NEF to fits?

[Gasman]

Hi guys

Just reading most of the posts relating to the image formats from Nikon`s and wondering what would be the best way (If its possible?) to convert NEF files to Fits format?. I take spectra of stars using my spectroscope with my Atik 314L on my main scope and these produce images in Fits format which is exactly what my main spectroscopy software requires.

My Nikon D5500 camera (it arrives on Friday!) will be used away from home with a small 80mm refractor and a Star Analyser grating to take low res spectra (and also day to day use).

I have Pixinsight,Maxim,Astroart  etc and wondering if they can do the conversion or does anyone know of any other app that can convert NEF to Fits please? I have some other spectro software which can use jpg,tiff`s,fits etc but its not as accurate!.

thanks

Steve

[Gasman]

Ah it looks like I might be able to do it through Astroart 5 as it appears to be able to read NEF`s so will suss that out when I get the camera! Whether it can batch convert them as I shoot maybe a hundred a night??

Steve

[s3igell]

The Premium Version of BYE/BYN can produce TIFF files as part of the Download and EXIF-Update process.

Then, you could look for a simple TIFF-to-FITS routine...

[Gasman]

Thanks for that    it would be good if these conversions can be done `en masse`  I don`t relish the thought of converting a hundred or more files one at a time  .

best

Steve

[s3igell]

There are numerous Apps that can do NEF->TIFF Conversions in Batch, although several of them will try to "Develop" (Post-Process) the data in-process.

 

There are rather few Anything->FITS Apps in the Amateur World, because there are so few modern uses for FITS in our Amateur World...

[Gasman]

Yeh maybe not in photography/DSLR community but Fits is THE standard in astro . at least IMHO

Steve

[s3igell]

It's an OLD Standard, and one that gets rather little in the way of Supporting Utilities.

Even in the Professional Astronomy world, one either BUYS a Major Package specific to the Task or else Writes / Hires-out for One-Off Utilities.

[Gasman]

I don`t disagree but its something I`ve not paid much attention to before. AFAIK  Imaging with ccd`s the defacto format seems to be fits format??. My Atik 314l will happily shoot fits files all day and I assume so will the Starlight ccd`s and many other amateur ccd`s. All my software packages Astroart, Maxim, Pixinsight etc etc all seem happy working with Fits images as does all my spectro software packages too. I`m not aware of any lack of support regarding this format and I`ve been observing many years.

cheers

Steve

[Andrew Cool]

I don`t disagree but its something I`ve not paid much attention to before. AFAIK  Imaging with ccd`s the defacto format seems to be fits format??. My Atik 314l will happily shoot fits files all day and I assume so will the Starlight ccd`s and many other amateur ccd`s. All my software packages Astroart, Maxim, Pixinsight etc etc all seem happy working with Fits images as does all my spectro software packages too. I`m not aware of any lack of support regarding this format and I`ve been observing many years.

cheers

Steve

Hi Steve,

 

If you get utterly stuck finding a batch capable NEF => FITS converter, I'm willing to knock up a utility using IDL, the language of Professional Astronomy, that will

call DCRAW to create TIFF files from a folder of NEF files, and then use IDL routines to read the TIFF files and write out FITS files.

 

It won't be quick,or pretty, and it will help if you have a gutsy PC with oodles of HDD space and RAM. Oh, and 64 bit Windows.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Andrew

www.skippysky.com.au

[Gasman]

Many thanks for your very kind offer Andrew  . I`ll try and see how I get on with the Tiff`s that BYNIKON produces for now if thats ok?.Might take you up on your amazing offer afterwards if it doesn`t work out?.

best

Steve

[simoninthelakes]

You have Pixinsight, you say?

 

Script > Batch Processing > BatchFormatConversion

 

[Gasman]

Cheers for that Simon . Yes I do have Pinisight , bit of a steep learning curve but to be fair I haven`t had a great deal of time to get the most out of it yet!.

Steve