Announcement
NEF Raster image file format
NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) files - files RAW photos, made with Nikon cameras. The metadata of such files contains information about lenses, settings, camera, etc. RAW files describe images that are not yet ready to be processed, printed, or edited by editors raster images. RAW files are a record of data captured by camera sensors. In this case, NEF files recorded in the camera's memory are saved either in uncompressed form or in a lossless compressed format. NEF files are the digital equivalent of film negatives.
Technical information about NEF files
NEF files can be modified without any impact on RAW files. File processing in the camera itself (changing white balance, shades, tones, sharpness) does not occur in the NEF file. These are just instructions that are written into the file. They can be changed at any time without any reduction in the quality or content of the file. NEF files can contain 12 or 14 bit data, allowing for a larger color palette (compared to eight-bit JPEG images or TIFF). NEF files contain metadata as well as thumbnails and a JPEG version of the file for quick view file. NEF files can be edited and saved as NEF, JPEG, or TIFF files for greater ease of storage, sharing, printing, and editing.
Additional information about the NEF format
File extension | .nef | |||||||||||||||||||
File category | ||||||||||||||||||||
Example file | (12.4 MiB) |
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Related programs | Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Lightroom digiKam Paint Shop Pro Picasa |
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Name | NEF Codec |
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Version | 1.30.0 |
File name | S-NEFCDC-013000WF-ALLIN-ALL___.exe |
OS | 32- and 64-bit editions of:
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CPU | Intel Celeron, Pentium 4, or Core™ series, 1 GHz or better |
Supported cameras |
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Digital SLR cameras | D5, D4S, D4, D3X, D3S, D3, D2XS, D2X, D2HS, D2H, D1X, D1H, D1, D90, D80, D70S, D70, D60, D50, D40X, D40, D810A, D810, D800E, D800, D750, D700, D610, D600, D500, D300S, D300, D200, D100, D7200, D7100, D7000, D5600, D5500, D5300, D5200, D5100, D5000, D3400, D3300, D3200, D3100, D3000, Df |
Advanced interchangeable lens cameras | Nikon 1 J5, Nikon 1 J4, Nikon 1 J3, Nikon 1 J2, Nikon 1 J1, Nikon 1 V3, Nikon 1 V2, Nikon 1 V1, Nikon 1 S1, Nikon 1 AW1 |
Compact digital cameras | COOLPIX A COOLPIX 8800, COOLPIX 8700, COOLPIX 8400, COOLPIX 5700, COOLPIX 5400, COOLPIX 5000 |
- Create a folder on the hard drive and name it as desired.
- Download the file to the folder created in Step 1.
- Double-click the downloaded file to launch the installer.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete installation.
Note: Earlier versions (version 1.6.0 or earlier) of the NEF codec must be uninstalled before installation can be completed. Follow the installers on-screen instructions during installation to uninstall earlier versions. |
Before installing the software, read the notes below.
NotesBe sure to read the following notes:
“Camera Model” and “Camera Manufacturer”
Do not change the “Camera model” and “Camera Manufacturer” fields in the “Details” tab of the NEF file properties. Operation of Nikon applications and the NEF Codec is not guaranteed if these fields are changed.
Rotating NEF Images
NEF images cannot be rotated in the Explorer, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Photo Viewer, or Windows Live Photo Gallery.
NEF (RAW) Thumbnails
Thumbnails for NEF (RAW) files may not display correctly in the Explorer, Windows Photo Gallery or Windows Photo Viewer. If this occurs, use Disk Cleanup as described below.
- 1) Right-click the system disk in Computer and select Properties.
- 2) Select Disk Cleanup in the General tab.
- 3)Under Files to delete in Disk Cleanup, check Thumbnails and uncheck all other options.
- 4) Click OK to start disk cleanup; when a confirmation message “Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?” is displayed, click Delete Files.
Note: Click for more information
Capture NX 2 Version 2.3.0 or Later
If NEF images saved in Capture NX 2 version 2.3.0 or later are opened in Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Photo Gallery, or Windows Photo Viewer:
- A message may be displayed stating that the file is corrupt and cannot be opened
- Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Photo Gallery, or Windows Photo Viewer may not function normally after the file is opened
The NEF Codec
The effects of the NEF Codec are not reflected when NEF (RAW) images are displayed in the Photo application supplied with Windows 8.1 and later.
Microsoft Windows 10
- Right-click an NEF (RAW) image in desktop mode and select Open with program > Windows Photo Gallery. *
Microsoft Windows 8.1
- Open with program > Windows Photo Viewer, Windows Live Photo Gallery, or Windows Photo Gallery. *
- Confirm that this image is displayed.
Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1
- Right-click an NEF (RAW) image and select Open with program > Windows Photo Viewer, Windows Live Photo Gallery, or Windows Photo Gallery. *
- Confirm that this image is displayed.
* Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery are available for download from the Microsoft Windows website.
Why does a camera save photos in NEF format? The answer to this question will be too long. In a nutshell, NEF format is needed to receive best quality photos And further very convenient and professional processing. I’m not a photographer, but out of logic I recommend, even for beginners, to set the saving format in their cameras to NEF or RAW.
Typically, photographers then open NEF photographs one by one in Photoshop, process them and save them in JPG or other common format so that they can be viewed on any device and program.
In our case, we need high-quality without processing convert a bunch of photos from NEF to JPG. I’ll say right away that you shouldn’t convert online, the output will be a photo with very poor quality, and it will also take a very long time. What then should you use?
The first option, which takes longer, is save photos from NEF to JPG one by one using Photoshop. If there are not many photos, then this method will do. Nothing complicated, open the photo in NEF in Photoshop, click “Save as...” and select JPG format, ready.
The second option will allow convert hundreds and even thousands of photos at once without losing quality, without distortion of brightness and contrast. We will do this through the FSViewer42 program. The official website no longer works, but I managed to download it a long time ago and uploaded it to this site for you. Download . The program does not need to be installed, just unzip and run. Next, I'll show you how to use it in screenshots.
We launch the FSViewer42 program and look on the left for the folder with photos in NEF. Then we simply select these photos.
Now we need to select the conversion tool. At the top, hover over “Tools” and select “Convert Selected.”
A window with conversion settings will open. It is enough to select the format into which the photos should be converted, in our case we are converting NEF to JPG, so we select “*.jpg”, and also select the location for saving new photos. Click the button with the green triangle “Convert”. We wait until the photos are processed, then we check. Ready. Conversion time depends on the number and size of photos. 10 Full HD photos will be processed in approximately 30-50 seconds.
Thank you for reading my blog. Always happy to help, ask questions, write comments, suggest ideas for interesting articles.