Nikon D3200 in PS CS5?

[LWAA]

I just got a Nikon D3200, but my photoshop (CS5 pro, mac) won't let me open the raw NEF files. I found an update to camera raw on the adobe site tht includes the D3200, but it seems that it's not CS5 compatible. I cannot justify upgrading to CS6 just to get the raw import option. Is there a way to enable D3200 raw files import in CS5?

thanks

[JP Hess]

Your camera was not added until version 7.1, which is only compatible with Photoshop CS6. If you don't want to upgrade then you can download the DNG converter version 7.1 and convert your files to DNG (Digital negative) format, and then those will open with the Camera Raw that you have now.

[LWAA]

thanks, will do. This is aggravating though. I simply cannot afford the upgrade, just so I can use the raw feature. I upgraded to CS5, but still use only the features I used in CS. I use photoshop a lot, but have no need for most of the new stuff.

[JP Hess]

I had that same argument until I finally broke down and purchased Photoshop CS6. It really does have a lot of new features that I'm finding that I enjoy using with my photography. I have been spending time on Lynda.com going through a lot of tutorials. There are features that I haven't used, and new features that I find really enhance what I'm doing. In my opinion the upgrade is worth it if it doesn't hit your pocketbook too hard.

As long as the camera manufacturers insist on using these proprietary raw file formats we will be faced with this problem of updating the software. There's just no way around it. The trouble is that the cameras sell, the people aren't voicing their frustration to the right place. The camera companies have got us by the throat, and we seem to be willing to just sit there and take it.

The DNG converter does a good job. It's free and simple to use as long as you remember one little point. When you browse for a location using the converter, only choose the folder. If you open the folder that contains your raw files then the converter will tell you there are no files to convert. It is FOLDER based, not individual file-based.

[Noel Carboni]

The increased conversion quality of Camera Raw 7 is worth the upgrade price alone.

If you keep buying new cameras you should figure that you'll keep buying new software too.  That's just a fact of life.

That said, the free DNG converter option could work for you if you really, really can't upgrade...  It goes like this:

1.  Shoot raw photos.

2.  Load the raw files to your computer.

3.  Run DNG Converter 7.1 or newer (on the folder containing the files, as Jim said) to convert the whole set from .NEF to .DNG.

4.  Open the .DNG files with Photoshop CS5's Camera Raw converter.

-Noel

[JP Hess]

What Noel said about the new Camera Raw is indisputable. Like you, I was convinced that I could stay with CS5 and be satisfied. After all, I have older camera models (Nikon D40 and D90), and they were fully supported in CS5. But the new Camera Raw is so far advanced and superior to previous versions that it is definitely well worth the price of the upgrade to have it. You purchased a nice camera. You would make a good choice to have software that will maximize your camera's potential.

[Noel Carboni]

To add to what Jim said, I've made far better results out of some of the very same raw files I had from before, and had processed then using older versions of Camera Raw.  This version, for example, makes use of all the exposure headroom there is in the raw data, so places that were hopelessly overexposed before aren't so hopeless.

-Noel

[AG2011b143]

thanks everyone. It's not just the $400+ I would need to find to upgrade, it's the principle - Adobe's greed in making people upgrade just to enable access to a newer Camera Raw. They could have made it compatible with CS5 and made a lot of people happy, whereas they took the $$ route and pissed a lot of people off.

If I could buy a new camera Raw for CS5 for say $50, I would. But $400+ is another matter entirely. For now, I'll stick with the free DNG convertor.

Thanks again.

[JP Hess]

Please, don't try to go down this road.  It has been beaten to death in this forum.  Your frustration is noted, but it's not going to change Adobe policy and program development.  Your choices are to upgrade or to use the free DNG converter.  Those are the answers.  And in spite of your frustration about Adobe policy, it isn't going to change.

[Noel Carboni]

AG2011b143 wrote:

it's the principle - Adobe's greed

Yeah, the nerve of companies that want you to pay for their products!

Can you please tell me who you talked to at the camera company who provided you a free upgrade to the new camera?  Thanks.

-Noel

[LWAA]

haha you're so funny.

I'm not complaining about paying for their products, if you bother reading my message. I'm complaining that they don't make updates to camera Raw compatible with older versions of Photoshop thus forcing people to spend hundreds of dollars just so they can access one plug in.

[Jeff Schewe]

LWAA wrote:

I'm complaining that they don't make updates to camera Raw compatible with older versions of Photoshop thus forcing people to spend hundreds of dollars just so they can access one plug in.

What part of using the FREE DNG Converter to convert your raw files don't you understand? You are forced to upgrade if you want the most recent raw image processing available in Camera Raw 7.x but you can convert to DNG and use those files all the way back to Photoshop CS.

(BTW, scroll down to the Downloads section and choose Mac or PC)

[Noel Carboni]

Adobe is a software company.  What products do you think they have if not Photoshop?  Camera Raw is simply not a stand alone product.

Face it:  The version of Photoshop and Camera Raw you have do exactly what they did when you bought them, if not a little more, and back then you felt they were worth the price.  If you buy new hardware, why would you not expect to need new software to support it?  That's just the way it is.

Yeah, it would be oh so generous of them if they'd treat their existing customers as well as they treat prospective new ones.  It might actually be better if there were some competition they had to beat to get your repeat business.

thus forcing people to spend hundreds of dollars

Not to be a stickler on language, but if you find a way - outside of being the Government or a criminal - to "force" people to spend money, do please let me know. 

-Noel

[chewey123456]

There is one more option: Nikon Capture NX (or NX2), which is sometimes shipped free with Nikon DSLR(s), should be a lot less expensive than CS6, and which works with *all* Nikon .NEF files that I have (D800, D300s, D3200, D40X); granted Capture is not ACR but fairly complete for "typical" RAW work w/o ACR (what I really miss is "Exposure" adjustments) before you save to .JPG or .TIF for further post-processing.