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RAW on Nikon D5000 - help please

ChaKiraChaKira Registered Users Posts: 163 Major grins
edited April 17, 2011 in Finishing School
I have the Nikon D5000 and would like to try RAW processing but don't know how... anyone got ideas?

Please use simple words... :D
Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened - Anatole France

Megan Amelia Photography

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    RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,937 moderator
    edited April 16, 2011
    OK, the first step is to set your camera so that it produces raw files instead of JPGs. Look at page 62 of the manual to see how to get to the right menu setting. Once you have made this change, you will get NEF (Nikon's name for raw) files.

    You can transfer files from the card to your computer as you normally do. You will need software that can read the raw files. Lightroom, Photoshop, Elements, Picasa and others all support Nikon raw format, so chances are you already have what you need. Your camera probably came with software that can do the job. When you are done adjusting the pics, you can save your results as a JPG. You will end up with two files for every pic--the finished version (JPG) and the original (NEF). Think of the NEF as a negative in the film days.

    That's really all you need to get started. You'll have to learn how to use the raw processing software, of course, but there's online help and tutorials for most of the popular packages. And you can always ask for help here on Dgrin if you get stuck. thumb.gif
    My Pics
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    PupatorPupator Registered Users Posts: 2,322 Major grins
    edited April 16, 2011
    A good place to start, after reading and following Richard's steps above, is with the raw processing software that came with the camera. That'll give you some idea of what you can do with raw, and then you might want to upgrade to Lightroom or PS.
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    newbnewb Registered Users Posts: 186 Major grins
    edited April 16, 2011
    UFRaw is a great, free RAW processing program. You can also make simple adjustments with it.
    D7000/D5000 | Nikkor Glass | SB600's | RF602's | CS5/LR3
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    ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 23,903 moderator
    edited April 16, 2011
    I moved this to the Technique forum because it appears directed towards process and procedure of RAW file treatment.

    ChaKira, what RAW processing software do you have available and on what computer platform?

    How do you hope to benefit from RAW image processing, or would you like to know the benefits?
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,698 moderator
    edited April 17, 2011
    Ziggy, this is about post processing, not shooting, and thus, I have bumped it on to Finishing School.

    For RAW processing, Lightroom3 is hard to beat, once you feel you want more features than offered by OEM software.
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    ChaKiraChaKira Registered Users Posts: 163 Major grins
    edited April 17, 2011
    I'd like to know the benefits.
    I'm very new at this and I've heard it's better to shoot in RAW.

    Thanks for your help
    Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened - Anatole France

    Megan Amelia Photography
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    pathfinderpathfinder Super Moderators Posts: 14,698 moderator
    edited April 17, 2011
    Lightroom 2 is a RAW engine, image editor, and image file database. Everything you need for global editing, and some local editing via the adjustment brushes as well.

    Google is your friend - Google "Review of Lightroom 3" -> http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/adobelightroom3/ and http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2010/06/adobe-lightroom-3-review.ars/ and http://photo.net/equipment/software/adobe/lightroom-3/review/ and http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/software/lr-3-beta.shtml

    A few suggestions on how to learn to fly this new jet airplane - http://johnbirchphotography.blogspot.com/2010/09/overview-of-lightroom-3-video-tutorials.html

    Note to readers, I use Lightroom3 as my primary image editing vehicle, and CS4 and CS 5 for images that need local edits or HDRs as well. ( ie: I am a biased source! thumb.gif)
    Pathfinder - www.pathfinder.smugmug.com

    Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
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    arodneyarodney Registered Users Posts: 2,005 Major grins
    edited April 17, 2011
    ChaKira wrote: »
    I'd like to know the benefits.
    I'm very new at this and I've heard it's better to shoot in RAW.

    Start here (long but worth the read):
    http://wwwimages.adobe.com/www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/family/prophotographer/pdfs/pscs3_renderprint.pdf
    Andrew Rodney
    Author "Color Management for Photographers"
    http://www.digitaldog.net/
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