How to open SRW files now that the cameras are gone
SRW is the raw format of Samsung's NX system and its advanced compacts. Samsung left the camera business around 2016, and the software that came in the box has not kept pace with Windows since. If you shot NX for years, the result is a drive full of raw files that Windows lists by name but will not show.
SRW Viewer is a simple way to open SRW files again. Set it as the default for .srw and a double-click shows the photo. When the file carries a large enough preview from the camera, that appears straight away; otherwise the LibRaw engine inside the app develops the raw data.
Since nothing new will ever be added to this format, the sensible long-term step is to keep the raw files and also make copies in a format that opens anywhere. The app does both: it never alters the SRW, and it converts a whole folder in one run.
Convert an NX archive to JPG or TIFF
Open one SRW from the folder, click Convert on the command bar, and set Convert to Whole folder. JPG gives small files for sharing and phones; TIFF keeps full quality for printing or later editing in any program. Set Quality from 50 to 100, choose where the copies go, and decide what Existing files does if you run the same folder twice: Skip, Keep both or Replace.
A run only covers the folder you opened, not the folders inside it, so an archive sorted by date is converted one folder at a time. Damaged or unreadable files are counted and reported at the end, and the rest still convert.
Expect the copies to look a little different from the JPEGs the camera saved at the time. A developed raw file starts from the sensor data without Samsung's in-camera color and sharpening, so it is often flatter but holds more highlight and shadow detail to work with later.
Browsing years of Samsung raw photos
Old archives are big, so moving through them should be fast. The left and right arrow keys step through a folder, T shows the thumbnail ribbon along the bottom, and I opens a panel with the camera, lens and exposure each photo was taken with. Press Delete to send a duplicate or a miss to the Recycle Bin.
With the optional Professional Pack you can also find the sharpest frame in each burst, compare up to four shots at once, add stars and color labels saved to an XMP sidecar, edit titles and keywords, and see geotagged photos on a map.
