Nikon Z6ii and Z7ii - Raw-Files not supported in MacOS Big Sur?

It usually takes a few months after new camera introduction (Fall 2020) for the camera vendor to provide Apple with the information necessary to support their newest cameras, and then internally, for Apple to test, and schedule the camera RAW support updates in a future operating system update. The earliest I would expect the Z6 II and Z7 II would be Big Sur 11.2, and that might be optimistic, without knowing Nikon's or Apple's internal schedules.

Here is the living Big Sur camera RAW support document, and when the Z6 II and Z7 II appear, that will signal their Big Sur support.

Nikon says they've supplied the information to Apple, and the Nikon Z5 (and the other three Z camera models) are on the supported cameras list, so obviously the problem is at the Apple end. The camera RAW data is either supported or it isn't.

"Digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and macOS Big Sur. These operating systems include system-level support for RAW images ..."

• Nikon Z 5
• Nikon Z 50
• Nikon Z 6
• Nikon Z 6II
• Nikon Z 7
• Nikon Z 7II

Well my case is running on an M1 chip, not an Intel, so there are at least those differences between our Macs and versions of Big Sur 11.2. For me, after the 11.2 update, new images imported from my Z7ii as normal. I had to force the older images to generate a preview as described in my above post, but then they began to behave.

I recall having a similar issue as I got on board with the Z6 when it first came out. In the latest "supported cameras" listing, Z7ii is listed without any asterisks so it should not matter what settings you used. If you like, we could trade raw files and see, but I doubt that is the issue. I didn't do anything fancy. I just updated to the latest version.

I normally use Photos app to organize my images and "edit with" when Apple's application doesn't do everything I want (yeah, I know, and I've tried every other app you are about to suggest. If more than 100 people use it, I have tried it: C1, LR, On1, Luminar, DxO, Aftershot 1-3, DR, DT, CaptureNX, Aperture, and a host of others. I keep coming back to Photos for organization across my devices. I guess I like it.)

Here is a screenshot of finder looking directly at the memory card. Pretty sure Apple will complain if I try to upload a 51mb raw file to this post.

Not on my Macs, I tried both yesterday, my regular is Adobe so I tried sRGB.

But that is not the whole question, which is why the Z7II and Z6II. do not appear in Raw Support, I do not see how things will work ie preview and Photos if the camera is not supported on my Macs.

I am aware they are supported but they are not supported in My Big Sur 11.2 If yours works it is like that Z7-2 & Z6-2 appears in RAW Support on your Mac. under Z7 (see my attachment from my two Macs.)

Had a session with Apple today who have suggested a couple of things to try sometime.

Nikon Z6ii and Nikon Z7ii are listed as supported as of February 2, 2021. I have Apple photos up to date and running 11.2 on an M1 Mini. I cannot see my older RAW images from my Z7ii in "preview". It just shows black squares with "RAW" in the upper left corner.

I can double click and see a large version. I can edit.

Once I make an adjustment, I get a preview.

I have adjusted a slider up 1 and back to 0, then copied the adjustments, then pasted to all the raw files. This generated a preview image with no adjustments, effectively. Luckily, I haven't had the Z7ii long enough to have 18K images from it yet, because I can't do that trick in batches in Photos.

For new imports, everything works as expected.

My Z7II is not included in RAW Support on either of my Macs Big Sur 11.2 (About this Mac Software Raw Support)

Only the Z1s are there.

Yes I know that the Apple Document lists the Z7II but not on my iMac or 2020 Air System Reports.

Spent ages searching and find that some other Mac users have same issue where others do not and have the camera listed OK???

How can there be two versions of Big Sur??? Have received lots of helpful hints but nothing has worked.

I use LR so not a big deal, I don't want Apple Photos but occasionally like to open an NEF in Preview so obviously that is not possible from my Z-2 where on screen message says "The file _*******.NEF could not be opened. preview does not currently support this raw file format" My NEF from Z7-1 will open as normal.

Thank you, as I said I do not use Photos but like to see everything working.

I now of others with the standard chip and similar year Macs, some show in RAW Support but some do not.

One screenshot with the Z-2s included was from a 2015 Mac. Mine are 2015 and 2020.

I just tried an srgb NEF instead of Adobe but no difference. Thinking of trying uncompressed instead of lossless but doubt that will do much. (No not into telling people what to use, I find LR the best and easiest but thinking of dropping my subscription & might go back to NXD except that doesn't work for Big Sur and Nikon have been working on that issue for a very long time.)

Silly that I can open the images in anything but Apple. (My Z7-1 NEF are fine in Big Sur)

I also wondered if I had a system file gone missing but everything else works and it was otherwise a seamless transition from Big Sur to 11.2.

Thanks again, more for me to consider.

Keith unbelievable, I opened Photos on 2015 iMac with the RAW Support list open and in minutes the new cameras were added.

I opened NEF with both Color Spaces in Preview.

Hasn't worked on my 2020Air yet but hopeful now.

Must tell Apple, also there are a number of people reported this same problem around the web

Thank you.

Don't thank me, thank ybbe.

My only contribution is to spend *way* too much time on these boards. 8^)

(I certainly hoped that the color space had nothing to do with it, since it is really just a hint for the RAW.)

So this is now Big Sur version 11.2.2 and still in Finder (iconview mode) the NEF files are incorrectly displayed. Instead of seeing them in thubmnails, there are still whitish things there... whereas on the right side of the Finder a small picture of the same NEF is cearly visible. Still the same as you showed...

Is there any workaround? (apple shows as this version supports Z6 II raw files - but what this support actually mean??? support but does not show??? )

It’s more complicated than that because z-iI files work correctly for some and not others. I THINK the preview files/thumbnails are generated when first needed, and not updated unless needed. Those are .jpgs embedded, you aren’t looking at a miniature raw file.

Have you tried making a change to one to see if that forces an update (something non destructive of course). Also, do new imports have the same problem?

So IMHO this is a mistake in Z6ii file compatibility from apple side. The Finder cannot read the EXIF information form a NEF file -> cannot read the jpg either!!! Please check yourself with right click info, and compare with a NEF file from an older Nikon camera. You will see what I am talking about.

So Apple developers if you read this please comment!!! Full NEF compatibilty for Nikon Z6ii is not solved in Big Sur 11.2.2 :(

Sorry, this is incorrect. I've tried both sRBG and RGB and neither works for RAW. This has been a Finder problem since Big Sur launched last September, and six months later on version 11.2.3 and it still isn't fixed.

Also, check out this thread:

iPad with iPadOS 14.4 and Mac with BigSur… - Apple Community

You might need to get Photos to figure out the new RAW formats.