Richard, people have asked me various things in various threads so I never bothered creating a dedicated thread on my move, sorry.

Anyway, I am still taking every opportunity to get out and about with my kit, only 1 month to my busy season starts and I am still waiting for my 500/4 VR!

I have got used to the fact that everything is reversed and can insert a CF card in a hurry first time now!! My plan for this weekend is to use the Adobe DNG profiler to create a sunny profile for my D3 and D3x as so far I haven't been fully impressed with the colours out of ACR 5.3 yet and I am stubbornly avoiding NX2 because a) I refuse to pay for it given I have dropped c. £15K in Nikon UK's pocket b) I am lazy and already know Photoshop and have an established workflow for the high volume of images I work with and c) if NX2 is anything like DPP it won't be geared towards a high volume photographer so the previous points are moot.

The vignetting of the 70-200 VR hasn't really bothered me yet, really this is just a pit/close-up/candid lens for me and I will most likely crop for effect anyway.

Hope that helps for now.

Alistair,

I have downloaded the 60 day demo of NX2, and it is pretty slick. I doesn't appear to make good use of computer resources because it is slow to update in edit mode after adjustment, and takes a while to batch process images. I agree completely about it's cost plus the cost of Nikon's Camera Control product. They should be bundled together for $60.00US.....what a rip. They are nice programs, but $350US wow!

Richard K.

mill4570 wrote:
Alistair,

I have downloaded the 60 day demo of NX2, and it is pretty slick. I doesn't appear to make good use of computer resources because it is slow to update in edit mode after adjustment, and takes a while to batch process images. I agree completely about it's cost plus the cost of Nikon's Camera Control product. They should be bundled together for $60.00US.....what a rip. They are nice programs, but $350US wow!

Richard K.

Richard,

I'm not sure where you are getting the $360 usd from but take a look here.

http://nikonmall.com/detail/NIK+VSA59005

gene

He was saying Camera Control + NX2

Just a point on the NX2, it's being updated to 2.2 as has 'supposedly' better batch processing. We'll see how much better, but something current owners of the product will be interested in since it's a free upgrade for 2.0 users.

Alistair, I had the same issue with the colors until I installed the Nikon profiles into Lightroom. Now I get exactly what I see on the screen, which is usually Vivid since it's so addicting.

bacilonur, Nikon profiles?

Are these the Adobe Labs profiles? Or are they from somewhere else?

I have found that even with the beta 2 colour profiles from Adobe Labs the colours in LR 2 do not quite match what I get from Capture NX2 or DPP. And it's a bit disconcerting to see the huge values used for brightness and contrast in a neutral profile.

A big drawback of LR is that you cannot see the sharpening until you zoom in to 100%, at which stage you cannot see the whole image. Pretty dumb design in my opinion, but maybe it helps speed up the program.

- Alan

Alistair Watson wrote:
bacilonur, Nikon profiles?

Are these the Adobe Labs profiles? Or are they from somewhere else?


I'd like to know this as well.. the color-rendition of both CS4 and LR2.2 just suck when I open my D3-nefs....

That's a shame about the 300mm f/4 not focusing properly. I got mine earlier this year and it's been one of my star lenses. Even when I don't think I need that focal range, I pack it in my bag and I end up using it and getting prints from it. I get good ones from just about everything I like shooting - portraits, dogs, birds, and flowers/plants. I love how it focuses 5 feet away - when I think it won't focus, it does and I'm left with some interesting shots... I shot one with a dog getting treats from my friend and you could my friend in the dogs eye reflection it was that close and that clear

Alistair Watson wrote:
Snip...

plan for this weekend is to use the Adobe DNG profiler to create a sunny profile for my D3 and D3x as so far I haven't been fully impressed with the colours out of ACR 5.3 yet and I am stubbornly avoiding NX2 because a) I refuse to pay for it given I have dropped c. £15K in Nikon UK's pocket b) I am lazy and already know Photoshop and have an established workflow for the high volume of images I work with and c) if NX2 is anything like DPP it won't be geared towards a high volume photographer so the previous points are moot.



I was stubborn with NX for two years. I regretted it. Nikon have gone to great lengths to anger people with this but they have done some amazing trick to protect their NEF file. NX & NX2 make the NEF file sing, I haven't seen any other software come close.

You can cull with your other software but when you find an image that rocks NX2 will make it stick.

R. Francois uses NX or NX2 and his images have a subtle polished quality to them that I can only put down to the software because there are other photographers who compose and expose just as good but their images are different because of the PP. I really like his photos and his skill. He also obviously knows when the picture is right to post.

I couldn't believe the difference it made to my D70 raw photos.

Alistair Watson wrote:
bacilonur, Nikon profiles?

