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Cannot read Nikon RAW files

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I cannot get Photoshop or Lightroom to open and read RAW (.nef) files from a Nikon D7500. Latest updates have been applied.

nikon d7500 nef

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JP HessCorrect answer

Inspiring

If all of your Adobe software is truly up to date then there is no reason that it should not open the NEF files from the D7500. My concern would be that the Nikon Transfer software is creating a problem as it has in the past. Try just using File Explorer, or simply use the Lightroom import dialog to import your images and see if that fixes the problem. Apologize for stepping in on another discussion, but hope this might help.

J

johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you both, Jim and Gary. Yes, being new to Lr, I was trying to directly open the .nef files. Knowing now that's not how it works, all the other stuff is coming to light. I've confirmed that I can open and work with .nef from my D3100 but not my 7500. All these files were imported from the camera using the Nikon SW, so that's why I'm going to try the direct transfer with some files in the camera that haven't been transferred yet. I haven't had time to try that yet.

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BobinMA

Inspiring

Nikon Transfer andf Adobe Bridge/ACR are incompatible.

Bridge / ACR use a sidecard .xmp in the same folder as the NEF file.

Nikon Transfer 2 et al use an sidecar of a different name in a separate folder.

When you open the file in Bridge all may seem OK and i may even create a new .xmp

BUT it does not necessarily like the new .xmp and Brdge does not always know it is there.

You may start not being able top open in Camera Raw, Metadata may no longer be available, you may start getting white stripes across tthe NEF when you open. PSDs created by ACR may begin misbehaving and jpg created from the PDS may also stop behaving like JPGs and may no longer open. A lot of this occurs when you copy or move (move is worse) the file across folders. Suddenly the file becomses unuseable..

So deal with Adobe and keep using the same downloader.

While I'm not happy with Adobe for many things they onwn the game and are the only game in town. Nikon software may be free but at least for me it is not worth it.

Now I just have images backing up on cards waiting to be downloaded.

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johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

It looks like I've got something else going on; I uninstalled and reloaded all the Adobe SW and the D7500 files still couldn't be read. I repeated the uninstall, re-install process twice more, using a different install order, same result. However, I have some .nef files from my D3100 and those are able to be read just fine, and what doing the reading is ACR 11.0. I must be having some type of issue with the .nef from my 7500. Am going to download some pics that are still in the camera and see what happens from there. All previous files have been stored using Nikon Transfer 2, so these files in the camera will be the first ones to go directly from the camera to a folder without using the Nikon SW. (I've misplaced the disk and haven't loaded it onto my new computer.) If that doesn't work, my next move, and question, seems to be headed towards Nikon...

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gary_sc

Community Expert

Hi John,

VERY interesting, so to understand, images that you processed with the Nikon software cannot be seen by Adobe software?

the good news is that any changes to raw images cannot be perminent. You’ll probably have to use your nikon software and look for some way to clear or remove all the changes you made.

The bad news is that you’ll have to edit from scratch

The good news Is that you can do it with Adobe software!

let me know what you find.

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J

johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

Sorry, Gary, I intended to answer that question earlier; I'm using Win 10.

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gary_sc

Community Expert

OK, the one thing I was a bit concerned about was if you were using an older operating system, it might have been an issue that parts of the release installed but shouldn't have.

Win 10 should be working fine, I go back to the evil dread: uninstall and reinstall.

Good luck

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J

johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you once again, Gary. I had already loaded Bridge and nothing is working the way you describe. I think my next troubleshooting step involves uninstalling and re-installing some SW.

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gary_sc

Community Expert

Hi John,

Just to verify, what is your operating system and which version?

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johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

Yes, Gary, I purchased a Photoshop plan, installed it last week, and the CC shortcut on my desktop. The Camera Raw CC says 'up to date' just like your screen capture, but my attempts to open a .nef all return the same 'can't open this file' result. I'm anxious to begin learning and using Lr and Ps, but I'd also like to begin working with some of the .nef files I've already amassed.

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gary_sc

Community Expert

Have you tried double-clicking the nef files? It SHOULD open up ACR automatically. I wonder if there's something wrong with your instillation?

As an insert here, what operating system are you using and which version?

Meanwhile, I would like you to download one more application, Adobe Bridge. It is also included with the Photoshop Plan (but it's not flashy-showy so it doesn't get all the press). Simply, Adobe Bridge is an image viewer and lets you see all of your images before starting to open them up.

Digital asset management software | Download free Adobe Bridge CC trial

The reason why I'm suggesting this is that it SHOULD be very easy to your nef files from Bridge. IF you're still having issues, than there is something wrong with your instillation and you MAY need to Uninstall PS and re-install.

After installing Bridge, open a folder in Bridge that has nef files. Double-click on one of these. If nothing happens, right-click on one of the nef files and select Open in Camera Raw. If you do not see that, than there is probably something wrong with your instillation.

IF YOU NEED TO REMOVE AND REPLACE PHOTOSHOP

IMPORTANT: do not simply place PS or the PS folder in the trash. within the PS folder is an application called "Uninstall PS." Use that. Then re-install by going to the ACC app and select "Install" from the dropdown menu.

Sorry for the delay but I've been busy this morning, keep in touch!

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J

johnr58075967Author

Participating Frequently

Thank you, Gary. I am kind of new to Ps and Lr, so no apologies necessary. So, is there something called "Adobe Camera Raw" that I must install? I'm not seeing an "open in ACR"-type option anywhere?

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JP Hess

Inspiring

The D7500 has been supported since Lightroom 6 .12 and Camera Raw 9.12. What version of Lightroom the you have, and what version of Photoshop do you have?

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gary_sc

Community Expert

HI John,

How are you trying to do this?

(Forgive me if I'm writing like you are not knowledgeable about any of the following, you very well may be but I do not know this yet.)

Neither LR nor PS can "open" a raw file. What happens is that in the case of PS, the nef file is first opened by Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) which translates the raw data into information that PS knows how to deal with. From within the ACR window, after you've adjusted the file as much as you want to, there is an option on the bottom right to "Open" the file into PS.

In a completely different manner, you "Import" all images into LR so the LR catalog can catalog all of the changes that were made in that file. All processing of any image (jpg, tif, raw) are done from within the LR environment.

I'm keeping this brief right now to find out where you are and what you are expecting.

Let us know,

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