Digital Home Thoughts: Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer Update

"The Microsoft RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer provides the ability to view, organize, and print photos captured in RAW image formats from supported Canon and Nikon digital cameras. The updated version of the software adds support for the Canon EOS 5D, Nikon D50, and other recent camera models from Canon and Nikon (see list of new supported camera models below). In addition, a new Save As button has been added to the toolbar, allowing users to conveniently save either an embedded preview or processed RAW image to disk as a JPEG or TIFF file. It also adds fixes for known issues in version 1.0 of the software, including the TIFF file locking issue, and a related problem with RAW files produced by the Canon EOS 5D. A complete list of fixes will be made available in the documentation for the new software."

Microsoft has released an update to its RAW Image Thumbnailer and Viewer for Windows XP, which was made freely available in June this year. It now supports the Canon EOS 1D Mark IIn and the EOS 5D; and the Nikon D50 and D70s, plus the D2Hs It also fixes other bugs relating to TIFF file locking and problems with RAW files produced by the 5D. I installed the RAW Image viewer a few months ago and have been quite satisfied with it. I recommend it for those of you looking for a good free tool that reads RAW images.