone. So there is that.

Most all modern Aftermarket softwares will process NEF files.

More important than the brand you use, is the fact that you are comfortable with the software and you can get things done. It’s good to be skilled in the software you use and having more than one brand makes developing those skills a lot harder. It sounds like you are comfortable with LR. If so, I recommend you just use LR and process the NEFs directly without translating them to DNGs.

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

As others have said, you are telling Lightroom to import as DNG during the import, just change that to copy, move or add as needed.

FWIW: I shoot raw, currently with a Canon 90D, before that with a Canon 80D, before that with a Nikon D7100, before that with a Nikon 5100, and before that with a Nikon 3000. I convert to DNG all my raw files on import into Lightroom. In many cases I first view and select what to import by using Fast Raw Viewer so I do not waste time converting and importing everything.

The only drawback is that the DNG format may not be supported by non-Adobe software, so to be safe I keep a copy of my original raw on a separate disk, but so far have never needed to go back to an original NEF or CRx

As long as Lightroom manages my images, other editors can be used as plugins and will make use of TIFF or PSD for the round trip anyway.

Benefits - storage space reduction, faster loading during editing, original raw image can be stored inside the DNG, xmp edits contained within the single file, DNG accepted by Amazon Prime Photo storage as an image type, so unlimited backup space for free. (NEF & CR2 also accepted, but CR3 was too new for them)

Julian Loc: Sarasota, FL

Most likely you will receive many suggestions regarding the handling of RAW and NEF files; we all have our preferred sets of processing software. This forum is a great source for that information.
As a side comment, the image of the camera and wine glass is highly distorted probably due to the use of a wide angle lens at a short distance. There is also software designed to assist you in correcting this type of problem.

bleirer

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/importing-photos-lightroom-basic-workflow.html

Help here, but it is as simple as clicking copy instead of convert to dng from the choices top middle of the import screen. DNG is not causing your problem though. Lightroom does not apply most of your camera settings, so the image won't look as good at first in lightroom unless you have some presets automatically applied. Raw files of any kind will look lifeless until you do something to them. The free software that came with the camera will apply the camera settings so the pic looks good right away. Lightroom is a lot better in a lot of other ways though, so I wouldn't give up on it. Once you get the settings the way you like them you can save a preset and automatically apply it when you import. It can be easily reset or changed later, no problem.

PaulBrit Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon

But not new to photography!

Just been across to your website, Spirit Vision Photography, and it is stunning!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If you now have LR, you don't need the free Nikon software to edit your RAW files.

If your NEF are being converted to DNG, go into your LR import settings and change this setting to import with no DNG conversion. You don't need this conversion as LR can / will work on the NEF directly.

trinhqthuan Loc: gaithersburg

Nikon Capture NX D is free from Nikon.

Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

Thank you for the replies. I wasn’t aware that I could import my images into Lightroom without converting to DNG. I will import and keep the raw NEF files.

Thanks

GLSmith Loc: Tampa, Fl

Another great software beside LightRoom & monthly charges is ACDSee Ultimate 2021. I have found it as easy & as fast as LightRoom. In addition there is a free trial period., again from what others have said, stay with the RAW format.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

bleirer

You probably know this, but you don't import the actual photos into lightroom. Lightroom import just copies or moves the file and stores it in whatever folder you tell it just like any file manager would. It then remembers the location of that folder and catalogs it and makes a preview for the photo but the original stays wherever you put it. Edits in lightroom are just a stored recipe, the original photo doesn't change. Nice thing about that is one lightroom catalog can hold images from many folders at the same time.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Nikon Capture NX-2 and Nikon View NX-2 are softwares specifically designed to work with Nikon RAW data. Both of them are offered free by Nikon.
If you want the best your RAW data has to offer I do recommend that you consider Nikon software.

photoman43

If you want to use free nikon software for processing RAW files from any Nikon body, the software to use is Nikon NX-D.

To just view a RAW of JPEG image you should use Nikon View NX-i. It is a very capable image viewer that I use to cull images quickly after downloading. You can even make JPEGs directly from RAW images in this program too.

Both can be downloaded free from NIKONUSA. I download both at the same time (as one combined software package) as NX-D can be launched and accessed directly from Nx-i.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/261/VCNXSP.html


Both come with pretty good user manuals and there are user manuals available within the software.

They are not as powerful as Lightroom or some other raw processors but I would not describe them as clunky any more. NX-D has control points available in it for making certain local adjustments. You can make Tiff images in NX-D to take into Lightroom or Photoshop or any other program.

I am partially color blind so I like both of these programs as they render the colors correctly (as captured) in camera.

Check them out. If you "get it right in camera" most of the time, you may not need the more expensive raw processors.