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Raw-image viewer gets new camera support

Struggle to browser view raw images Instant JPEG from Raw 1.1 supports Sony cameras and some other new models.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
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  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland

A new update expands the range of cameras supported by a program that can ease the pains photography buffs often have when viewing images stored in hard-to-decode raw image formats.

Michael Tapes released Instant JPEG from Raw 1.1 on Wednesday, a month after the IJFR debut. The software extends file-browser software to show thumbnail views of raw images, doing so by extracting the JPEG that's typically stored within the raw image.

Photo enthusiasts and pros like raw files for their flexibility, but because each camera has its own format, handling them can be a pain. IJFR extends Mac OS X and Windows file browsers so it can show a rough-and-ready JPEG preview version of a raw file, which often is enough to sort or identify images.

The new version supports Sony raw files and a number of new cameras, Tapes said: Canon's 50D, the Panasonic LX3, the Sigma DP-1, and Leica's M8.