Capture NX2 - I'm overwhelmed

WeLoveNemo

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Jan 21, 2006
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I downloaded the trial version recently and am quite disappointed. I was comparing this to Lightroom which I tried last month. Capture seems much less, for lack of a word, obvious, than Lightroom. I am worried that I might be missing an opportunity to enjoy a great program just because it is a bit less user-friendly. Can someone sell me on Capture, or am I right, Lightroom would be the better investment? BTW, I am a Nikon user if that makes a difference. Thanks!
 
My advice is to keep trying. I have not yet upgraded to NX 2.0, but I found the original version to be somewhat counter-intuitive, probably because I was accustomed to Lightroom and PSE. NX's interface is quite different, but now that I'm familiar with it, it doesn't bother me. I've been able to get much better results with NX than with LR. The fact that it preserves the camera settings and enables you to switch among them (assuming you shoot in RAW) is a big benefit, IMO. And the control point technology that allows for selective edits without messing with layers is a great tool.

The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX 2.0 by Jason Odell is supposed to be an outstanding resource. I've found Real World Capture NX by Ben Long to be quite helpful, but I don't know if it's been updated for 2.0.

Good luck.
 
From my experience, Capture NX is a photo editing software more on the likes of Photoshop whereas Lightroom is photo management software.

I use Lightroom, Photoshop and Capture NX. Lightroom helps me organize my photos and due quick edits. It is great for cataloging and finding photographs. It does well for the quick edits. I also use Picasa. I have a hard time using a single program -:)

When I shoot raw, I use Capture NX to make my "raw" adjustments. It also has the U-Point technology. From Nikon: "CaptureNX2 poweful tool for quick and easy photo editing software lets you make intuitive photo enhancements"

I also use Photoshop for editing and enhancing my photos and Lightroom lets you open the photos with external programs.

If I had a choice between Lightroom and Capture NX, I may go with Capture NX for the editing and raw capabilities. I would use a free program as Picasa from Google to help organize my photographs and do quick edits. For free software it does a pretty good job. I would not do the same for Photoshop as I would take that hands down over both.

I only sprung for lightroom 1.x - I understand that 2.x has some improvements, but I can only give you my experiences with 1.x.

Did you look at the Capture NX Tutorials? They may help you see what the software can do.

I am using Capture NX 1.x - I didn't spring for the upgrade.
 
I use NX2 and wouldn't use anything else to process/convert my NEF's. The unfortunate thing about NX2 is that the user interface is nothing like what most people are used to using. However, if you continue to work with it and read up on it a bit, I'm sure you'll see it's huge benefits for working with Nikon NEF's. Jason Odell's book that fitzperry mentioned is a great one to pick up.

Some major features added in NX2.......

-Selective Control Points - NX1 was only capable of making those edits across the entire image. You can now selectively make edits on any area of the image

-Healing Brush - It's not a clone tool like a lot of people are expecting. It's great for getting rid of blemishes and other artifacts.

-Quick Fix area - This is an area that combines items such as exposure compensation, levels & curves, highlight protection, shadow protection, etc by using sliders or numerical values.

-Picture Controls - You can remove or apply your in-camera settings quickly.

-Improvements on batch processing.


There are several other improvements in NX2 as well. I started out using NX1 about a year and a half ago and upgraded back in July. The application also runs much better in this latest version and is not such a cpu/memory hog. I'd say definitely give it a chance. I almost abandoned it at first but I am really glad I didn't. Hope this helps a bit. :)
 

Give Bibble a try as well. I do not think it is as user friendly as Lightroom, but it is a very nice program. Plus, there are many interesting plug-ins available for it. The pro version comes with some pretty good ones already included like simulation of different B&W films, more powerful sharpening, ability to selectively adjust saturation on high/mid/low, etc. Plus, if you have Noise Ninja you can use it right on your RAW file saving the step of having to do NR after converting and then sharpening afterwards. Lightroom might have many of these features as well, but I do not know.
 
Remember that you can now download camera profiles for your Nikon that should theoretically exactly replicate the output from OEM raw conversion software. If you're not happy with the colors you're getting from LR, it's worth giving that a shot.
 
I had a feeling it was worth sticking it out with Capture. I love using RAW now that I have taken that leap. I checked out the tutorials and now I just need to set some time aside to experiment and learn.

I'm in a much better place than I was this time yesterday when I was ready to just delete the trial. I'll keep you all posted on my progress. Thanks for the input.
 
Lightroom 2 only, unfortunately.

Thanks, Groucho -

I've been debating on upgrading to LR2 or going with NX2. This may sway me towards sticking with LR. I do like LR, but sometimes find I can't quite get the colors right. If version 2 helps with this, that may be a better solution than learning a new program and establishing a new cataloging system.
 












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