Why do my RAW (.nef) files have a reddish hue in Picasa 3?

Question

I recently bought a Nikon D3300 with the 18-55mm VR II Kit Lens and decided to take a few test shots to see how it handles and get to know the position of the buttons.

I watched a D3300 tutorial by Tony Northrup on YouTube and knew how to change the settings such as Single-Point focusing, saving images as RAW files etc. - All of which I did as soon as I turned the camera on.

When I imported the test shots into Picasa 3 (I can't afford Adobe Lightroom) I noticed that only the RAW files had a reddish hue.

I shot a picture of my desk with the RAW+F setting to show you the difference.

The first image is the RAW, the second image is the JPEG.

I'm asking if anybody knows the reason for this and what I can do to correct it.

Shot info:
Nikon D3300
Manual Mode
1/125s
f/5.6
ISO 6400 (Dark Room at evening)

This is my first time on here so if you need to know anything extra or if I made any errors please give some (friendly) advice :)

Potentially related: Why is Picasa ruining my raw files. Looks like a very similar effect, although a completely different camera. — Philip Kendall, Aug 19 '15 at 14:08
Do you know about the monthly subscription to Creative Cloud for photographers? In the UK it's just over £8 per month and includes Lightroom and Photoshop. (I'm not affiliated in any way, but just in case you weren't aware of the pricing as subscription based like this may make it more affordable) — laurencemadill, Aug 19 '15 at 14:15
I don't have any money at the moment because I bought a DSLR, but thanks for telling me. I will look into it at a later date. — David K., Aug 19 '15 at 14:26
Possibly related, although it's cross-brand: Why do Canon 6d raw photos have a red tint across the entire image in Windows preview? — mattdm, Aug 19 '15 at 15:08
£££'s are not the only solution. There's the free UFRaw which I use for those raw moments... It's good for Nikons. And of course GIMP for the actual editing. — Paul Uszak, Aug 19 '15 at 22:15

David K. · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-01T10:34:39.447

0

Google Picasa's site says that Picasa can organise and manage RAW files and has basic codecs to allow for previews but it is stated that Picasa is not advanced enough to support the editing of RAW formats and other post-production software should be used.

This explains why RAW file formats do not display correctly in Picasa.

The only solution, really, is to get a program designed to handle RAW formats such as Lightroom and Photoshop as laurencemadil suggested. There are, of course, free programs which may be of interest.

The photographer's collection (Lightroom + Photoshop) is really affordable at just under £7/mo (approx. £85/yr) at time of purchase, and that's what I have decided to do and now renders my raw files correctly for me to edit.

edited Sep 01 '15 at 10:34

answered Aug 19 '15 at 14:53

David K.

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Before shelling out any cash, you should probably at least consider downloading the free Capture NX-D. – Philip Kendall Aug 19 '15 at 15:21
@PhilipKendall I had not downloaded this despite having a nikon for years (picasa used to fork fine) but just did now and i think my raws may actually look even better through this! – Feb 17 '16 at 09:43

Why do my RAW (.nef) files have a reddish hue in Picasa 3?

1 Answers1