Difference between revisions of "Nikon Electronic Format"

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***Adobe provides a free (but not open-source) [http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/ Adobe DNG Converter] designed for downloading to Windows or Mac computers.
 
***Adobe provides a free (but not open-source) [http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/ Adobe DNG Converter] designed for downloading to Windows or Mac computers.
 
***An open-source option for converting RAW image files to DNG is [http://www.digikam.org/ DigiKam].
 
***An open-source option for converting RAW image files to DNG is [http://www.digikam.org/ DigiKam].
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*Another preservation option is conversion to JPEG2000.
  
 
===Conversion test results===
 
===Conversion test results===
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*NEF is a raw (i.e. pre-processed) image format produced by Nikon cameras.
 
*NEF is a raw (i.e. pre-processed) image format produced by Nikon cameras.
 
*Information on NEF files is available at [http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000241.shtml Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: Camera Raw Formats].
 
*Information on NEF files is available at [http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000241.shtml Library of Congress Sustainability of Digital Formats: Camera Raw Formats].
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*For more information on JPEG2000 see [http://www.updig.org/guidelines/ph_archiving.html Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines: Archiving] and [http://www.dpconline.org/docs/reports/dpctw08-01.pdf Technology Watch Support:JPEG 2000 - a Practical Digital Preservation Standard? Digital Preservation Coalition 2008].
  
  
 
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__NOTOC__

Revision as of 13:24, 4 February 2010

Main Page > Documentation > Format-specific preservation plans > Nikon Electronic Format


Also known as

  • NEF
  • Nikon Image Format
  • Nikon Digital SLR Camera Raw Image File

File extension(s)

  • .nef

Format registry information

Significant properties

Preservation action plan

Preservation issues

  • NEF is a proprietary format with an unpublished specification.
  • NEF files can be very large - 70 MB or more.
  • Xena incorrectly guesses the file type as TIFF and normalizes as it would a TIFF, with the result that a very large file (e.g. 70 MB) is normalized to a very small one (eg. 250 KB) with considerable loss of data. Changes to the raw file (ie: alterations done in image editing software) are stored in a separate XMP file, which Xena also does not recognize, and does not normalize together. This means that any edits added by the creator are removed.
  • Possible preservation plan is normalization to Adobe Digital Negative (DNG) format
    • Library of Congress states that Adobe Digital Negative (DNG), Version 1.1 may be emerging as a standard preservation format for raw camera images.
      • Adobe provides a free (but not open-source) Adobe DNG Converter designed for downloading to Windows or Mac computers.
      • An open-source option for converting RAW image files to DNG is DigiKam.
  • Another preservation option is conversion to JPEG2000.

Conversion test results

Access format

More information