What's the consensus on Nikon's own Capture NX software as opposed to RAW Developer, Capture One, ACR, etc?
I've just purchased my first Nikon — a mint D2x (been a Canon shooter for years) — and downloaded a trial version of Capture NX.
I'm on a Mac, and I like NX a lot. Fast and intuitive and it appears to afford lots of control.
I also use Lightroom, but I haven't yet tried it with my new Nikon files. I did a quick comparison with RAW Developer and believe that NX opens the files with more color accuracy than R/D. R/D seems to add a warm cast to the RAW files that aren't there in the first place.
Also ... how come NX costs extra? This is the first time I've seen a camera NOT come with its own p/p software.
I'm on an iMac and NX is much slower than ACR. For me it is also less intuitive. I am getting to like it more and more regarding the raw processing and noise abatement....
With my trusty old D70, it makes it go a bit farther until I can afford a D300...
I have been using Nikon Capture since 4. NX is a different animal all together and takes some getting used to, I didn't find it intuitive at all. It's not the fastest. If quality is what you are after, NC NX will eak out that little bit extra although I have heard CS3 ACR is pretty close and faster. I am still in CS2 so can't verify that.
If you want free you can dl Nikonview NX for free. It's part viewer/management and processor lite. It doesn't give you near as much controls as Capture but it's free, so yes Nikon does supply free processing.
You just don't get p/p software of Captures calibre for free.
The strong point of Nikon Capture NX is its U Point Technology that lets you easily adjust colors locally, just to parts of the image in a simple way...but in April they will release a photoshop plugin called Viveza that allows to use that same technology inside Photoshop. Must be a really good one. Expensive though...250 dollars.
A few like it for conversion. It will keep the adjustments that you make in camera and this can be handy sometimes. But there are work arounds for this.
It is generally slow. If one has lots of work to do it can be (is) tedious.
Although Nikon advertises it as a complete tool imho it really isn't. It doesn't even have a clone tool. Photoshop is far more powerful and allows more precision in editing. Those who choose to use it will likely use it in conjunction with another editor.
I use it for about 30% of what I do.
It comes free with Nikon's latest cameras (D300, D3). Before that you had top buy it separate. I think it is better to allow folks to choose the software they want to use and not package it with a Camera. I mean, most folks who are buying such a camera have made their software/workflow choices. Why make them pay for (if it is packaged with a camera the price will reflect that and it is not "free") a software they will probably not use?
I hope this doesn't sound to critical. I actually like it for a few applications. It costs a fraction of what top of the line Photoshop runs and even then PS requires add-ons/platform to be "full service" so it's a bit unfair to expect NX to be a do-it-all piece of software (which it certainly isn't.)
I can't really say what the "consensus" is but from what I've read most working photogs (especially dedicated PS users) think it's a POS.
I've been using ACR and also recently downloaded Capture NX. I really like the U point technology. I also think I get slightly better results from Capture NX over ACR, but that's not based on prints, just what I see on screen so far. I do find ACR to be more intuitive and everything is right there in front of you. This may just be because I'm more familiar with ACR. I really like the double threshold for setting white points and black points. I also think I can get a little more out of the file when trying to save blown highlights, etc. I will likely buy it.
tmozey wrote:
I've been using ACR and also recently downloaded Capture NX. I really like the U point technology. I also think I get slightly better results from Capture NX over ACR, but that's not based on prints, just what I see on screen so far. I do find ACR to be more intuitive and everything is right there in front of you. This may just be because I'm more familiar with ACR. I really like the double threshold for setting white points and black points. I also think I can get a little more out of the file when trying to save blown highlights, etc. I will likely buy it.
I've been working with Capture NX quite a bit more since originating this post, and I've spent a lot of time comparing processing and conversions of the same images using NX, RAW Developer, ACR, Lightroom, etc.
There's no doubt in my mind that I'm getting better IQ when I process the NEF files with Capture NX than with the other programs. They open on-screen looking a lot cleaner and they print cleaner, too. Plus, the controls offered in NX are, to me, more sophisticated and advanced than the typical controls found in other programs ... and I'm not just referring to U-Point when I say that.
In terms of shortening the workflow and, at the same time, maximizing the IQ of a given file, I find it to be a pretty remarkable piece of software. Compared to what I go through with Canon RAW files pushed through Lightroom, ACR or Canon's own Digital Photo Professional, Capture NX is a piece of cake. Of course, this also has a lot to do with the fact that the Nikon files are more color accurate and more accurately exposed than the files from my Canon 5D. 5D files can often take quite a lot of effort to get right.
Obviously, I like Capture NX a lot. I'm still learning, though. Plenty of functions and sub-menus to explore.
Chris_Platt wrote:
I love NX. I use it almost exclusively for raw conversion. I leave CS3 for more elaborate image manipulation after conversion.
I've just discovered that Capture NX (and I believe Nikon's other RAW converter programs) reads the High ISO noise-reduction setting (ie On/Off/Normal/High) for the D2x and other Nikon cameras, while ALL other applications disregard it. The setting is apparently contained in the file as an instruction set. It has not actually affected the image.
Thus, if you use Lightroom, ACR, etc. to open an ISO 1600 or 3200 Nikon NEF file that had been shot with High ISO N/R on, the file will appear considerably noisier with the non-Nikon applications than if the file had been opened with Capture NX.
Just a little something I never knew ... and a simple explanation as to why I've experienced my NEF files as appearing much "cleaner" with Capture NX than with other apps.
I've been using Nikon Capture since the "4" series, and currently use "NX". while Lightroom has gotten much closer, Capture NX still gives me a higher quality conversion from RAW. Sharper, better color balance, and allows me to work with settings I have in-camera. Definitely slower than Lightroom or Photoshop, but worth it for me. Once I convert and apply some basic editing, I switch over to Lightroom and Photoshop for more involved editing.
JBurian wrote:
I've been using Nikon Capture since the "4" series, and currently use "NX". while Lightroom has gotten much closer, Capture NX still gives me a higher quality conversion from RAW. Sharper, better color balance, and allows me to work with settings I have in-camera. Definitely slower than Lightroom or Photoshop, but worth it for me. Once I convert and apply some basic editing, I switch over to Lightroom and Photoshop for more involved editing.
Jeff
Funny...several posters have commented on NX being slow. I don't find it slow at all on my Intel Mac running only 2GB of RAM. It appears to be very responsive to input. Changes occur in real time.
In any event, I agree with your assessment of NX's quality of conversion. The more I use it, the more I like it and depend on it for RAW-to-TIFF work, with deeper editing chores being handed over to Photoshop and/or Lightroom.
I'm still new to the Nikon world of shooting and had therefore assumed I'd use Photoshop or RAW Developer for the NEF files, not knowing at the time that neither of these apps work with the D2x's camera settings. Anyway, NX is great. Looks like I'm going to purchase an NX disc.
