Inexpensive alternatives to open D90 nef files

[mudd]

Hey all,

I prefer to shoot in raw, but as a student I don't want to spend a lot of money on a graphics program to open them at this time. I know I can use NX2, lightoom and photoshop, but I'm wondering if there are any cheap or even free programs that might open the .nef and at least convert to .jpg? Once I graduate and am gainfully employed I'll get CS3, but right now I'm looking for cheap So at a minimum, something that converts to .jpg. Really nice would be something that also lets me crop...

(I'm looking for a solution that can last about a year, so the 30/60 day trials wont completely solve my problem. I've also looked at the student versions of photoshop which are a great deal for my future purchase, but still high for my current (lack of) cash flows :-)

Thanks for any suggestions.

[OldClicker]

Doesn't Nikon include a basic RAW converter with the camera? - TF

[Franglais]

Nikon ViewNX should have been delivered with the camera (otherwise it's a free download). This should allow you to make minimum changes to the file (white balance, exposure) and save it as a JPG or TIFF. (I'm copying this from the Nikon web site. I have NX2 and I've never used the other software).

The ACDSee editor can modify (including reframe) NEF files from my D300 and I believe there's an update for the D90. But you can't save as a NEF, only as an ACDSee-supported format (JPG etc).

The result from ACDSee doesn't look as good as the one from NX2 to my eyes. If I were you I would stick to Nikon software for RAW conversion. The RAW format is proprietary information and third parties have to try to figure out the conversion for themselves.

[mudd]

Thank you, ViewNX works perfectly.

[mjs1973]

Sounds like you already found your solution but I wanted to mention this anyway. You said you are a student, I'm assuming college? If so look to see what's available for students at a discount. You may be able to get the full version of Photoshop or Lightroom pretty cheap.

[Frog]

RawTherapee is free. Supposed to be quite good but I had trouble downloading it...my fault not the programs so I haven't actually used it yet. Going ot give it another go when time allows. http://www.rawtherapee.com/