Why is my Mac so slow with NEF files?

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

MichaelJK said:

Even though it is sometimes painfully slow, I will still use
Capture for controlling my D70 from my iBook, for downloading
custom curves onto my D70 (I am not aware of any other software
that can do that), and for batch processing RAW files. For that
alone, the fairly inexpensive $99 charge has been worth it. Also,
its not so bad when you are working with just one RAW file at a
time.

Bottom line, Nikon software is very inefficient. I think if you
are using Photoshop to manipulate RAW files, you may be using
Nikon's RAW plugin, which bogs PS down. Not sure, but Nikon
software all seems to plagued by almost unbelievably poor
performance (although the features are great).

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

--
So many things to learn and so little time. Does that make me a
dilettante?

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Is it worth it, to shoot RAW, if it's so consuming to work with the
files afterwards? A D70 hi-res jpg, processed in Photoshop 7,
results in very nice photos that print quite well.

I'm new to NEF, to Nikon Capture, and thus to working with 12 or
16-bit files. Michael, it seems worth it to you -- you seem to
process in batch to cope with it. I'll have to see if it's worth
it to me, once I understand custom curves and all of the other
features offered in the (slow) NEF world.

-s-

MichaelJK said:

Even though it is sometimes painfully slow, I will still use
Capture for controlling my D70 from my iBook, for downloading
custom curves onto my D70 (I am not aware of any other software
that can do that), and for batch processing RAW files. For that
alone, the fairly inexpensive $99 charge has been worth it. Also,
its not so bad when you are working with just one RAW file at a
time.

Bottom line, Nikon software is very inefficient. I think if you
are using Photoshop to manipulate RAW files, you may be using
Nikon's RAW plugin, which bogs PS down. Not sure, but Nikon
software all seems to plagued by almost unbelievably poor
performance (although the features are great).

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

--
So many things to learn and so little time. Does that make me a
dilettante?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Dave McQueen said:

I have a 17" PowerBook 1.5GHz 1Gb RAM, I only shoot RAW and use
Photoshop CS. I use iPhoto to catalogue the files as they come in.
The only restriction in iPhoto, really is that it can't render
icons larger that 64x64 before they get jagged, but that's good
enough to know which file to open in the Photoshop browser.

I gave up on JPEG files when I discovered the level of control with
the RAW plug in. If you have anything better than the standard
speed CF card, the speed of writing and transfer should be fine.
Use a 1Gb card and you should get about 150 RAW inages (IIRC),
consideralbly more than the counter suggests.

Give RAW a good chance, I don't think you'll look back.

Steve Feldman said:

Is it worth it, to shoot RAW, if it's so consuming to work with the
files afterwards? A D70 hi-res jpg, processed in Photoshop 7,
results in very nice photos that print quite well.

I'm new to NEF, to Nikon Capture, and thus to working with 12 or
16-bit files. Michael, it seems worth it to you -- you seem to
process in batch to cope with it. I'll have to see if it's worth
it to me, once I understand custom curves and all of the other
features offered in the (slow) NEF world.

-s-

MichaelJK said:

Even though it is sometimes painfully slow, I will still use
Capture for controlling my D70 from my iBook, for downloading
custom curves onto my D70 (I am not aware of any other software
that can do that), and for batch processing RAW files. For that
alone, the fairly inexpensive $99 charge has been worth it. Also,
its not so bad when you are working with just one RAW file at a
time.

Bottom line, Nikon software is very inefficient. I think if you
are using Photoshop to manipulate RAW files, you may be using
Nikon's RAW plugin, which bogs PS down. Not sure, but Nikon
software all seems to plagued by almost unbelievably poor
performance (although the features are great).

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

--
So many things to learn and so little time. Does that make me a
dilettante?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Dave

D70
18-70 kit lens
105 Macro
75-300 push pull
Tamron 2x Teleconvertor
SB-800

Move quietly through life... like a fish

Grow or Die
Bob Wiseman

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Dave, does Photoshop CS work natively with NEF files? I assume
this is a newer version than Photoshop 7.0. Vers 7.0 is clumsy
with the Nikon RAW plugin. And as I said, Nikon Capture is slow
too.

Maybe I should upgrade to Photoshop CS?

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Maybe I should upgrade to Photoshop CS?

