These files cannot be easily viewed on a computer and require the use of professional software, which is often expensive and hard to work with. NEF stands for Nikon Electronic Format, which is the RAW image format used by Nikon, one of the most popular camera manufacturers. RAW is the generic name for the unprocessed image format it may be named differently, depending on the camera manufacturer. It is great from the professional perspective, but for the everyday user, it means having much larger files and consequent problems with opening, editing, and printing such images. “RAW” implies that such images retain as much unprocessed visual information from the camera’s sensor as possible. But, as it turns out, the best quality images are achieved with these cameras by keeping photos in a RAW image format, which can result in numerous problems. That’s why many people buy professional cameras that promise great results. When it comes to taking photographs, we always want to keep the most memorable moments of our lives in the best possible quality images.
