NEF files from Nikon D750 do not open as RAW

[Jillj]

I have been using Nikon D750 and Affinity Photo on iPad Pro for 18 months and always shoot in RAW only, to keep editting options open. I recently found that the Nikon WMU wireless software only imports the entire RAW image file if i select only one to import. Otherwise it extracts the embedded JPEG images and puts those in Photos. So very slow and frustrating.

But worse, if i do import the RAW image i cannot find it in any location that Affinity will open it from.

using a cable to import directly from the SD card is hopelessly slow, over 30 minutes to see thumbnails from a 64Gb card. And they werent visible to Affinity either.

i did find a tortuous route to get the NEF file onto iCloud Drive , rather than Photos, and that turned out to be visible to Affinity and opened as RAW in the Develop persona ! But the whole process is not acceptable for a serious user.

So, next option, buy a Macbook !!! And Affinity of course. Mac OS is Catalina.

so the Photos on the iPad , jpegs only of course, are synced via iCloud Photos, but what about the NEF files? 

Connecting the camera or the SD card to the Mac enables me quickly to select and import the NEF files into a chosen album in the Photos library.  Looking good so far! 

Affinity on the Mac will let me select an image from that album, which appears to be .NEF and open it.

BUT the image is NOT opened in the Develop persona as RAW, and in fact appears to be a TIFF file image, or sometimes a strangely named jpeg image.

In trying to find the issue i tried to load those few images on the iCloud Drive and they do open as RAW!

So is the behaviour what you expect when opening a RAW from Photos library???

and if so why is it different from opening from the iCloud Drive???

There is no simple way to import multiple images from the camera to iCloud Drive so what is your expected route from camera to editting ???

 

[Dan C]

Hi Jillj,

Welcome to the forums

I'd just like to confirm before continuing - are you asking for information for the iPad version, the Desktop version, or both?

[Jillj]

Since I will be retaining the iPad Pro and using the MacBook , then the question is for both platforms.

what is the process to get RAW images from a camera into RAW editing in Affinity

[Dan C]

Thanks for confirming that for me.

In regards to your iPad, Affinity can open RAW files from either your Local Storage, a Cloud service (such as iCloud, Dropbox etc) or directly from your Photos library. 

On 10/30/2019 at 8:51 PM, Jillj said:

But worse, if i do import the RAW image i cannot find it in any location that Affinity will open it from.

The method you use to transfer your RAW files from your camera to your iPad is down to user preference, but could you please confirm where these RAW files were stored, and how you tried to access them in Affinity?

I recommend checking out the following tutorials for the iPad in regards to opening images/documents and RAW development -

https://affinity.serif.com/tutorials/photo/ipad/video/284906829/

https://affinity.serif.com/tutorials/photo/ipad/video/287222864/

On 10/30/2019 at 8:51 PM, Jillj said:

so the Photos on the iPad , jpegs only of course, are synced via iCloud Photos, but what about the NEF files? 

You can change your Photos settings (on both your iPad and Mac) to sync the RAW files, rather than the embedded JPEGs -

Quote

 To download the original photos and videos on your iOS device, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Photos and select Download and Keep Originals. On your Mac, open Photos, choose Photos > Preferences, then select Download Originals to this Mac

If you don't wish to use Photos you can certainly connect your camera to your Mac directly, then copy your files from your camera to any location on your Mac - such as Documents.

Now you can either use File>Open from within Affinity and navigate to the folder where your RAW files are located, or alternatively you can drag and drop a file from Finder directly into Affinity. Provided you have selected a RAW file, it will always open in the Develop Persona.

On 10/30/2019 at 8:51 PM, Jillj said:

Affinity on the Mac will let me select an image from that album, which appears to be .NEF and open it.

 BUT the image is NOT opened in the Develop persona as RAW, and in fact appears to be a TIFF file image, or sometimes a strangely named jpeg image.

Does this happen with any RAW file you try to open, or only certain ones? Are you certain you're selecting a RAW file, and not a raster image generated by the camera?