Posted by May Haga on December 10, 2008 at 9:27 PM
Finally getting around to shooting in RAW but now I find that I can't load the files into SC2. Is there a way around this problem? Is anyone using both the D300 and CS2.
Your help is much appreciated.
May
Posted by Dan Borzynski on December 10, 2008 at 9:46 PM
Unless things have changed...
Adobe has this wonderful policy of updating the RAW convertors up to the release of the new version of Photoshop. At that time, you'll need to buy the next version of Photoshop. The D300 was released after the CS2 and uses a slightly different version of RAW files.
So what to do?
Check the Adobe website to see if there are updates for that camera. There may not be, or it might be hiding somewhere.
Use the Nikon software, convert to a TIFF file and import into CS2.
Go to a third party software converter (but I have no recommendations).
Purchase Elements 7, which will have the convertor, or at least updates for the convertor. Open and save as a .psd file, and then reopen in CS2.
Purchase Lightroom.
Upgrade CS2 to CS4.
Yeah, the last two options you probably didn't want to see.
Posted by Brad Hill on December 10, 2008 at 10:40 PM
Hi May,
Dan's right - you need either CS3 or CS4 for the D300 - there are no Adobe Camera Raw updates (hidden or otherwise) to make CS2 compatible with the D300 raw files.
If your D300 came with Capture NX (most did), then you can follow the path he suggested re: using Capture NX to convert raws to tiffs and then edit in Photoshop. Although Capture NX has a very odd and counter-intuitive interface, it actually does a very good job on the raw conversions (I prefer it to Photoshop's conversions using Adobe Camera RAW).
If your D300 did not come with Capture NX, and you've resigned yourself to to the fact that you have to buy some software, I would recommend going for the CS4 upgrade rather than buying Nikon Capture NX.
Cheers...
Brad
Posted by David Bostedo on December 10, 2008 at 10:43 PM
One more option, and what Adobe recommends : Download the free DNG converter, convert your Nikon RAW file to a DNG RAW file, and open in CS2. (I know this works for CS3 - I'm assuming CS2 has DNG support.)
Posted by John Mumaw on December 10, 2008 at 11:38 PM
CS2 does indeed support DNG (digital negative) files.
Should you choose to go that route, you can find the free RAW->DNG converter here.
Posted by Brad Hill on December 11, 2008 at 12:38 AM
John & David (and May),
The D300 raw to DNG (via DNG converter) to TIFF (via CS2) is a work-around that will work - whether or not it's a practical workflow is another issue! It comes down to whether May prefers this slower workflow vs. shelling out the money for the more direct workflow of Photoshop CS4 (along with the other benefits of the upgraded version of Photoshop).
Brad
Posted by David Bostedo on December 11, 2008 at 11:38 AM
The only slower part should be the DNG conversion (and it should actually be quick once you're setup for it). And it can be run on all your Nikon RAW files in a big batch and only done once. After that, the work flow should be exactly the same flow you'd have with CS4, just with a different RAW type.
Posted by Arnab Banerjee on December 11, 2008 at 1:20 PM
I use Capture NX to convert to either TIFF or Jpeg - works just fine. Capture NX - though an odd program - has very good functionalities. You can use some of those functionalities to edit your image before the conversion. I use white balance control, exposure compensation, rotate/tilt, and some other image enhancement (like color booster, Active D-light etc.) often - it's slow and odd, but works very well
Posted by May Haga on December 11, 2008 at 7:15 PM
Lot's of food for thought here. Thanks very much for taking the time to post your answers.
May
Discussion
8 repliesYour help is much appreciated.
May
Adobe has this wonderful policy of updating the RAW convertors up to the release of the new version of Photoshop. At that time, you'll need to buy the next version of Photoshop. The D300 was released after the CS2 and uses a slightly different version of RAW files.
So what to do?
Check the Adobe website to see if there are updates for that camera. There may not be, or it might be hiding somewhere.
Use the Nikon software, convert to a TIFF file and import into CS2.
Go to a third party software converter (but I have no recommendations).
Purchase Elements 7, which will have the convertor, or at least updates for the convertor. Open and save as a .psd file, and then reopen in CS2.
Purchase Lightroom.
Upgrade CS2 to CS4.
Yeah, the last two options you probably didn't want to see.
Dan's right - you need either CS3 or CS4 for the D300 - there are no Adobe Camera Raw updates (hidden or otherwise) to make CS2 compatible with the D300 raw files.
If your D300 came with Capture NX (most did), then you can follow the path he suggested re: using Capture NX to convert raws to tiffs and then edit in Photoshop. Although Capture NX has a very odd and counter-intuitive interface, it actually does a very good job on the raw conversions (I prefer it to Photoshop's conversions using Adobe Camera RAW).
If your D300 did not come with Capture NX, and you've resigned yourself to to the fact that you have to buy some software, I would recommend going for the CS4 upgrade rather than buying Nikon Capture NX.
Cheers...
Brad
Should you choose to go that route, you can find the free RAW->DNG converter here.
The D300 raw to DNG (via DNG converter) to TIFF (via CS2) is a work-around that will work - whether or not it's a practical workflow is another issue! It comes down to whether May prefers this slower workflow vs. shelling out the money for the more direct workflow of Photoshop CS4 (along with the other benefits of the upgraded version of Photoshop).
Brad
May