Dave McQueen said:

I have a 17" PowerBook 1.5GHz 1Gb RAM, I only shoot RAW and use
Photoshop CS. I use iPhoto to catalogue the files as they come in.
The only restriction in iPhoto, really is that it can't render
icons larger that 64x64 before they get jagged, but that's good
enough to know which file to open in the Photoshop browser.

I gave up on JPEG files when I discovered the level of control with
the RAW plug in. If you have anything better than the standard
speed CF card, the speed of writing and transfer should be fine.
Use a 1Gb card and you should get about 150 RAW inages (IIRC),
consideralbly more than the counter suggests.

Give RAW a good chance, I don't think you'll look back.

Steve Feldman said:

Is it worth it, to shoot RAW, if it's so consuming to work with the
files afterwards? A D70 hi-res jpg, processed in Photoshop 7,
results in very nice photos that print quite well.

I'm new to NEF, to Nikon Capture, and thus to working with 12 or
16-bit files. Michael, it seems worth it to you -- you seem to
process in batch to cope with it. I'll have to see if it's worth
it to me, once I understand custom curves and all of the other
features offered in the (slow) NEF world.

-s-

MichaelJK said:

Even though it is sometimes painfully slow, I will still use
Capture for controlling my D70 from my iBook, for downloading
custom curves onto my D70 (I am not aware of any other software
that can do that), and for batch processing RAW files. For that
alone, the fairly inexpensive $99 charge has been worth it. Also,
its not so bad when you are working with just one RAW file at a
time.

Bottom line, Nikon software is very inefficient. I think if you
are using Photoshop to manipulate RAW files, you may be using
Nikon's RAW plugin, which bogs PS down. Not sure, but Nikon
software all seems to plagued by almost unbelievably poor
performance (although the features are great).

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

--
So many things to learn and so little time. Does that make me a
dilettante?

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

--
Dave

D70
18-70 kit lens
105 Macro
75-300 push pull
Tamron 2x Teleconvertor
SB-800

Move quietly through life... like a fish

Grow or Die
Bob Wiseman

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

Click to expand...

Christopher Crawford said:

Yes it does but you have to remove the stupid nikon RAW plugin that
gets installed in Photoshop by Nikon capture (it gets installed
when you install capture). This plugin keeps Adobe's very
excellent Camera RAW plugin from working, and camera RAW is what
you want to use. It's fast and good and it is part of Photoshop CS

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

chiefhiawatha said:

chiefhiawatha said:

Yes it does but you have to remove the stupid nikon RAW plugin that
gets installed in Photoshop by Nikon capture (it gets installed
when you install capture). This plugin keeps Adobe's very
excellent Camera RAW plugin from working, and camera RAW is what
you want to use. It's fast and good and it is part of Photoshop CS

Click to expand...

It should be mentioned that Adobe's RAW plugin generates vastly
different images that Nikon Capture's. It ignores in-camera
sharpening, and the images are much flatter and in general lifeless
compared to Nikon Capture. Give it a try yourself, you will see.

Click to expand...

Joakim Edsjö said:

Joakim

PS. Running on a PB G4 1.5 GHz with 1 GB of memory.

Steve Feldman said:

Hi all,

I have an 800 Mhz G4 with 1 Gb memory. My main photo applications
are Photoshop 7 and Nikon View 6 (I also just got Nikon Capture
4.1).

For years, my Mac has been fine (and not perceivably slow) dealing
with .jpg files, no matter how big. I owned a CP8800 for a short
while; the hi-res .jpg files are actually larger (or the same size)
as my D70 NEF files.

I have no issues with .jpgs. For example, in Nikon View 6 I can
select a group of hi-res .jpg's and run a slide show .. from
picture to picture is very fast.

When I run the Nikon View slide show on NEF files, everything
crawls. Likewise, I find that using Nikon Capture on NEF's is too
slow, so slow that I cannot use it without being frustrated. Why
is my computer so slow with NEF's? Is it due to the complexity of
the NEF file itself .. that it stores 2 embedded .jpg files within
it?

Any help is appreciated. If I can't find a solution, I'm going to
sell my Nikon Capture software and go back to shooting hi-res .jpg
files.

-s-

Click to expand...

Click to expand...