Opening PEF Files

SpecialK · 12-02-2017, 11:17 PM - **1 Like**

I also would recommend FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ... which is free. It has many utilities that are handy.

Not a Number · 12-04-2017, 07:19 AM

Originally posted by PDL

Here we go again.
Microsoft DOES NOT WRITE CODEC'S FOR CAMERA MANUFACTURES.
It is Ricoh's responsibility to provide CODEC's the last Codec for PEF file was written by HOYA.
What happened to PEF support in Windows. - PentaxForums.com

Window 10 natively supports PEF files (showing thumbnails) up to the K-5.

Why to the Microsoft camera packs for Window 7, 8 and 8.1 say they add support for certain Pentax models?

PDL · 12-04-2017, 03:10 PM

There was a time when Manufactures supported their own codec's and had links at the Microsoft web site starting with Windows Vista and WIC (Windows Image Component). When - in the case of Pentax - Hoya released the codec for PEF files (still available at the Ricoh site) it supported the cameras listed in the previous posts.

With Windows 7 and 8.x Microsoft had the RAW camera codec pack, which they stopped supporting. Microsoft actually had a third party gather the various codecs from the manufacturers and put them into the RAW camera codec. For some reason both the third party and Microsoft stopped creating the codec pack. On my three Windows 10 devices (all running the current Fall Creators Update) do NOT show thumbnail previews, icons for my K-3II PEF files. I even had to go back to the 32 bit codec to get them to read my *ist Ds, K10D and K20D that I have on disk. Oh - and two of the three have been bare metal re-installs of Windows 10 (to the point where I had to reformat the C: drive in order to get Windows 10 back up and running due to hard drive failure, memory failure - not really Windows 10 OS issues) After reinstalling with nothing but the OS and connecting to external/NAS drives containing the original PEF files, Windows 10 did not see PEF or DNG files in explorer without the codec.

Ricoh does not supply a codex for K-3II PEF files or any "Newer" Pentax camera after they acquired Pentax from Hoya and I suspect they never will. Ricoh has left its RAW format up to Adobe and DNG PEF is abandonware on the Windows platform. The support for PEF files is Ricoh's responsibility and they have dropped the ball. Other manufacturers have dropped the ball too. Do a search for Canon, Nikon, Fuji etc. and you will find that codec's for later cameras are sorely missing.

To reiterate - Microsoft DOES NOT WRITE CODEC'S FOR CAMERA MANUFACTURES.

E1R2F3 · 01-31-2021, 11:23 AM

Comparing the Faststone PEF Viewer and the Ricoh Digital Camera Utility 5 for Windows, I would say that the Ricoh Pentax Digital Camera Utility 5 for Windows renders the image better and as close as possible in color to what CaptureOne20 renders in my Adobe calibrated Lenovo P32 display tested today 01/31/2021. Test images are attached. The attached _IMG0050.jpg image is the SRGB converted image from the original PEF raw file captured in Adobe RGB color space.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

tibbitts · 01-31-2021, 11:45 AM

Originally posted by Ducky13

Hi All,

I recently got myself a KP & have been shooting in RAW, but I can't open the PEF files on my Windows PC. I don't do any major post processing & hence don't own Photoshop or Lightroom. How can I open the PEF files on the Windows photo viewer? Is there a plugin that I can download or do I need a special program to view them? If the latter then could you please recommend one that's free?

Thanks,
Ducky

One that's "free" is the one that was included when you bought your KP, assuming you bought it new.

Otherwise there are free alternatives as others have mentioned; everyone has different preferences for free or fee-based software.

I like Faststone and have contributed to the developers. I use it often for browsing but definitely never now for raw conversion. At least for me it just doesn't seem to produce the same dynamic range as some other programs.

pschlute · 01-31-2021, 12:42 PM

Originally posted by E1R2F3

The attached _IMG0050.jpg image is the SRGB converted image from the original PEF raw file captured in Adobe RGB color space.

