Beating Nikon High Efficieny NEFs

[Fenny]

I accidentally resetted my Nikon Z6iii before a shoot. Only afterwards I realized all the NEFs were in high efficiency format, which of course does not open in the latest Darktable nightly.

Fortunately, Adobe Digital Negative converter installs cleanly on Debian and the latest Wine. I tried before with version 14, with no luck, but the latest version 18 seems to convert the HE NEFs to DNGs that can be read by Darktable.
I shoot raw+jpeg always, so I still had the jpeg ooc which I think is too contrasty in color (camera set to standard picture control)

Original NEF in HE*
20260718_1038.NEF (18.5 MB)

converted DNG, a bit bigger
20260718_1038_1.dng (25.3 MB)

SOOC jpg downscaled

have fun

This file is licensed Creative Commons, By-Attribution, Share-Alike.

[Terry (Terry Pinfold)]

I liked the beaver so it stayed in my crop.
20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (18.6 KB)

[Tim (Tim Cuthbertson)]

Using mostly Agx

20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (7.2 KB)

[AtaraxicShrug (Rob)]

The important part of the image according to a misanthrope like me:

I get why op cropped, but losing the cactus eating beaver is painful! How often do you get to see that?! I second the idea it should stay in!

[Dito_Budi]

20260718_1038_1.jpg.xmp (6.9 KB)

[Popanz (Uli)]

20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (14,8 KB)

[Attila_Low]

20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (22.2 KB)

[gwbarn]

Tried some different things. Lens distortion, grain in the background. Tried to keep the skin looking natural

20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (24.3 KB)

[Terry (Terry Pinfold)]

@AtaraxicShrug

but losing the cactus eating beaver is painful!

Forget the guys the beaver is so cool.

[Jetze]

Nice!

Did not do much. First had a tight crop but decided not to…

20260718_1038_1.dng.xmp (21.7 KB)

The Who comes to my mind: ‘the kids are alright!’

[Fenny]

Here’s my own take

20260718_1038.dng.xmp (15.0 KB)

hey, stupid question: is there an option to export the xmp file next to the exported jpeg? Now I have to dig into the library directory to find it

[Fenny]

This blend with monochrome is a nice trick, so is the bloom.
How do you get the double border?

[Popanz (Uli)]

It’s part of the framing module.

[Doug-Phoenix]

It looks like a strong “bleach bypass” effect. Clever.