Can't view Nikon Z8 RAW images on Sonoma 14.6.1

The Nikon z8 is supported on Sonoma for lossless raws only. If you're using a different format from the Z8 then it's simply not supported.

Options: Convert the raws to DNG with Adobe's free converter.

or

Use a third party app to manage these (and if you wish) all your photos. Apps like Adobe's Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, CaptureOne, DxO Photo Lab, Mylio and others have their own raw support and tend to be faster and more complete in the support they offer, but then they ought to be as you pay for them. Also consider the software that the maker of your camera recommends, which is most likely free and there are also open source options too.

As an FYI:

It is interesting that I have old RAW images saved on my MAC that I can view. ( From an older Nikon camera).

This is because the raw from every model of camera is different, and so the NEF from D850 is not the same as a NEF from your Z8. In high spec cameras, with multiple raw formats Apple tends to natively support one of them.

So, unless you're shooting z8 lossless raws, the only solution is a third party app.

You are correct. Z8 support WAS added in macOS 14 in an earlier update and was working as of 14.6. Installing 14.6.1 however reverts to not recognizing the Z8 files and showing the image as the NEF icon. I can only speak for Nikon Lossless Compressed files, as that is all I shoot. My workflow is: ingest from CF Express cards via Photo Mechanic to my file system and process in Adobe Photoshop/Bridge. All 3rd party apps have no issue seeing the contents and processing and saving the Z8 image. All other Nikon NEF files from previous cameras still work.

Looks like Apples's source control and QA needs some attention for macOS 14. Very frustrating for people who depend on tools for their work.

I haven't seen any value in importing RAW images to Photos. Photos doesn't have the tools for editing RAW files.

I have my Z8 save jpgs on its SD card and NEFs on its CFexpress card. I save them in folders on my Mac, and I can see the NEFs with QuickLook. I import the jpegs to Photos where I edit, crop, and rate them. I find the best ones that seem like they can value from adjustments available in a RAW editor, and I edit those with NX Studio from Nikon or LightRoom Classic that Yer_Man suggested, for which I pay Adobe monthly. The RAW editors produce jpgs that I export to Photos for cropping and tweaking.

Jpegs are the files that people share and look at. RAW data files are only RAW if they never change. So what counts is how you generate those jpgs.

Richard.Taylor wrote:

I haven't seen any value in importing RAW images to Photos. Photos doesn't have the tools for editing RAW files.

I have my Z8 save jpgs on its SD card and NEFs on its CFexpress card. I save them in folders on my Mac, and I can see the NEFs with QuickLook. I import the jpegs to Photos where I edit, crop, and rate them.

I like to have my RAW files in my Photos library. I am lucky, as the RAW format of my most recent camera (not a z8) is supported by Photos for Mac, and I find it easier to have the original and the edited version paired as a "master-Version" pair in the Photos Library on my Macs. It makes it easier to revert to the original, when I do not have to track it down somewhere in an archive. I can call my RAW editors as a photo editing extension directly from inside photos and start all editing directly from the RAW files and the developed versions will be saved back to Photos. I would not want to do the editing starting from an imported JPEG with its artifacts and lossy compression.

I am only doing the RAW development outside photos, when I want to combine several files for focus stacking, HDR fusion, or panorama stitching, but then I import the developed file as a TIFF to Photos, not as a JPEG to avoid JPEG artifacts.

I just have to remember never to edit the RAW files in Photos on my iPad or iPhone, once they have been synced with iCloud Photos to the iPhone. This will reduce the quality and spoil them by reducing the resolution, as Photos for iOS device will just edit the embedded JPEG previews and not the original RAW files, unless it is a RAW file taken by the iPhone. Sometimes I get caught in this booby trap.