Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Keahi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2018
4
1
Aloha all,

I have seen many posts about the MacBook Pro locking Nikon NEF files but no real solution. On my last import of my NEF files from my Nikon D7100 to my Mac I noticed it had a white box around the outside of the image. I thought nothing of it until I tried to download the file to my IPad for editing.

The long and short is that now all of my NEF files both on my Mac and my external hard drive are locked. Below I will list some steps taken. I hope someone out their can actual help me. I have been able to open all files befor and used all the same normal processing steps I used before.

Get Info-unlock negative result
Confirem read/write permissions. Negative result.
Open with Affinity Photo- negative result.
Moved files from external to local disk. Negative result.
Move file from local drive to another external- negative result.
Loaded to Photos then download to iPad- negative.
Confirmed read/write on folder. Negative result.
Reformatted Mac and started fresh-negative result.
Used another persons Mac-negative result
Confirmed memory card was not lock. It was not locked.
Reformatted memory card in the camera took test photo-negative result
Removed all copy write artist info from camera and new test shot. Negative result.
Used Image Capture. Negative result
Manually drag files off memory card- negative result.
Open files from memory card- negative result
Tried brand new memory card. Negative result.

Tried on PC and it works. No idea why the Mac is auto locking my NEF.

The only way to unlock on the Mac is to unlock-copy-convert to Tiff. I
Don’t want a tiff or a copy. I want access to my original file.
 

mollyc

macrumors 604
Aug 18, 2016
7,835
47,613
I've only heard of this with new cameras, not older ones that have previously worked on your computer. Are you able to convert them to DNG format and open them that way?
 

Moakesy

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2013
576
1,209
UK
Found this as part of looking around at this issue....the issue experienced seemed very similar to yours. Not my solution and no idea if this applies to your situation, but something to investigate (with appropriate caution):

"Seems that you downloaded the files on your mac from a different account or to a directory that your account does not have privileges to edit files. You can fix this by granting privileges to all on the files by selecting all of them and right clicking then select "Get Info" on the right click menu. Scroll all the way to the bottom and look at the privileges and change them. But you must change them from the account you downloaded the images and to a directory where you have sufficient privileges like your desktop.

You can also go to the command line, make yourself superuser and do it with:

cd ~/directory/with/images

sudo chmod 666 *.NEF -- You will be asked for the root password."

Link to what that command does..

https://superuser.com/questions/295591/what-is-the-meaning-of-chmod-666
 

Keahi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2018
4
1
I've only heard of this with new cameras, not older ones that have previously worked on your computer. Are you able to convert them to DNG format and open them that way?
I would have to try and do the format change. The current option it was giving me was only to duplicate the file when I click unlock and convert to a tiff
[doublepost=1533572969][/doublepost]
Found this as part of looking around at this issue....the issue experienced seemed very similar to yours. Not my solution and no idea if this applies to your situation, but something to investigate (with appropriate caution):

"Seems that you downloaded the files on your mac from a different account or to a directory that your account does not have privileges to edit files. You can fix this by granting privileges to all on the files by selecting all of them and right clicking then select "Get Info" on the right click menu. Scroll all the way to the bottom and look at the privileges and change them. But you must change them from the account you downloaded the images and to a directory where you have sufficient privileges like your desktop.

You can also go to the command line, make yourself superuser and do it with:

cd ~/directory/with/images

sudo chmod 666 *.NEF -- You will be asked for the root password."

Link to what that command does..

https://superuser.com/questions/295591/what-is-the-meaning-of-chmod-666
I will have to give this a try. The funny part is I tested with a fresh new memory card and tried to open the image I took as a test and that even did not work.
 

mollyc

macrumors 604
Aug 18, 2016
7,835
47,613
Adobe has a free dng converter. Even if you don’t use other adobe products it might be worth a try. If you can open the files on a windows machine you know they aren’t corrupted.
 

Keahi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2018
4
1
Adobe has a free dng converter. Even if you don’t use other adobe products it might be worth a try. If you can open the files on a windows machine you know they aren’t corrupted.
Going to be a pain to grab all my older NEF Files and concert them. (Grumbles how Apple is always changing things).
 

mollyc

macrumors 604
Aug 18, 2016
7,835
47,613
Ultimately I think it must be some sort of permissions issue but I don’t know what to suggest.
[doublepost=1533576401][/doublepost]I shoot two Nikon cameras and haven’t run into this.
[doublepost=1533577579][/doublepost]What OS version are you using? Can you post a screenshot of your finder window with the weird outline?
 

Keahi

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2018
4
1
Ultimately I think it must be some sort of permissions issue but I don’t know what to suggest.
[doublepost=1533576401][/doublepost]I shoot two Nikon cameras and haven’t run into this.
[doublepost=1533577579][/doublepost]What OS version are you using? Can you post a screenshot of your finder window with the weird outline?
I am running High Sierra. I will ha e to grab a screen shot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mollyc
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.