PSE 2021 NEF files cant be open, cameraRaw doesnt work

[MartinZ6ii]

Dear Community,

I bought Elements and it seems to be a big mistake.

Unfortuneatly I cant open my NEF files from my Nikon Z6ii. Seems I have to download an extra Plugin named CameraRaw and it seems for the Z6ii it has te be min. CameraRaw 13.1

I downloaded and installed 13.1 but still no progress. I am frustrated and angry, seems to be a big nightmare. For 90€ I expect a working program and I want to spend my time with photos and not with reparing a new software.

Please help me!

Thank you

[Phil Pickering · Accepted solution]

Hi Martin,

Follow the instructions in this Adobe Knowledge Base article:

Update the Camera Raw version on your Mac or Windows machine

The Nikon Z6 II camera was released too late to be included in the last official Adobe Photoshop Elements Camera Raw update. You can download any version from 13.1 onwards and they will work with Photoshop Elements 2021 if you follow the exact steps in the workaround I've linked to.

And just to put matters straight, this has nothing to do with repairing broken software. This is all down to camera manufacturers arrogantly and selfishly pushing proprietary raw file formats instead of adopting a common raw file format such as DNG.

Hope that helps 🙂 

[MartinZ6ii]

Dear Phil DC,

thank you very much for your help. I nearly turned mad over my own search. Your link and explanation helped and I can open the NEF files now. You saved my day! 🙂