Codecs for Windows

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

Canon	Nikon	Sony
Olympus	Pentax	ArdFry

Canon

	Download	Released: November 1, 2007	Current Codec: 1.2
Supported cameras: EOS 10D, EOS-1D, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS-1D Mark II N, EOS-1D MkII, EOS-1Ds, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS 20D, EOS 20Da, EOS 300D, EOS 30D, EOS 350D, EOS 400D, EOS 40D, EOS 5D, EOS D30, EOS D60, PowerShot G1, PowerShot G2, PowerShot G3, PowerShot G5, PowerShot G6, PowerShot G9, PowerShot Pro1, PowerShot Pro90 IS, PowerShot S30, PowerShot S40, PowerShot S45, PowerShot S50, PowerShot S60, PowerShot S70
Supported RAW formats: .CR2, .TIF, .CRW
Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

Nikon

Download	Released: November 2007	Current Codec: 1.1
Supported cameras: D1, D1H, D1X, D100, D2H, D2Hs, D2X, D2Xs, D3, D200, D300, D40, D40x, D50, D70, D70s, D80 , COOLPIX 8800, COOLPIX 8700, COOLPIX 8400, COOLPIX 5700, COOLPIX 5400, COOLPIX 5000
Supported RAW formats: N/A
Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

Sony

Download	Updated: February 21, 2008	Current Codec: 1.1
Supported cameras: 828, R1, DSC-R1, DSC-F828, DSC-V3, Alpha DSLR-A100, Alpha DSLR-A200, Alpha DSLR-A350, Alpha DSLR-A700
Supported RAW formats: .ARW, .SR2, .SRF
Supported OS: Windows Vista (32-bit)
Supports metadata writing: No

Olympus

Download	Released: December 27, 2007	Current Codec: N/A
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
Supported RAW formats: .ORF
Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86, x64)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

Download	Released: May 8, 2007	Current Codec: N/A
Supported cameras: E-1, 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
Supported RAW formats: .ORF
Supported OS: Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

Pentax

Download	Released: April 26, 2007	Current Codec: N/A
Supported cameras: ist D, ist DS, istDS2, istDL, *istDL2, K100D, K10D
Supported RAW formats: .PEF
Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

ArdFry

Download	Released: November 2, 2007	Current Codec: RC
Supported cameras: N/A
Supported RAW formats: DNG
Supported OS: Windows Vista (x86), Windows XP (x86), Windows Vista (x64), Windows XP (x64)
Supports metadata writing: Yes

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