Now have RAW, can't even view them

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

01/28/2006 04:07:23 PM · #1

We have a new baby in our family, a Panasonic DMC-FZ30, Kari1's new toy.

So she goes out and shoots in RAW, we get home and can't view the images on anything supplied with the camera or in Paintshop Pro 7. PsP can handle RAW but it asks you for header size and a whole lot of other stuff. We opened the file in PsP and got greyscal streaks on the screen - nice art but nothing like a picture.

All Help says is, "the complexities of explaining RAW are beyond this help file, get the information from the source that creates the file" OoooK .. what information?

So we're sort of stuck about what we need. At the moment, nothing we have can convert the file to anything usable. I know this is a dumb question but can anyone chart a simple path through what we need to be doing here please

Brett

fotomann_forever

01/28/2006 04:09:54 PM · #2

//www.pixmantec.com/products/rawshooter_essentials.asp

Try this.

BobsterLobster

Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro

01/28/2006 04:14:03 PM · #3

Your camera should have come with software... read this:

//www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz30/page16.asp

gbautista87

Nikon D70

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/28/2006 04:15:12 PM · #4

If you are on a PC and would like to be able to open the pictures the way you normally would (by double clicking on the icon), then you can go to the Microsoft website and download Microsoft RAW Image Viewer.

It works just like Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
But if you want to edit them, you will need an editting program.

mandyturner

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/28/2006 04:15:19 PM · #5

I am having trouble too. My computer isn't downloading the raw images, just the jpg. Why?

kari1

01/28/2006 04:16:01 PM · #6

You guys are smart .. thank god cos there is heaps to read ...

Am looking at the review again now ...

Leroy, I have downloaded the rawshooter :)

Thanks heaps and heaps

Kari

kearock

Nikon D90

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

01/28/2006 05:03:21 PM · #7

Originally posted by gbautista87:

download Microsoft RAW Image Viewer

This only works for Nikon and Canon cameras. It doesn't have the coding necissary to read other formats (Microsoft has some kind of deal with Nikon and Canon). Each camera brand uses it's own RAW format, and each camera within a brand records it slightly differently. Because of this you need to make sure whatever software your using supports and/or is updated to support your specific camera (both brand and model).

wavelength

Nikon D300

01/28/2006 05:33:53 PM · #8

To all involved, Picasa2 from google downloads and views most RAW files just fine.

Artifacts

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/28/2006 05:44:09 PM · #9

Originally posted by wavelength:

To all involved, Picasa2 from google downloads and views most RAW files just fine.

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but Picasa will allow you to make changes and it automatically saves those changes without asking you as soon as you make them.

That is not cool at all so I quit using it and do not recommend using it for anything.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

01/28/2006 05:44:44 PM · #10

Originally posted by mandyturner:

I am having trouble too. My computer isn't downloading the raw images, just the jpg. Why?

Mandy,
Sounds like you are linking the camera to the computer with the cable supplied by Canon. When using this link, you can't see/transfer RAW files unless you are using the Canon software. You really should invest in a card reader, the transfer will be soooo much faster.

wavelength

Nikon D300

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

01/28/2006 07:16:23 PM · #11

Originally posted by stdavidson:

Originally posted by wavelength:
To all involved, Picasa2 from google downloads and views most RAW files just fine.

Please correct me if I am mistaken, but Picasa will allow you to make changes and it automatically saves those changes without asking you as soon as you make them.

That is not cool at all so I quit using it and do not recommend using it for anything.

NO, that is incorrect. Those changes are databased within Picasa, but are not applied or saved over the original. It treats all your images as negatives and never writes to those files EVER. It does certainly LOOK like it applies them permanetly, and my wife freaked out about it too. But it does not.

I also agree with Kirbic, USB2.0 card reader is an absolutely awesome thing to have (especailly after having used a 1.0 reader for a year)

fotomann_forever

01/28/2006 07:18:44 PM · #12

Originally posted by wavelength:

I also agree with Kirbic, USB2.0 card reader is an absolutely awesome thing to have (especailly after having used a 1.0 reader for a year)

or Firewire... there's where you get fast... but USB 2.0 is just fine.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

01/28/2006 07:25:56 PM · #13

//www.irfanview.com is free and will allow you to view and convert RAW images at a primitive level as well; but it's not a full-featured RAW converter. It will do as a stopgap to let you transfer these images to PSP and work with them there. It's also an excellent, FAST image file-viewing program.

R.

KiwiShotz

01/28/2006 09:52:01 PM · #14

Just an update ... and thanks to everybody whose posted replies ... we've needed all that info so far.

At the moment, we have installed RawShooterEssentials which can see the file but not display it. From what's been said, if each manufacturer sets their own standard (and how stupid is that if they don't supply a reader/converter) then we may need to find the Panasonic interface.

I knew it would come to this, last resort, .... RTFM.

Brett

kearock

Nikon D90

01/28/2006 10:06:28 PM · #15

Originally posted by KiwiPix:

At the moment, we have installed RawShooterEssentials which can see the file but not display it. From what's been said, if each manufacturer sets their own standard (and how stupid is that if they don't supply a reader/converter) then we may need to find the Panasonic interface.

I knew it would come to this, last resort, .... RTFM.

Brett

Brett,
Try Picassa before you give up. Though I'm not crazy about the databased editing that wavelength described, I would guess Picassa might be the best bet for 3rd party software that will support your specific camera. I say this because it's distributed by Google, who are totally in the business of helping people rather than corporations so they're likely to be trying to support everything they can rather than making deals with Nikon and Canon to only support them (like the microsoft RAW viewer).

Also another thought...it would be totally lame for them to package an old software release with the camera, but have you checked for updates for the Panasonic software?

kearock

Nikon D90

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

01/28/2006 10:11:22 PM · #16

Mini-update...maybe it's a no on Picassa for the Panasonic. From the Picassa website:

"Does Picasa support RAW format images?

Picasa currently supports RAW images from most of the cameras by the following manufacturers:

Canon (.CRW, .CR2)
Nikon (.NEF)
Olympus (.ORF)
Pentax (.PEF)
Kodak (.DCR)
Sony (.SRF)
Minolta (.MRW)
Fuji (.RAF)

EXIF data from RAW images is only supported with CRW files that have associated .THM files.

At this time, we do not support RAW images from the following cameras:

Kodak P850 (.KDC)
Adobe file format (.DNG)
FUJI S5200-S5600 (.RAF)
OLYMPUS E-300, E-500 (.ORF)"

Smasher

Fujifilm FinePix F700

01/29/2006 03:26:33 PM · #17

You can also use Google's Picasa I think to manage them. If you have a PC wait for Adobe's Lightroom to come out, if you have a Mac, try Aperture it looks awesome :) !

Mr_Pants

SiPix Blink

01/29/2006 05:00:45 PM · #18

Originally posted by Smasher:

You can also use Google's Picasa I think to manage them. If you have a PC wait for Adobe's Lightroom to come out, if you have a Mac, try Aperture it looks awesome :) !

If you have a Mac, you could try Lightroom now.

RayEthier

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/29/2006 05:04:45 PM · #19

I just downloaded this and love it:Raw Viewer Setup

Ray

KiwiShotz