rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

Does anyone know of a photo viewer that reads cr3 files, or is it operator error with my Canon EOS R? They are fine in Lighthroom but I can't get my computer photo viewer to see them. I like to download them from my sd card to an external hard drive and then import them into LR as separate groups. I'm using windows 10.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

You need software added to Windows to "view" in Windows Explorer.
On my system I cannot view .CR2 files. I don't have a driver loaded for them.
Since they basically are the same, I view the JPEG to see if I want to work with the .CR2.
My copy of DPP (came with the camera) will display both JPEG and CR2.

Nalu Loc: Southern Arizona

Canon DPP4 (or newer version). Should have come with your camera or can be downloaded from Canon.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Every new camera has a new RAW recipe. Your file viewer has to be newer than you new camera. The Lightrooms have only been able to see the EOS R version of .CR3 files for a week or two.

Why are you not using Lightroom to copy the files from card to computer and put them into your groups in one process?

rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

Even when I copy the file from LR to my external hard drive, the computer will not open it to allow me to view the image. I need to view it in Lightroom.

rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

I just got off of the phone with Canon and they are sending me a link to download what I need. Thanks for the information, I appreciate the feedback. I'll post what I find out and how it works. By the way, no disc came with the camera.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

RAW files cannot be viewed in Windows Explorer or Picture Viewer, unless you install a codec. I use FastPictureViewer codec in my computers and it works well on all RAW that I've tried (as well as some other file types that Windows cannot normally view). It only costs $10, provides thumbnails in the various sizes in Explorer and allows enlargement of images in Picture Viewer (and some other Windows media viewers). The enlarged images are "unprocessed" RAW, so they look low contrast and have somewhat desaturated colors in Windows Picture Viewer (and probably any other Windows media viewers).

I don't know if FastPictureViewer will work with the new Canon .CR3 files. That's a more major change than usual. FastPictureViewr might need to be updated to handle CR3 and doesn't appear that's been done yet. But I've used it with RAW from a wide variety of cameras, old and newer: Canon, Nikon, Oly, Pentax and more. It also will show TIFFs and PSDs, although larger files might take longer to generate a thumbnail.

AFAIK, there are only two cameras producing CR3 files so far: EOS R & M50. They are Digic 8 processor cameras and one of the differences is the new format includes an option to use a compressed RAW that's 30 or 40% smaller than standard RAW.

More info about CR3 here: https://www.dpreview.com/articles/0483301097/quick-look-canons-new-compressed-raw-format

FastPictureViewer codec available here: https://www.fastpictureviewer.com/codecs/

rydabyk Loc: Florida Panhandle

I downloaded it and tried it, it doesn't work either. I was able to download the Canon Digital photo Display and that opened them just fine.

Thanks for the help.

RRS Loc: Not sure

I looked up that camera and to my surprise there is no longer any software included with the camera. Go to B&H and look at "What's in the box", you have to now download it from Canon as you said, anything to save a nickel or a dime.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Could it also be that computers have moved away from having floppy and optical disk drives? What would/should Canon exactly put in the box?

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Most computers can't display new raw files from new cameras. That said, why don't you pick the images you like in LR and then simply export them as jpg's. You can view any jpg on any computer. Don't forget to use the sRGB color space when exporting so that that display the proper colors on your computer.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Good question. All the cameras that I have ever bought from Canon included a CD with DPP4 or whatever. On my new computer I will have to order the drive as an extra and I will as I have software that I will want to install. The 1DMKII came with a disk, things are a changing.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Every piece of software I've bought in recent years on a disc needed an online update/replacement nearly as soon as I was done with the disk installation!

RRS Loc: Not sure

So true but at least you had somewhere to start. Some of my antenna design programs still work today.

htbrown Loc: San Francisco Bay Area

Your operating system needs a codec (a bit of software) in order to interpret raw files such as CR3. For Windoze, you can download codecs from Microsoft. Once installed, your file system will be able to display them as it does for JPG, PNG, BMP, etc.