Microsoft has released a Camera Codec Pack that (finally) allows you to view RAW files from a variety of cameras when browsing through Windows Explorer. This is a really nice addition for photographers on the Windows platform.
Kudos to Microsoft.
Note that this is for Windows 7 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2.
I requires Windows Vista Service Pack 2 for you 64 bit vista users. I do have the service pack loaded and it did not detect or load.
Unfortunately the pack does only half its work on my system – W7, 64-bit, only a few weeks old, fully patched, default settings – in that it shows my NEFs in Windows Live Gallery but no thumbnails in Windows Explorer. The NEFs are from supported cameras, D1x, D2x, D200, most of them [haven’t checked every one of them, too many] gone through Nikon CNX/2.
Curiously I also saw DNGs [from CRW, Canon G2] without thumbnails, only the generic one for the associated application is shown.
Works with me!!
Works fine with Canon 5D Mark 2, however not for my Canon S95 which is not supported.
I hope MS will add newer cameras on a regular basis!
The codec pack is an update , it has been out for a while but still doesn’t support everything (DNG being the obvious one). There are some good 3rd party codec providers (some free, some not). [See this from a couple of years ago http://blogs.technet.com/b/jamesone/archive/2009/09/14/how-to-view-raw-image-files-on-windows-7-and-windows-vista.aspx ]
I found the problem, I installed the wrong codec. Since my system is based upon an Intel chip, the i7-2600K, I surmised I should download the ‘appropriate’ file labelled with the Intel structure code, not the one having AMD in its name.
Now I see NEF thumbnails in Windows Explorer.
The MicrosoftCodecPack_x86.msi is for 32 Bit Windows. The AMD labeled file is for 64 Bit Windows. Basically AMD was the first to use 64 Bit CPUs in desktop Windows so even Intel follows it’s structure code for 64 Bit.
Damn, no support for Sony A580 or Minolta 5D :-(
Has anyone gotten this to work with Minolta 5D .MRW raw files? Bummer since that’s what I mainly shoot with but I’m a tiny minority. It does work well for everything else.