A PEF, or any raw file for that matter, does not have a colour space. It is impossible to capture a raw image in a specific colour space like AdobeRGB.

tibbitts · 02-01-2021, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by pschlute

A PEF, or any raw file for that matter, does not have a colour space. It is impossible to capture a raw image in a specific colour space like AdobeRGB.

Maybe because I haven't done any serious printing (as in ordering prints) for a decade or two, I haven't thought that much about this, but I have some new software that, when I edit a Pentax DNG, issues a warning that it "can't preserve the embedded color profile" when saving to a format like PNG. I've not seen this from any other software. So I ran Imagemagick to try to see if there was any embedded color information in the DNG, and found "sRGB." I don't know if that refers to a thumbnail or ... well in any case, it seems like somewhere in the raw file there's some color profile information.

pschlute · 02-01-2021, 01:00 PM

Originally posted by tibbitts

" I don't know if that refers to a thumbnail or ... well in any case, it seems like somewhere in the raw file there's some color profile information.

Within every raw file there is a preview image. This image has been developed/produced from the raw data and will be dependent on the camera/setting used. It could be a jpeg or tiff. It could have a sRGB or AdobeRGB colour space. This is the image you see on your lcd screen after to capture an image in raw format.

Raw files themselves are not image files, and as such have no colour space. Image files like jpeg and tiff have colour spaces.

tibbitts · 02-01-2021, 02:18 PM

Originally posted by pschlute

Within every raw file there is a preview image. This image has been developed/produced from the raw data and will be dependent on the camera/setting used. It could be a jpeg or tiff. It could have a sRGB or AdobeRGB colour space. This is the image you see on your lcd screen after to capture an image in raw format.

Raw files themselves are not image files, and as such have no colour space. Image files like jpeg and tiff have colour spaces.

So it might be that the preview image, which I referred to as a thumbnail, could be what the software is referring to as the color profile that can't be preserved, although ever since I wrote that, the last few images I've saved haven't generated any error messages.

pschlute · 02-02-2021, 12:29 AM

Originally posted by tibbitts

So it might be that the preview image, which I referred to as a thumbnail, could be what the software is referring to as the color profile that can't be preserved

What software are you using ?

tibbitts · 02-02-2021, 08:17 AM

Originally posted by pschlute

What software are you using ?

Acdsee Editor, v11.

Wheatfield · 02-02-2021, 10:10 AM

Originally posted by Ducky13

Hi All,

I recently got myself a KP & have been shooting in RAW, but I can't open the PEF files on my Windows PC. I don't do any major post processing & hence don't own Photoshop or Lightroom. How can I open the PEF files on the Windows photo viewer? Is there a plugin that I can download or do I need a special program to view them? If the latter then could you please recommend one that's free?

Thanks,
Ducky

The CD that came with your camera does have software on it that will unscramble the raw files from your camera. It won't make Windows Photo Viewer work, but it will let you brows your PEF files.

pschlute · 02-02-2021, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by tibbitts

Acdsee Editor, v11.

I have no experience of this software. Does it say it is compatible with PEF files ?

tibbitts · 02-02-2021, 01:43 PM

Originally posted by pschlute

I have no experience of this software. Does it say it is compatible with PEF files ?

I use DNG, but it's still raw. No other software I have produces that message when saving/exporting from raw. Anyway I just checked and yes it can open a PEF, and when I save/export to PNG.... I do get the same message about not being able to save the color profile.

pschlute · 02-02-2021, 05:07 PM

Originally posted by tibbitts

I use DNG, but it's still raw. No other software I have produces that message when saving/exporting from raw. Anyway I just checked and yes it can open a PEF, and when I save/export to PNG.... I do get the same message about not being able to save the color profile.

Ah apologies , you did say DNG earlier, I missed it.

I don't know what the answer is to be honest. I use DNG exclusively and process them in Silkypix DSPro or sometimes Adobe Camera raw. I have never seen that message, but then I never save as .png. Do you get the same result if you save as jpeg ?

