JD750 Loc: SoCal

Nicer? Processing raw is a huge time sink and a PIA. Not to mention how quickly raw files + PS edits eat up the hard drive storage.
There is a time and a place to shoot raw but that boundary is different for every individual.

And lack of skill in judging exposure is not a reason to shoot raw.

AzPicLady Loc: Behind the camera!

I've found a back door. If you open up that folder in Bridge, it will display all of the images (both RAW and JPG). When you right click to open a RAW image, it will take you directly to Camera RAW in Photoshop. My CS5 wouldn't read my 5D RAWs, but Bridge will!

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Raw files have their unique structures since they are the raw and unaltered data coming from the sensor. Due to the design of sensors, each creates it own file structure and hence the need to have a profile for each sensor. As a practical matter, I do not care. LR takes care of all that backroom stuff. DNG's provide an universal file structure akin to jpg. People use them when moving files around to other users but if you are a one-man shop, you do not need them. Do not sweat the details; just enjoy photography.

RichardE Loc: California

I have found that Fuji cameras (I have an X-E3) allow for a great number of in camera adjustments for jpg photos such that the resultant photo looks as great as when I apply mods to the raw file; at least in the 90% area. I still shoot raw+ jpg as I do not worry about disk capacity or lack of sd cards. That said, I still at times need to use the raw file to get a result I feel is better. Example is small adjustmens with curves.

So, to get away from the raw problem, check the camera manual to see what in-camera adjustments to the jpg file can be made. Also remember, the adjustments made in camera are 'baked-in' to a jpg file. Yes, more adjustments can be made on the jpg file, but you do not have the range of a raw file.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Nicer? Absolutely. Time sink? Absolutely not. PIA? Nope. Hard drive storage? So what. Less than 10% of my keepers see PS and storage is cheap. I am glad to pay the price of shooting raw and then sending a few shots to PS. I could not have grown as a photographer had I stayed with jpg's.

Lack of skill in judging exposure? You do not know me so you are in no position to judge.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

That is good to know!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

My statement was not intended to be a judgement of your skills, I could not, nor do I want to judge, anyone's skills. It was just a general statement.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I agree with abc1234 to a certain extend. The raw raw sensor data is just a long string of 0's and 1's. It is the job of the camera to organize them into rows and columns of pixels that specify color and lightness/darkness. It is this organization that makes the image file. This organization of data should be standardized.

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Hehehe

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

JPG's are also strings of 0's and 1's. Right?

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

All is true except the last sentence which would read better as "Adobe keeps you up to date, others do not."

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

Yes

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Earlier responses are correct.... your Photoshop CS5 is too old to handle the newer D7200's RAW files. And it cannot be updated enough to handle them, either.

You have a few choices:

1. Don't shoot RAW. CS5 can work with the JPEGs from your camera. (But, of course, you don't get all the benefits of shooting RAW.)

2. Go to the Adobe website and download their free "DNG converter". This will convert your camera's NEF files into a more "universal" DNG RAW format, which would then be workable in CS5. There are some issues doing this, so you may want to keep your original NEF files... just in case you ever get an updated software that can handle them (and/or to a future software that doesn't "like" DNG files). For more info Google "DNG problems". There are several sites with explanations.

3. Get another software that can convert the D7200's NEF into a format workable in CS5.... such as 16 bit TIFF files which Lightroom 6 can produce (and LR6 interfaces pretty well with earlier CD or "creative suite" versions of Photoshop. This gives you all the same advantages of converting a RAW in Photoshop. The problem with doing this is that neither CS5 nor LR6 are supported any longer. There won't be any fixes or updates for either program. Next time you update cameras, you'll probably be unable to deal with its images even in LR6 (which Adobe sunsetted a couple years after they did PS CS6). Adobe Lightroom 6 might be hard to find, too (Photoshop CS6 is impossible!). I got it direct from Adobe as an "upgrade" at lower cost, but that was a couple years ago. I don't know if anyone is offering it any more.

A recent version of Adobe Elements (2018 or the new 2019) certainly can work with your camera's NEF files... Elements is still being sold as a perpetually licensed software, but is only able to save image files as 8 bit JPEGs (and other 8 bit file types), not as 16 bit TIFF or PSD such as you would want to take full advantage of CS5's capabilities... So Elements really can't help, either.

There may be some other software with similar function as Lightroom, that can interface with your CS5 with full 16 bit files. I really don't know. Maybe someone else can make suggestions.

4. Update Photoshop. The problem with this is that Photoshop is now only available via subscription. It's fairly cheap... both Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC are available for $120 a year (which actually works out about the same as what I paid for upgrades of those two every few years). But this now will be a recurring cost every year... you're renting rather than buying the software, in effect. And there are no guarantees that the rent will remain that low (I don't care what Adobe says, three years ago they said they'd never stop selling perpetual Lightroom licenses... but they did). Both PS and LR are no longer sold as perpetually licensed versions. The subscription versions do have regular updates, though... so should be able to handle not only your D7200 but also any future camera upgrades you do (though there may be a lag of a few weeks or a couple months after a camera is first introduced).

5. Another option is to forget about Photoshop and start exploring the alternatives, which have grown in popularity ever since Adobe stopped selling perpetual licenses and started renting their software. There are a number of them, but I have no experience with them and cannot make any recommendations (I'm still using LR6 and PS CS6.... even planning to stick with cameras they can handle for a while, since any software upgrade will also probably require an entire computer upgrade.... and I've been down that road before after a camera upgrade. It's expensive!)

Toolking Loc: Pacific Northwest

I did as well when I moved from a 7000 to a 610. Converting got old because now you have two large files per picture. Moved to CC it's just easier and not a budget buster. BTW the EXIF data you lose when you convert is not significant.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

Yes, and organized in a standard way. All digital files are a string of bits, 0s @ 1s, and organized in standardized ways. The following character "H" tells the printer exactly where to apply the squirts of ink.