Software that will save raw files from D30

[ndschreiner]

I was told, when I change the format of a picture I lose some of the original picture, so I'm looking for software that will allow me to save raw files from my D30. ZoomBrowser seems to have a lot of problems on my computer. I tried BreezeBrowser but if I understand it corretly, it converts the files, but doesn't actually save them in raw. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Nate

[oops]

Hi, Nate. I think I understand what you want but if I stray please forgive me.

First, the D30 must be set to raw mode. This means that what comes out of your D30 will be a raw (as the sensors saw it) image which is un-edited by the camera.
The raw files will need to be converted by a program like BreezeBrowser into a useable format for editing, printing, e-mailing, etc.

With BreezeBrowser, you have several choices of conversion formats (jpg, tiff, etc.) and not all will lose pixels. In fact, a 16 bit tiff conversion will turn your 3 meg raw file into an 18 meg image. The jpg conversions, on the other hand, will reduce image pixels in varying degrees depending on your choice of resolution.

Now, to the original raw file that came from the camera and was converted by BreezeBrowser. It still exists, of course, and should be treated like a negative. You are correct to save this raw file in case you want to convert it again later. I simply store these on cd's and use ACDSee to keep track of my archives. This saves lots of hard drive space and puts them on a safer media. There are many software programs that do the same thing as ACDSee and lots of storage options besides cd. I have just opted to use what I have for now.

Hope this helps,
Chris

[soumya63]

ndschreiner wrote:
I'm looking for software that will allow me to save raw files from my D30.

To do this, you need no special software. Just take out the Compact Flash from your camera, pop it in a Compact Flash reader and copy all files with crw extension inside the DCIM/xxxxxx folder of your compact flash.

You may like to copy the thm extension files also as each of those thm file contains a jpeg image of the main raw file along with all exif information. They also speed up the quick thumbnail viewing of Breezebrowser and similar utilities.

[ndschreiner]

Hi - Chris, Thank you so much for the information. It was very simply put, easy to understand and very helpful. I am new to this digital camera and computer technology, so it is nice to get a reply from a knowledgable person who is not out to baffle me with a lot of impressive terms.
Thanks again! I appreciate the help.
Nate

[soumya63]

who is not out to baffle me with a lot of impressive terms.

Sorry, I never realized I have baffled you with common computer lingo like compact flash, folder etc. I just thought those information may be helpful for you. In fact I was about to provide you a link from Canon regarding this http://www.canon-europa.com/products/cameras/notices_dig_cam_users.html

but it may not be the right article for you. Hope this may be helpful for someone else :)

[ndschreiner]

To Soumya63 - I am very sorry you took that personal. That was NOT AT ALL intended for you. It was a comment on prior experiences I've had with several of these forums. I intended to thank you for your information as well, but I realized the time and had to rush off to my daughters Christmas party. Please accept my sincere apology. I found your information equally helpful and NOT AT ALL confusing.
Sincere Apology,
Nate

[oops]

Soumya63: Great link! This has been happening on my laptop and I didn't have a clue why. Thanks!

Chris