RAW on Nikon D5000 - help please

ChaKira

I have the Nikon D5000 and would like to try RAW processing but don't know how... anyone got ideas?

Please use simple words...

Richard

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.

Pupator

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.

newb

UFRaw is a great, free RAW processing program. You can also make simple adjustments with it.

ziggy53

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?

pathfinder

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.

ChaKira

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

pathfinder

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! )

arodney

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