Are these the Adobe Labs profiles? Or are they from somewhere else?


Ivo Heshusius wrote:
I'd like to know this as well.. the color-rendition of both CS4 and LR2.2 just suck when I open my D3-nefs....

You can download the Adobe Labs profiles (beta 2) from here : http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles#Camera_Profiles_and_DNG_Profile_Editor

I have been having an experiment with them but as yet the D3x isn't supported.

I am sure I will end up doing a test calibration of ACR using the DNG profiler to compare against these.

Slug69 wrote:
I was stubborn with NX for two years. I regretted it. Nikon have gone to great lengths to anger people with this but they have done some amazing trick to protect their NEF file. NX & NX2 make the NEF file sing, I haven't seen any other software come close.


Appreciate your comments on NX2. After a long discussion with Nikon they are sending me a copy of NX2 for free, as they damn well should given the money I have put in the Nikon coffers over the last month!

Good on ya Alistair. One of my friends who shoots airshows also got NX for free out of Nikon. Frankly speaking, I don't see why they don't bundle it. Although as a saving grace, ViewNX is free...

Alistair Watson wrote:
Slug69 wrote:
I was stubborn with NX for two years. I regretted it. Nikon have gone to great lengths to anger people with this but they have done some amazing trick to protect their NEF file. NX & NX2 make the NEF file sing, I haven't seen any other software come close.


Appreciate your comments on NX2. After a long discussion with Nikon they are sending me a copy of NX2 for free, as they damn well should given the money I have put in the Nikon coffers over the last month!



Glad to hear that, i was going to mention that you can download the trail version off their website to use for 90 days to see if you like it better, after i used it I won't use anything else. And i don't do much pp at all so for someone that really uses it alot and knows how I am sure you will be happy with it after getting used to it. I think almost everyone that has tried it for long enough prefers it now when using nikon files.



Oh , and I got mine free also

It is taking a little getting use to. Lens mount is reversed, cards plug in facing away from the lcd display, exposure comp scale is reversed, and there is an "anti-flash confirmation" light. The image quality is great, the flash system is much much better, and I got a chance to use a 200-400f4 this weekend and that may seal the deal. The only real complaint is the vignetting of the 70-200f2.8 on the FX body (a known issue). It is really bad. On the upside, the center of the lens is so good, I can use the 1.4 tc and maintain good image quality. Something I could not do with the Canon 70-200f2.8 and tc. The 24-70f2.8 is bright edge to edge, and on the FX is actually wide.

In short, I think I am going to move to Nikon. The issues I have with the system are small and will go away as I use the gear. Soon the Canon system will be backwards. My MKIII should be back from round two next week, I'll make a final decision then.

I think I can fix one of your problems with the Nikon D3 from the Canon perspective... having used a friend's D3 recently, and having owned a D2H in the past, there are ways to get the little things "feeling" like a Canon again.

For the exposure compensation reversal issue, press "Menu" on your D3's back, go to the Custom Setting Menu, select f: Controls, then option #f10. Reverse the indicators, and you're all set! Voila, proper exposure meters!

Can't fix the lens mount being "reversed", or the cards going in backwards, but you get used to that. I hope this helps you like the amazing D3 more though!

I have been hanging around the Nikon forum a bit more since I picked up the Nikon 14-24 about a week ago and I will contribute my 2 cents. Firstly, let me say that I have no loyalty towards Canon. If there is any brand loyalty in me that brand would be Contax/Zeiss. Forget about Sony - I have zero interest in Sony bodies.

My priority is lenses. Canon has some terrific fast primes and I love fast lenses. The only 2 Nikon lenses that make me drool are the 14-24 and 200-400VR .... and maybe the 105VR. In this regard, Canon has a lot more to offer. Also, with a Canon system/mount, you have a much wider selection of fast but inexpensive alternative lenses like the Rokkor 58/1.2, Zuiko 18 and 21, Zeiss 21 and 35-70, etc.

In terms of bodies, Nikon and Canon are about equal IMO. I do like my 5D II a lot but I do also wish that it would have the AF system of the D700.

Alistair Watson wrote:
Slug69 wrote:
I was stubborn with NX for two years. I regretted it. Nikon have gone to great lengths to anger people with this but they have done some amazing trick to protect their NEF file. NX & NX2 make the NEF file sing, I haven't seen any other software come close.


Appreciate your comments on NX2. After a long discussion with Nikon they are sending me a copy of NX2 for free, as they damn well should given the money I have put in the Nikon coffers over the last month!


What a great result. Now you can really make a decision on what is right for your pics and workflow. Like you said, your investment in Nikon tech must be worth them chucking it in. Good on you for pushing the point.