12-04-2017, 03:10 PM	#18
PDL Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: PNW USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,127	There was a time when Manufactures supported their own codec's and had links at the Microsoft web site starting with Windows Vista and WIC (Windows Image Component). When - in the case of Pentax - Hoya released the codec for PEF files (still available at the Ricoh site) it supported the cameras listed in the previous posts. With Windows 7 and 8.x Microsoft had the RAW camera codec pack, which they stopped supporting. Microsoft actually had a third party gather the various codecs from the manufacturers and put them into the RAW camera codec. For some reason both the third party and Microsoft stopped creating the codec pack. On my three Windows 10 devices (all running the current Fall Creators Update) do NOT show thumbnail previews, icons for my K-3II PEF files. I even had to go back to the 32 bit codec to get them to read my ist Ds, K10D and K20D that I have on disk. Oh - and two of the three have been bare metal re-installs of Windows 10 (to the point where I had to reformat the C: drive in order to get Windows 10 back up and running due to hard drive failure, memory failure - not really Windows 10 OS issues) After reinstalling with nothing but the OS and connecting to external/NAS drives containing the original PEF files, Windows 10 did not see PEF or DNG files in explorer without the codec. Ricoh does not supply a codex for K-3II PEF files or any "Newer" Pentax camera after they acquired Pentax from Hoya and I suspect they never will. Ricoh has left its RAW format up to Adobe and DNG PEF is abandonware on the Windows platform. The support for PEF files is Ricoh's responsibility and they have dropped the ball. Other manufacturers have dropped the ball too. Do a search for Canon, Nikon, Fuji etc. and you will find that codec's for later cameras are sorely missing. To reiterate - Microsoft DOES NOT WRITE CODEC'S FOR CAMERA MANUFACTURES. Last edited by PDL; 12-04-2017 at 10:49 PM. Reason: wording*

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12-02-2017, 11:17 PM - 1 Like	#16
SpecialK Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: So California Photos: Gallery Posts: 16,480	I also would recommend FastStone Image Viewer, Screen Capture, Photo Resizer ... which is free. It has many utilities that are handy.

12-04-2017, 07:19 AM	#17
Not a Number Moderator Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Venice, CA Posts: 10,526	Originally posted by PDL Here we go again. Microsoft DOES NOT WRITE CODEC'S FOR CAMERA MANUFACTURES. It is Ricoh's responsibility to provide CODEC's the last Codec for PEF file was written by HOYA. What happened to PEF support in Windows. - PentaxForums.com Window 10 natively supports PEF files (showing thumbnails) up to the K-5. Why to the Microsoft camera packs for Window 7, 8 and 8.1 say they add support for certain Pentax models?

01-31-2021, 11:45 AM	#20
tibbitts Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma USA Posts: 2,193	Originally posted by Ducky13 Hi All, I recently got myself a KP & have been shooting in RAW, but I can't open the PEF files on my Windows PC. I don't do any major post processing & hence don't own Photoshop or Lightroom. How can I open the PEF files on the Windows photo viewer? Is there a plugin that I can download or do I need a special program to view them? If the latter then could you please recommend one that's free? Thanks, Ducky One that's "free" is the one that was included when you bought your KP, assuming you bought it new. Otherwise there are free alternatives as others have mentioned; everyone has different preferences for free or fee-based software. I like Faststone and have contributed to the developers. I use it often for browsing but definitely never now for raw conversion. At least for me it just doesn't seem to produce the same dynamic range as some other programs.

01-31-2021, 12:42 PM	#21
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by E1R2F3 The attached _IMG0050.jpg image is the SRGB converted image from the original PEF raw file captured in Adobe RGB color space. A PEF, or any raw file for that matter, does not have a colour space. It is impossible to capture a raw image in a specific colour space like AdobeRGB.

