Question - Thumbnail view for Olympus in Windows File Explorer

[dpswbab]

I have a PC running Windows 8.1. When I view .orf files in File Explorer using one of the icon views, it doesn't show me the image thumbnail, instead using a generic Windows icon. I assume I need a codec for Windows that includes profiles for Olympus, but I can't find anything. When I called Microsoft support, their person couldn't find an answer and said that Olympus was responsible for providing the needed info to MS. I suspect that the support person just didn't know and couldn't find what I needed. Does anyone know what I need to make the thumbnails show up correctly in File Explorer? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[OzRay]

Try this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=26829 or this: http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/codec/.

 

[alan1972]

I had this issue a few months ago. I found that nothing available for download at that time from Microsoft or Olympus worked with my E-M10 files, although ORF files from older models did show up as thumbnails.

The solution I found was to download the "FastPictureViewer Codec Pack". This is not free, there is a small charge after a 15 day free trial. This has worked smoothly for me ever since.

I would try the links in OzRay's post first in case they have been updated since I last looked. If they don't help then perhaps FastPictureViewer is worth looking at.

 

[dpswbab]

Try this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=26829 or this: http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/codec/.

Thanks for the links, Ray. Unfortunately, the MS one appears to be for earlier releases of Windows and the Oly one didn't help (it appears to be from 2009, although it may just be that Olympus hasn't updated the text at that link). I'll try some additional web searches to see if I can find something current from Oly.

 

[dpswbab]

I had this issue a few months ago. I found that nothing available for download at that time from Microsoft or Olympus worked with my E-M10 files, although ORF files from older models did show up as thumbnails.

The solution I found was to download the "FastPictureViewer Codec Pack". This is not free, there is a small charge after a 15 day free trial. This has worked smoothly for me ever since.

I would try the links in OzRay's post first in case they have been updated since I last looked. If they don't help then perhaps FastPictureViewer is worth looking at.

Thanks for the link to FastPictureViewer. It seems to work even with .orf files from my EM-5 ii. For $9.99, it's cheap for the value it gives me.

 

[pdk42]

The 2009 Oly codec will work with newer ORFs. All it does is display the embedded JPEG.

 

[Jfrader]

For another alternative, I have found that FastStone Viewer works much faster and better than Windows File Explorer for viewing and sorting images, even Raws like our .ORF files. It is just better by a large margin - and it is free. It also has basic image adjustment functionality, which I don't use but I do like the File/Email feature for quickly resizing finished images to post online or send via email. You might give it a try.