Lightweight photo viewer app (for use on a low-power MS tablet) to view Z RAW files

[sirhawkeye64]

Are there any light photo viewer apps that can view Nikon Z RAW files on a low-powered Microsoft Surface tablet?

I know Windows Photos can read the JPEG previews but would prefer something that can open the actual RAW file so I can zoom in (as the embedded JPEGs are often times very reduced in terms of IQ and size for obvious reasons).

The tablet I have would be a Surface Go with 8GB of memory and 128GB of s torage (with Windows 10) so this tablet will be used for backing up photos and viewing them (but obviously not editing). I was thinking of just trying NX Studio even though it technically requires something like a core i3 which I don't think the tablet has (but someone told me the difference between the i3 in those tablets and the Pentium Gold is marginal from a performance standpoint and that integrated video is about the same).

Suggestions?

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[PLShutterbug]

Are there any light photo viewer apps that can view Nikon Z RAW files on a low-powered Microsoft Surface tablet?

I know Windows Photos can read the JPEG previews but would prefer something that can open the actual RAW file so I can zoom in (as the embedded JPEGs are often times very reduced in terms of IQ and size for obvious reasons).

The tablet I have would be a Surface Go with 8GB of memory and 128GB of s torage (with Windows 10) so this tablet will be used for backing up photos and viewing them (but obviously not editing). I was thinking of just trying NX Studio even though it technically requires something like a core i3 which I don't think the tablet has (but someone told me the difference between the i3 in those tablets and the Pentium Gold is marginal from a performance standpoint and that integrated video is about the same).

Suggestions?

There is a RAW codec for Windows. If you use that you should be able to view the files with anything.

I have used IrfanView for years to view graphic files including RAW files. Since I always download the codec I don’t know if it has native RAW support or is using the codec.

 

[Bennvdm]

You can try fastrawviewer, but might struggle with 45mp raw files. Has free trial.

I use this pre-import like photomechanic, but much cheaper to buy. No editing like photomechnic.

On he* only shows embedded jpg, but raw file on lossless compressed.

 

[I a n]

I don't have experience with a surface but I'm pretty sure it can run Irfanview: https://www.irfanview.com/

It is pretty quick too I use it to pick through large numbers of images efficiently when they are not already imported into Capture One

 

[AlainCh2]

Are there any light photo viewer apps that can view Nikon Z RAW files on a low-powered Microsoft Surface tablet?

I know Windows Photos can read the JPEG previews but would prefer something that can open the actual RAW file so I can zoom in (as the embedded JPEGs are often times very reduced in terms of IQ and size for obvious reasons).

The tablet I have would be a Surface Go with 8GB of memory and 128GB of s torage (with Windows 10) so this tablet will be used for backing up photos and viewing them (but obviously not editing). I was thinking of just trying NX Studio even though it technically requires something like a core i3 which I don't think the tablet has (but someone told me the difference between the i3 in those tablets and the Pentium Gold is marginal from a performance standpoint and that integrated video is about the same).

Suggestions?

I solved natively the issue in File Explore.

Here is the NEF driver from NIKON


There is an MS driver for HEIF
to download somewhere in the Microsoft garbage can .

AS Viewers :

I use both: XnViewMP & FastStone

Both read the Exif, each has its own peculiarities.

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Photography ... It is about how that thing looks when photographed..
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[sirhawkeye64]

I don't have experience with a surface but I'm pretty sure it can run Irfanview: https://www.irfanview.com/

It is pretty quick too I use it to pick through large numbers of images efficiently when they are not already imported into Capture One

I've used that before on various systems, but the big question would be if it can read a Nikon Z RAW file or not....

 

[Bruno Zarokian]

FastRawViewer is indeed impressively fast (I believe the fastest by a margin) and lightweight, I used it extensively, lots of very neat visual helpers to cull faster, but the lack of he /he* support killed it for me since I got a Z8. There doesn't seem to be any timeline for when (if) it will be supported.

 

[PLShutterbug]

I don't have experience with a surface but I'm pretty sure it can run Irfanview: https://www.irfanview.com/

It is pretty quick too I use it to pick through large numbers of images efficiently when they are not already imported into Capture One

I've used that before on various systems, but the big question would be if it can read a Nikon Z RAW file or not....

Yes, it can.

 

[quattro88]

I have used FastStone for a few years when my shots needed just a quick fix and I had no time to open the Lightroom. It's a great app and I recommend it. It opens .nef files and saves them as jpgs. It has many functions that allow you to perform a basic post-processing of your photos. It's not a Lightroom, but it's free.