Just bought a new Canon 5D Mark III or Nikon D800 camera and surprised that your RAW files don’t have any thumbnails? Fortunately, Microsoft has released its latest Camera Codec Pack for free. While there are a few good commercial products out there, in my book, free is always the best.
Once installed, you have to restart Windows, then you can preview all your RAW files in Windows Explorer.
The download is available for Windows 7 and Vista (Service Pack 2) users in 32-bit and 64-bit format.
Windows 8 users should get it from Windows Update.
Starting with Windows 10, all codecs are included within the OS. If you have a newer camera, you might need to download the codec directly from your camera’s manufacturer.
Download
Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (16.4.1734.1104)
Update for Microsoft Camera Codec Pack for Windows 8.1 for x64-based Systems (KB2859675)
