dcraw

dcraw is a small command line utility which enables you to convert raw photos, produced by digital cameras, into the standard PPM and TIFF image formats.

The upper hand of a portable app

The installation process is not a prerequisite, as this tool is portable. This means that it is not going to add any new items to the Windows registry without your approval.
Another noteworthy aspect is that by copying the program files to a USB thumb drive or other similar device, you make it possible to take dcraw anywhere with you and run it on any PC you come across.

Supported extensions, cameras and options

This small-sized software solution supports a long list of raw picture formats, such as CRW, CR2, MRW, NEF and RAF, while the list of supported cameras include devices from well-known companies. For example, you can process photos from Canon, Casio, Epson, Fuji, Kodak, Hasselblad, Konica, Minolta, Nikon, Samsung, Sony and Olympus digital cameras.
By using this tool it is possible to extract embedded thumbnail image, identify files without decoding them, how metadata, change file dates to camera timestamps, set custom white balance, set the darkness and saturation level, and correct chromatic aberrations.

Conclusion and performance

Seeing dcraw does not use a large amount of resources, the system’s performance is not going to be affected at all. The response time is good, yet the app might not be dedicated to all types of users, as it is a command line after all.
To sum up, this is an efficient piece of software which enables you to process raw images, without popping any errors, hanging or freezing.