It just got easier to be a Windows-using digital-SLR photographer. Starting today, you can download the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack, which will profile native file support for over 120 camera models, including those from Canon, Nikon, and Sony. Previously, if you wanted to view raw camera files in Windows Explorer or Windows Live Photo Gallery, you had to go to your camera manufacturer's site and then find, download, and install a codec that would allow Windows to display the raw files. Camera raw files are particular to each model and contain all the information from the camera's sensor, allowing more control over image adjustment, including white balance, exposure, and color.
In a briefing call with PCMag late last week, Microsoft's Raphael Aquino-Jose, Senior Product Manager for Windows Live said, "With this easy, free solution, when a consumer plugs in their digital SLR to their Windows PC, they can view their photos in Explorer without having to download another codec from their camera manufacturer. This lets more advanced users see the raw images without having to fire up high-end photo software such as Lightroom or Photoshop."
Aqiuno-Jose also threw out a couple of striking facts about digital photographers: "From a market perspective, we know that last year there were over 73 billion still images captured. And if you have a digital SLR, you take 2.5 times as many photos in a given month as people with point-and-shoot cameras or camera phones do. From talking to consumers, this [raw file support] is something they really want."
To get the codec pack, consumers can either go to the Microsoft Download Center starting today, or they'll be prompted to install the codec pack when trying to open a raw camera file in the latest version of Windows Live Photo Gallery. The pack comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit editions. Installation is a simple three-click process. The Codec Pack works on Windows 7 and Vista, and it's conceivable that Microsoft could build the capability into future OS versions such as Windows 8.
Mac OS X users need not be envious of this development, however: Apple's desktop operating system has included built-in camera raw support since the Tiger version, and Lion supports 233 raw file formats. And though the raw photos will be visible in Windows Live Photo Gallery with the codecs installed, that app won't offer advanced raw editing capabilities, you'll still need an advanced photo editor like ACDSee Pro, CyberLink PhotoDirector, or Adobe Lightroom for that. But you will be able to make a JPG copy of the raw image an edit that in Photo Gallery, while the raw image stays untouched, as a sort of "digital negative.
