mbdaines Loc: Sarasota FL

Hi Everyone,

I have been shooting with a Nikon D7000 and using (but still learning) Darktable on a Mac mini (Late 2012) running on Sierra 10.12.3 to post process my pictures. I shoot mainly Florida birds and flowers, some landscapes. I can't use Aperture anymore, so Darktable it is for now. With practice, the results have been getting better and more satisfying as I get used to the software. This morning I was so excited when the UPS-Man delivered my new Nikon D500. I had spent several hours reviewing the user manual, then set up the camera, updated the firmware and went outside to take some test shots. To my great disappointment, Darktable would not read the NEF uncompressed files! I could see the previews, but the RAW files would not open after importing them. Huge BUMMER! I changed to compressed lossless 14 bit and Darktable will open those files, but all of the information is not there and I am disappointed that the uncompressed NEFs are a no-go at this point. Darktable would not read the white balance of the uncompressed 14 bit files and gets stuck (spinny thingy). Nikon Capture NX-D runs so slowly on the Mac mini, it is unusable.

Besides venting and feeling sorry for myself, do any of you kind folks use Darktable? Have you had such issues? Is so, how have you circumvented them? What would you recommend that I try next?

Thanks for "listening" and I look forward to reading your responses.

PS: The D500 is a dream to operate ....so smooth and fast.

Kind Regards,
Margie

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Margie. I have been using Photos and Affinity. Affinity was $39.00 on special, regular $59.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Margie, I'd suggest that perhaps you look at different software. Phocus is a Mac specific processing application that is fairly well up to date. You might want to check it out.
--Bob

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Get Affinity. Great package, and it works with Photos.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

Two words: Get Lightroom.

chevman Loc: Matthews, North Carolina

Affinity Photo at the App Store also at their website: https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/
$49.95 us and you may also want to try this: https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/using/adobe-dng-converter.html
I'm pretty sure it's a free download and may work if your software Darktable will work with .dng files check it out.
___________________________________
Jerry in NC

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You won't see any difference between raw uncompressed 14 bit files and lossless compressed 14 bit files. None whatsoever.

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

Check to see if there is an update for Darkroom. Lots of processors need to be updated to acquire conversion data for new cameras. Every camera has a unique algorithm for processing sensor data into its own version of raw.

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

No problem reading D500 files with Lightroom

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

You should have gotten software with the camera, and that will open whatever it shoots.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Adobe Photoshop CC/Lightroom subscription is only $9.99/month and you will never regret it. My Mac won't open my Mark IV files but I simply use Adobe Bridge that is part of the subscription.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Welcome to the hog, Margie.

The D500 is a capable camera and you'll love it.

As far as Darktable is concerned, I don't use it so I can't advise you with any authority. However (as pointed out by others) the D500 is a relatively new camera and any software that reads a raw file will have to be updated to handle the new format for a new camera. Check to see if there's a recent update to Darktable.

But now, since I have this post to pontificate on, I would suggest you look into Adobe. Lightroom/Photoshop is the gold standard of processing software. You can buy Lightroom as a standalone product, but it will also need updates as time goes on and new cameras come out. I know you just bought a new camera and you're not looking to upgrade just yet, but think long term. The Adobe Photographers' Package will supply you with both Lightroom and Photoshop for $9.99/month (plus sales tax). I consider this a bargain. The package includes all the updates as they come out. And you get Photoshop, also.

Lightroom is a good basic editor with some bells and whistles added, but it has two features that set it apart from other processing programs. The thing that's most important to me is that it is an image management program as well as an editor. If you apply keywords to your images you will be able to find images easily, no matter how many images you have. Once I got over 10,000 images it was extremely difficult for me to find things until I started using Lightroom. Now I can find things in seconds by searching for keywords. The second feature is that if you hit the limit of what Lightroom can do as an editor, you can send the image directly from Lightroom to Photoshop, which has much more capability. When you're done in Photoshop, saving the result sends it right back to Lightroom so you can pick up where you got interrupted.

So good luck and enjoy your new toy tool.

RickL Loc: Vail, Az

Margie, since you have a Mac switch over to Affinity. Cost is one time $49.95 and it is easy to use and has everything that Lightroom has. I have used it on my Mac for about 2 months and am very pleased.

Congratulations on your D500

StaneeRae Loc: Lincroft, NJ USA

There's an $8 special on Adobe CC going on.
https://creative.adobe.com/promo/5DayDealCCPP

Tigger1 Loc: Surrey, BC Canada

Hi Margie; check the version of Darktable you are using, it should be Release # 2.2.3 issued Jan. 10, 2017. The newest Release should fix your issues.