02-01-2021, 10:22 AM	#22
tibbitts Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma USA Posts: 2,193	Originally posted by pschlute A PEF, or any raw file for that matter, does not have a colour space. It is impossible to capture a raw image in a specific colour space like AdobeRGB. Maybe because I haven't done any serious printing (as in ordering prints) for a decade or two, I haven't thought that much about this, but I have some new software that, when I edit a Pentax DNG, issues a warning that it "can't preserve the embedded color profile" when saving to a format like PNG. I've not seen this from any other software. So I ran Imagemagick to try to see if there was any embedded color information in the DNG, and found "sRGB." I don't know if that refers to a thumbnail or ... well in any case, it seems like somewhere in the raw file there's some color profile information.

02-01-2021, 01:00 PM	#23
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by tibbitts " I don't know if that refers to a thumbnail or ... well in any case, it seems like somewhere in the raw file there's some color profile information. Within every raw file there is a preview image. This image has been developed/produced from the raw data and will be dependent on the camera/setting used. It could be a jpeg or tiff. It could have a sRGB or AdobeRGB colour space. This is the image you see on your lcd screen after to capture an image in raw format. Raw files themselves are not image files, and as such have no colour space. Image files like jpeg and tiff have colour spaces.

02-01-2021, 02:18 PM	#24
tibbitts Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma USA Posts: 2,193	Originally posted by pschlute Within every raw file there is a preview image. This image has been developed/produced from the raw data and will be dependent on the camera/setting used. It could be a jpeg or tiff. It could have a sRGB or AdobeRGB colour space. This is the image you see on your lcd screen after to capture an image in raw format. Raw files themselves are not image files, and as such have no colour space. Image files like jpeg and tiff have colour spaces. So it might be that the preview image, which I referred to as a thumbnail, could be what the software is referring to as the color profile that can't be preserved, although ever since I wrote that, the last few images I've saved haven't generated any error messages.

02-02-2021, 12:29 AM	#25
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by tibbitts So it might be that the preview image, which I referred to as a thumbnail, could be what the software is referring to as the color profile that can't be preserved What software are you using ?

02-02-2021, 08:17 AM	#26
tibbitts Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma USA Posts: 2,193	Originally posted by pschlute What software are you using ? Acdsee Editor, v11.

02-02-2021, 10:10 AM	#27
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,981	Originally posted by Ducky13 Hi All, I recently got myself a KP & have been shooting in RAW, but I can't open the PEF files on my Windows PC. I don't do any major post processing & hence don't own Photoshop or Lightroom. How can I open the PEF files on the Windows photo viewer? Is there a plugin that I can download or do I need a special program to view them? If the latter then could you please recommend one that's free? Thanks, Ducky The CD that came with your camera does have software on it that will unscramble the raw files from your camera. It won't make Windows Photo Viewer work, but it will let you brows your PEF files.

02-02-2021, 01:12 PM	#28
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by tibbitts Acdsee Editor, v11. I have no experience of this software. Does it say it is compatible with PEF files ?

02-02-2021, 01:43 PM	#29
tibbitts Pentaxian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Oklahoma USA Posts: 2,193	Originally posted by pschlute I have no experience of this software. Does it say it is compatible with PEF files ? I use DNG, but it's still raw. No other software I have produces that message when saving/exporting from raw. Anyway I just checked and yes it can open a PEF, and when I save/export to PNG.... I do get the same message about not being able to save the color profile.

02-02-2021, 05:07 PM	#30
pschlute Moderator Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Surrey, UK Photos: Gallery Posts: 8,198	Originally posted by tibbitts I use DNG, but it's still raw. No other software I have produces that message when saving/exporting from raw. Anyway I just checked and yes it can open a PEF, and when I save/export to PNG.... I do get the same message about not being able to save the color profile. Ah apologies , you did say DNG earlier, I missed it. I don't know what the answer is to be honest. I use DNG exclusively and process them in Silkypix DSPro or sometimes Adobe Camera raw. I have never seen that message, but then I never save as .png. Do you get the same result if you save as jpeg ?