RAW: This purely an academic question. I rarely use editing programs and when I do I use PSE6 and I recently loaded PhotoshopCS2 as I read in UHH that it could be had without charge. I...

spywayman Loc: Bridport -Dorset-UK

This purely an academic question. I rarely use editing programs and when I do I use PSE6 and I recently loaded PhotoshopCS2 as I read in UHH that it could be had without charge.
I have a D 5200 and once thought I would experiment with RAW, but nothing wanted to know RAW.
Picasa, CS2 or PSE 6. All did not recognise the RAW files. I am curious to know why. If I remember correctly, my D80 RAW pictures were shown without a problem. Obviously, I have set the camera to RAW or RAW+JPEG, but nothing.
Does any kind soul have an insight into this. Many thanks.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

To be sure of raw compatibility you need the most recent updates. Your version of Elements is quite old. If you can't get free updates, one possibility is to install Adobe's free raw converter and use it to convert to another format such as DNG, PNG or some such. Or you may find that upgrading to the latest version of Elements isn't too expensive and worth it for the extra features.

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

spywayman wrote:

This purely an academic question. I rarely use edi... (show quote)

You will probably need a newer version of Photoshop, I am not sure about your particular camera, but I do know that the updates to your version of photoshop only go so far in the evolution of the manufacturers of your camera's RAW files. I had the same problems with my Canon cameras, I was using CS2 and could not update to process for my newer bodies. Your camera should have come with RAW processing software, I have found that Canon's version of the RAW processor is not as convenient to use as Adobe CS but it still works. I only shoot RAW because it is so much more powerful in correcting and or enhancing white balance and color.

cthahn

PSE6 is ancient. It will never work.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

With all due respect, you do not seem to understand very well the characteristics of a RAW file. A RAW files is data from the sensor without the camera's firmware intervention. To get all the benefits of a RAW file special software is needed that will "read" those RAW files. It will be your expertise using the software during editing that will extract all the goodness in that particular file.
Because there are so many cameras to shoot RAW and since there is not a universal RAW file softwares need periodic updates for the new cameras that come into the market and that is precisely your case. You have a modern camera with old software. It is now up to you to update the software for the RAW editing you use more often...if it can be done.

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

camerapapi wrote:

With all due respect, you do not seem to understan... (show quote)

Camera's firmware most certainly intervenes. It allows the sensor to pass the information captured by the sensor to the memory card. Without firmware, nothing at all would happen. It also matches the world to how the sensor captures that world.

A raw file is the UNALTERED data, without any camera settings applied other than exposure. The camera settings are part of the camera's firmware, but not the entire firmware.

wolfman

spywayman wrote:

This purely an academic question. I rarely use edi... (show quote)

Get a trial copy of Affinity Photo and try that. If it works, it's only $50.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

spywayman wrote:

This purely an academic question. I rarely use edi... (show quote)

You might want to rethink your processing software. It's a bit long in the tooth, and as you've seen, it can't deal with modern raw files.

here are links to processing software, from inexpensive to free. Yes, there are a lot of links, but you don't have to look at all of them. "Free" might be a good place to start. Irfanview (free) doesn't do much processing, but it will open raw files.

Affinity
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/
Others
http://digital-photography-school.com/a-beginners-guide-to-choosing-the-right-post-production-software/
https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/photo-editing
https://www.reviews.com/photo-editing-software/
https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-photo-editing-software,review-1972.html
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2015/03/23/best-photo-editing-software-photoshop-cc-and-7-photoshop-alternatives-tested/1/
http://www.redmondpie.com/best-adobe-photoshop-alternatives-for-windows-and-mac-list Affinity
http://www.shutterbug.com/content/affinity-photo-software-review-has-photoshop-met-its-match#d1c5lY5EQ03QoLjh.97
http://www.diyphotography.net/affinity-photo-can-give-adobe-run-money/

Free-
http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-photo-editor
http://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/the-best-photoshop-alternatives-that-are-totally-free-5974500
http://lightzoneproject.org/

dylee8 Loc: South Florida

I had the same problem a few months ago. Here's what I find out.
Not all RAW files are the same. In addition, not all Nikon .NEF files are the same. With each new camera, the NEF file format changes. Adobe products use Raw file plug-in's to support all these different RAW formats. To accommodate the ever increasing camera models and Raw formats, there are constantly new versions of plug-ins. Here's the Adobe published Camera Model/Raw/Version cross reference.
https://helpx.adobe.com/camera-raw/kb/camera-raw-plug-supported-cameras.html

Also different versions of PSE/Lightroom supports up to different versions of the plug-ins. Therefore old PSE versions do not support later RAW formats.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Gene51 wrote:

Camera's firmware most certainly intervenes. It allows the sensor to pass the information captured by the sensor to the memory card. Without firmware, nothing at all would happen. It also matches the world to how the sensor captures that world.

A raw file is the UNALTERED data, without any camera settings applied other than exposure. The camera settings are part of the camera's firmware, but not the entire firmware.

Dude, I understood the guy perfectly. I'm sure you do too. He just meant that the firmware isn't altering the raw data like it does to a jpg image file cooking the changes into the image such as sharpening, saturation, and contrast. No need to nitpick one person trying to help another.

sjb3

jerryc41 wrote:

You might want to rethink your processing software... (show quote)

Good Heavens, Sir! You're a veritable encyclopedia of links information. I salute you! I'm not being sarcastic; you've been much more than just helpful to me and to the UHH forum with your contributions. I've been wanting to ask you, though: How do you find the time to do it on such a large scale?

R.G. Loc: Scotland

sjb3 wrote:

Good Heavens, Sir! You're a veritable encyclopedia of links information. I salute you!.....

That's our Jerripedia

.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

spywayman wrote:

This purely an academic question. I rarely use edi... (show quote)

Your Elements and Photoshop software versions are quite ancient and predate your camera. Every new camera has a slightly different raw file configuration and requires a software update to your post processing software to read it. There are no updates available for the versions of the software you own that support your camera's raw format. As a result, you have two choices. First, you can uograde, at your expense, PSE or Photoshop to their current version, or second, you can download, for free, Adobe's DNG converter which will create DNG versions of your raw files that hopefully will be compatible with your very old software. DNG is Adobe's proprietary Raw format.

WJShaheen Loc: Gold Canyon, AZ

Another possibility is to download Nikon's ViewNX 2 (free) and export to, say, tiff for further processing.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

spywayman wrote:

This purely an academic question. I rarely use edi... (show quote)

Go to Nikonusa.com and look under Service and Support. At the very bottom of the list you will see "update software". Enter the type of camera and the model. This takes you to a page where you can download manuals, firmware updates, and software updates. Under software updates, at the very bottom of the list, you will find links for downloading both the programs you should download - View NX2 and CaptureNX2. With these you can open the RAW files from your camera and do some basic editing. Convert your images to another format, such as .tiff, and send it over to the version of PSE or PS that you want to use.

When you decide to upgrade, the Adobe CC subscription is $9.99 per month and includes both PS and LR, which are automatically updated whenever there are new updates.