Many photographers—especially those with digital SLRs—shoot in 'RAW' mode, which outputs a file format that is proprietary to their camera make and model (for example, .CR2, .NEF). These RAW formats preserve more of the original information from the camera than the JPG file that most other cameras output. This extra information provides greater quality, but it comes at a price of convenience. JPG is a universally supported image file format, but as anyone who has used RAW files can tell you, they are anything but universally supported.
In the past, RAW shooters had to either rely on RAW conversion software provided by their camera manufacturer, or put their fate in the hands of the myriad of software makers who have attempted to reverse-engineer these formats for support in their software applications. This led to a number of problems: compatibility issues, varying quality or inconsistent results from one application to another, and holes in the user workflow where RAW support is lacking.
Windows Vista attempts to solve these problems by providing an extensible platform that allows support for these (and other) new file formats to be added to Windows by the owner of the file format. This support comes in the form of a codec, which users will get from their camera manufacturer, either by downloading it, or provided with a new camera body. The Photo Gallery will even detect the presence of these files and help you download a codec when it exists.
Microsoft has been working with the major camera manufacturers so that they can provide codecs for their various RAW formats to their customers. Once these codecs are installed, users will find that they can view their RAW files and thumbnails throughout Windows Vista.
Codec developers
ArdFry
Supported cameras: N/A |
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Supported RAW formats: DNG |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86), Windows Vista (x64), Windows XP (x64) |
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Supports metadata writing: Yes |
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Canon
Supported cameras: EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1Ds, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1D, EOS 5D, EOS 40D, EOS 30D, EOS 20Da, EOS 20D, EOS 10D, EOS D60, EOS D30, EOS Rebel XSi/EOS Kiss Digital X2/EOS 450D Digital, EOS Kiss Digital X/EOS Digital Rebel XTi/EOS 400D Digital, EOS Kiss Digital N/EOS Digital Rebel XT/EOS 350D Digital, and EOS Kiss Digital/EOS Digital Rebel/EOS 300 Digital, PowerShot Pro1, PowerShot Pro90 IS, PowerShot G9, PowerShot G6, PowerShot G5, PowerShot G3, PowerShot G2, PowerShot G1, PowerShot S70, PowerShot S60, PowerShot S50, PowerShot S45, PowerShot S40, PowerShot S30 |
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Supported RAW formats: .CR2, .TIF, .CRW |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86) |
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Supports metadata writing: Yes |
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Nikon
Supported cameras: D3, D2Xs, D2X, D2Hs, D2H, D1X, D1H, D1, D700, D300, D200, D100, D90, D80, D70S, D70, D60, D50, D40X, D40 COOLPIX 8800, COOLPIX 8700, COOLPIX 8400, COOLPIX 5700, COOLPIX 5400, COOLPIX 5000 |
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Supported RAW formats: N/A |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86) |
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Supports metadata writing: Yes |
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Olympus
Supported cameras: E-1, E-3*, E-300, E-330, E-400, E-410, E-500 , E-510 , E-10, E-20, C-70 ZOOM, C-5050ZOOM, C-5060 Wide Zoom, C-7070 Wide Zoom, C-8080 Wide Zoom, SP-310, SP-320, SP-350, SP-500UZ, SP-510UZ, SP-550UZ, SP-560UZ |
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Supported RAW formats: .ORF |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86, x64) |
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Supports metadata writing: Yes |
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Panasonic
Supported cameras: DMC-LX3, DMC-FZ28, DMC-FX150, DMC-G1 |
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Supported RAW formats: .RW2 |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86) |
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Supports metadata writing: No |
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Pentax
Supported cameras: *ist D, *ist DS,*istDS2, *istDL, *istDL2 ,K100D, K10D, K100D Super, K20D, K200D |
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Supported RAW formats: .PEF |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (32 bit only) *It is not compatible with Windows Vista (64bit) |
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Supports metadata writing: Yes |
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Sony
Supported cameras: 828, R1, DSC-R1, DSC-F828, DSC-V3, Alpha DSLR-A100, Alpha DSLR-A200, Alpha DSLR-A350, Alpha DSLR-A700 |
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Supported RAW formats: .ARW, .SR2, .SRF |
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Supported OS: Windows Vista (32-bit) |
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Supports metadata writing: No |
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