[wjwncpro]

While cruising dpr I came across this thread and downloaded the free software. The Arcsoft viewer works with ist DS .pef's but not the K10D pef's.


From Dpreview;
John Upgood wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I thought I would pass this along. I was over at the Arcsoft web
> site looking around and saw a press release about a new free RAW
> thumbnail viewer plug-in for windows. They are giving this away
> free and it allows you to see thumbnails for RAW images in any
> program that allows you to view the open/save dialog boxes in
> thumbnail mode as well as Windows Explorer.
>
> Right now it doesn't support any Pentax camera (please e-mail them
> and ask them to do so, I just did). However, it does support DNG
> and I can tell you that it does work with the DNG files from the
> K10D. But, not the PEF.
>
> You can get more information and download it from:
>
> ArcSoft RAW Thumbnail Viewer
>
> John
>

From Dpreview;
wjwncpro wrote:
Thanks John for the link, the Arcsoft viewer works with ist DS .pef's

dpr thread link
Free RAW Thumbnail Viewing Software for Windows: Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

[davemdsn]

Microsoft offers it's own RAW thumbnailer, but it only supports "professional" formats. So far Microsoft only views Nikon and Canon as professional formats.

[WMBP]

Microsoft offers it's own RAW thumbnailer, but it only supports "professional" formats. So far Microsoft only views Nikon and Canon as professional formats.

ArcSoft also has a Raw workflow app that looks pretty good, at least as far as I can tell from the info on their web site. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any Pentax cameras.

I've been checking out every Raw workflow app in existence lately. I will almost certainly end up buying Adobe Lightroom when it's released (probably within the next few weeks). It's very good, but it also has the crucial (for me) advantage of being able to read the Raw files that my Pentax K100D produces. So many of the other good apps available cannot do this.

If there were just ONE THING that I'd like to see different about my camera, it would be that I'd like it to produce DNG Raw files rather than PEF. Just about every app out there supports all the Canon and Nikon cameras. Canon has the lion's share of the market, Nikon has the lioness's share, and the rest of the brands are hyenas who come in later to clean up what's left. I'd like my (lovely) hyena-brand camera to be able to pose as a lion cub and get better access to services.

Will

[NaClH2O]

Will, have you tried Adobe Camera Raw? I think it supports the K100 in it's latest iteration, but not the K10D yet.
I use it and have been fairly pleased with it.

NaCl(but it does require photoshop elements at the least)H2O

[davemdsn]

If you are a Photoshop user and can take advantage of getting upgrades for under $200 then I highly recommend checking out CS3 when it comes out this spring. I am using the beta right now and it has all of the features of Develop in LR but comes with an amazing upgrade to Photoshop as well. If you don't already have a version of Photoshop to upgrade it may not be worth the cost to buy into it when LR will be under $200, probably.

I am going to check out Lightroom's speed when v1 comes out. B4.1 is too slow when I get more than a couple thousand images into it. I'm definitely getting CS3.

[WMBP]

Will, have you tried Adobe Camera Raw? I think it supports the K100 in it's latest iteration, but not the K10D yet.
I use it and have been fairly pleased with it.

I think ACR is essentially what is being used in Adobe Lightroom, which is what I'm using now. I like Lightroom pretty well and will almost certainly stick with it. I have Photoshop Elements and have years of experience with Photoshop itself in the past, but I don't like, need or want all those Photoshop controls. what Lightroom offers is just about perfect for me.

Getting my images into Lightroom could not be easier. I mount the SD card, copy the images (using Windows Explorer), then open Lightroom and import the folder by reference. That's it. I can then post-process the Raw files in Lightroom and when I'm ready, I export them to JPEGs.

Will

[Dana G]

To see thumbnails in Windows Explorer all you need is a registry hack to look at the embedded jpeg files inside the RAW file.

Here's the hack. Save it as a text file with a .reg extension. Then double click on it:

-------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dng\ShellEx\{BB2E617C-0920-11d1-9A0B-00C04FC2D6C1}]
@="{3F30C968-480A-4C6C-862D-EFC0897BB84B}"

[WMBP]

To see thumbnails in Windows Explorer all you need is a registry hack to look at the embedded jpeg files inside the RAW file.

Do the PEF files created by my K100D have JPEGs inside them? I have never heard that. I have heard of other cameras that save both Raw and JPEG files when you shoot, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're talking about.

I'd love to be able to see those previews in Windows, but like most sane folks, I'm a bit skittish about hacking the registry. :-)

Will

[roy]

this works great for me. why fix it if it aint broke.
Welcome to Digital Picture Magic

[rfortson]

Do the PEF files created by my K100D have JPEGs inside them? I have never heard that. I have heard of other cameras that save both Raw and JPEG files when you shoot, but it doesn't sound like that's what you're talking about.

I'd love to be able to see those previews in Windows, but like most sane folks, I'm a bit skittish about hacking the registry. :-)

Will

Yes, the raw files have a jpeg embedded with them. You can quickly extract the jpeg using Photobrowser. It's different from the raw+jpg offered by other cameras in that you don't get two separate files. The registry hack just pulls the jpeg out into a thumbnail view. If you're worried about the registry hack, just set up a restore point just before you try it. If it doesn't work out, just do a system restore.

[natt1201]

As far as I know ArcSoft is not succesfull for all Pentax models to generate thumbnails. Therefore I was searching for some different plugin and Ive found this one which is also free:

http://www.nama5.com