Nikon Capture NX2

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

Nikon's Capture NX2 isn't one of the market leaders in photo editing software, but I just don't think enough people know about it yet. It provides a handy and easy-to-use suite of tools that quickly deliver impressive results. Thanks to its simplicity, you can't really get lost in it (like I used to do with Photoshop), but it's still powerful enough to deliver the same professional results that you are looking for.Control points, using the U Point technology, allow you to retouch and enhance various image attributes (such as the sky) without affecting anything else. That's without masking - you can do it in seconds. I have found this to be really great for editing the brightness and contrast in the sky, and then following up with D-lighting adjustments to brighten and boost colours in the shadows.The white control point has made editing snow scenes a pure joy. It is so simple! And if you want to get stuck in and edit levels and curves, you can do that too.Selective edits are really simple and, as you may have gathered, I find them actually quite fun. I never found the same kind of enjoyment using more complicated software like Photoshop.The straightening tool is a simple matter of clicking on two points along a line to straighten it vertically or horizontally. It just takes the work out of it completely, and I now find myself trawling through thousands of images looking for things to straighten.I am currently using on a laptop with Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, but look forward to getting this onto my desktop back home (overseas) and using a much larger monitor.Very powerful if working on NEF and RAW files, and just as good with JPEG and TIF files too. I am primarily using it with JPEGs, and find that editing and resizing is non-destructive, so you can edit away without worrying.Batch processing can be a bit messy, and you have to get your settings right, but honestly I don't find it any more difficult that any of the other software I have used in the past.I love this software. You can download a free 60 day trial version from Nikon, and you'll very quickly see what I'm talking about. Try it and you will definitely want to buy it. Wex Photographic had the best price I could find in the UK [...]

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

If you've got a Nikon DSLR, then buy it. You won't regret it

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

For Nikon users just buy it. For the photographer it is easier to use and better than Photo Shop at a fraction of the price.
Suggest buying the Mike Hagen book and reading it before down loading free trial of the software.Now my only use for Photoshop is adding text and applying the lens correction filter.

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

As one who is new to digitial, although I've been a semi-professional aviation and motor sport photograher for 40 years, Nikon Capture is a much easier product to use than Adobe Elements which I tried first. As a long term film man( mainly Kodachrome slides ), I still try to get near perfection in camera, and therefore don't use some of the more 'arty' aspects of Capture. I bought it to convert RAW files and to make minor adjustments to exposure etc. That said, I find its cropping and sharpening tools very useful too. The user manual is no where near as bad as some reviewers seem to think, although I did buy a copy of ' After the Shoot' by Mike Hagen which explains everything even better. I refer to both in fact. My computer is quite slow, but I still find Capture works well enough for me although if you have a heavy workflow you will need a fast computer.

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

I have tried most of the raw converters out there and can say that NX2 still beats the others in the way it handles NEFs

The workflow top to bottom is logical and well ordered and NX2 recognises DSLRs picture controls as well. What is also useful is the lens distortion controls and the CA removal as well. There is a multitude of adjustments available and more than enough to suit most photographers. Photoshop is now retired!

The jewel in the crown is the control point software that allows simple and fast local and global changes. It takes seconds to fix a sky, lighten a face or sharpen eyes. it is simplicity.

My comparisons to LR, PSE and Bibble put NX2 ahead in the way it displays NEFS. Images look sharper and have in my opinion nicer more subtle colours. The whole program is likely to be all you actually need if you do not require advanced trickery from PS.

On the downside is the slightly quirky interface and general look of NX2, plus it definately needs plenty of RAM and a fast processor. Batch processing is also slow.

If you can tolerate the cons then NX2 is likely to produce your best conversions yet.

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

Very useful piece of software ,when owning Nikon cameras working with Nef format . Can also work with Tiff or JPEG
Most of my adjustments with nef files are used with this software as I find control points so much easier than making selections all the time.
All in all a very useful addition once used

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

I shoot Nikon RAW format on my D300s and having software that can manipulate those images is a must.
The adjustments available with the software are superb. Subtle changes to enhance the photograph are available which keep them looking realistic and natural.
It runs a little slow on my PC, which is unfortunate, but the PC is starting to creak a bit these days with any new software.

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

Not sure why but I always found Capture a little hard to get a work flow working to my style. Adobe has to be the master. But can I suggest that like me you stick with it, get all the latest upgrades as and when offered for free by Nikon and you will get great results. I swear by doing initial edit and conversion in Capture, it is easy. U-point is very accurate for detail changes and the more I use it the quicker I get. Sure I still use Adobe but it is more out of habit than need. I have now saved lots of computer time and getting great results and that is down to two things Capture NX but primarily taking the time to learn a different approach to processing.....it's been worth it

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

This is my primary workflow tool and if you work in Nikon RAW (NEF) then this should be something you buy, even if your main tool is CS4 although there's not much benefit if you're working in JPEG or a non Nikon RAW format (NEF is the only RAW format it recognises).

It gives a huge range of parameter adjustment in RAW to the extent that I have everything on the camera switched off, for example Dlighting can be applied post capture as can exposure adjustment, white balance and everything else you can set in camera but the advantage is that you can fine tune images, often on a localised area rather than set it to a global low, medium or high setting on the camera menu. This gives much more control. My experience of photoshop is limited but NX2 does appear to produce better results in RAW.

The major downside is that it does not have a clone tool, making it neccesary to use something else alonside it and it also appears to be poor at managing available memory. It can be a little unstable at times reporting an out of memory error. This seems to effect only some users and may be down to other applications or PC configurations rather than a bug in NX2. Recent upgrades seem to have improved this and it only happens with RAW files. It also runs fairly slowly when you have a whole list of edits going on.

For the price it's good value, it will never do everything that photoshop does but it does pretty much everything you need to improve your images.

The areas that need addressing are memory management, addition of a clone tool (NX2 introduced the eraser so maybe NX3 will have a clone tool), and I feel the sharpening algorithm could be better.

But as it stands it's still a good tool.

Comments about Nikon Capture NX2:

Excellent photographic software. Once you have downloaded the latest RAW (NEF) driver you are able to use the Nikon D90 RAW (NEF) images. RAW (NEF) images from the Nikon D70 and D80 cameras can be loaded without the D90 download.
I prefer the print function to that of Photoshop CS2 as the images fit the photographic paper and the colours appear more vibrant.