Ingest Corrupt Nikon NEF files on HDD?

[ralf11]

I have some Nikon nef and jpg files on my iMac HDD that are corrupt.  They don't show up in PM using ingest.

Is there any way I can load them?

[Kirk Baker]

I have some Nikon nef and jpg files on my iMac HDD that are corrupt.  They don't show up in PM using ingest.

Is there any way I can load them?

If they're completely compromised then nothing is going to be able to handle them.  However, I would expect Ingest to copy the damaged files just fine.  Are you getting some sort of error on Ingest?

-Kirk

[ralf11]

they just show up as gray blanks - don't see an error msg

[Kirk Baker]

they just show up as gray blanks - don't see an error msg

Have you tried opening the files up with any other software?

-Kirk

[ralf11]

before PM, I tried ViewNX2, Lightroom6 & Preview on the Mac

I'm new to PM so maybe I'm not doing it right?
OTOH, other jpgs in that folder got loaded...

[Kirk Baker]

before PM, I tried ViewNX2, Lightroom6 & Preview on the Mac

And did they display your files correctly?  And do they continue to display these problematic files correctly?

-Kirk

[ralf11]

No, or I would not have downloaded PM and tried it.

[Hayo Baan]

No, or I would not have downloaded PM and tried it.

Well, if these other applications couldn't open your files, it really looks like they are damaged. If you can share one of these images, I could have a look to see if there is anything salvageable in them.

[ralf11]

Sure - how do I send you a nef?

and BTW, your web site is stunning

[Hayo Baan]

The NEF likely is too big to mail, so you could send it to me using a file transfer service. E.g. Wetransfer.com

(And thanks for the compliment )

[ralf11]

ok, they want a Email address to send to tho - do you want to PM it to me?

[Hayo Baan]

Hi Ralf,

I had a look at the samples you sent and the files are corrupted beyond repair I am afraid. I have partial good news though, the NEFs still had a sized previews in them that are recoverable. I used a specialised script extract_preview by Phil Harvey (the maker of exiftool) to extract them and they look OK (a dog in one and two mallards in the other). If you're not afraid of the command-line you could use said script yourself (requires Perl and exiftool to be installed). Otherwise I can help there too (might take some time though, especially if there are a lot of corrupted images).

[ralf11]

I can try - there are about a dozen images in all.

Dunno what perl is tho.

[Hayo Baan]

Perl is a programming language. If you're on a UNIX system it will (almost always) be pre-installed. On windows I suggest e.g. the ActivePerl implementation, which is really easy to install.

Good luck,
Hayo

[ralf11]

I'm on an iMac with Sierra (but not Hi Sahara).  I did a search to try and figure out how to do this but can't really find simple directions...