Any Mac users with Capture NX2 around?

High all. I've not been around in quite a while. Having now 8 year old twins can have that effect. Equipment wise I am probably a rather odd duck, D800 + Capture NX2 + Mac user. I am even stranger in that I prefer Capture NX2 over everything else I've used and that is part of the reason I'm still shooting with my perfectly great D800.

 

Anyhow, it looks like the time has come to update my OS to something later than OS X 10.10. There seem to be no options for me other than the latest OS, 10.13. I know that Nikon doesn't support Capture NX2 anymore, but does anyone know if it will run? Any idea if it will run on 10.11, or 10.12?

 

Thanks to any and all folks to might offer some info here.

Hmm. Capture NX 2 hasn't been updated since 2014. This document, published in 2016, states that Nikon does not intend to support macOS 10.12 Sierra in Capture NX 2.

 

I am aware that some users have reasons for not wanting to use Capture NX-D, but I can't remember what they are. Can you remind me?

Hmm. There are answers on this Apple discussions page claiming that Capture NX 2 can be installed on macOS 10.11 El Capitan if you temporarily disable System Integrity Protection.

To answer why not NX-D, I really like the way things are done in NX2, and appreciate the control point feature. I don't want side cars. I tried NX-D when it was introduced and felt it was a big step backwards. The way I see it, I will stay with NX2 as long as my D800 is my primary camera. At least that is my current thinking. Ironically, the only reason I am looking to upgrade anything is that I'm also captive to Turbo Tax, which now requires 10.11.

 

If I could install El Capitan my life would be much, much easier. Unfortunately, Apple has made that impossible as I never downloaded it. Because, well, Apple is Apple you can no longer obtain 10.11 if you never downloaded when it was readily available. Ugh.

I believe the same trick that allows installing CNX2 on El Capitan will allow installing it on newer macOSes.

 

But if you want to install El Cap, you can download it from this web site: El Capitan Download from App Store, Direct and Torrents. The App Store link doesn't work anymore, but I assume the direct download does. But I can't vouch for the download's authenticity or safety.

I've ended up just using Adobe Camera Raw, although I have Canon RAW images rather than Nikon. Comparison of NX 2 to ACR at LINK. Other discussions can be Googled.

PM me and I'll gladly hook you up with any version of OS X/macOS from 10.9 on. I don't mind sharing since Apple gave those versions away when they are current, and anyone who "downloaded" them when they were available can still go back and download them from the App store.

 

BTW, I am technically a Mac tech(my job description says so, even if it's only allocated as 2% of my duties) and although I don't have access to official resources I still am responsible for maintaining a BUNCH of different computers both in an official capacity and as a hobby(I built a specially configured PowerMac G4 for someone at work about 2 months ago from my own inventory of computers and parts) and for that reason I keep EVERY Mac OS on hand. I get stingy with giving out/distributing Mac OS 7.6-9.2.2 and then OS X 10.0-10.8. You did have to purchase every OS before OS X 10.9, but Apple has everything 7.5.5 and earlier available for download on their website.

 

BTW, I don't have the specific software being asked about, but my general experience is that Nikon has never figured out how to actually write good Macintosh software :)

BTW, I don't have the specific software being asked about, but my general experience is that Nikon has never figured out how to actually write good Macintosh software

 

Right, and it doesn't seem that Nikon much cares about software at all. Even as far as in-camera software goes—Nikon's in-camera software user interface is not bad, per se, but I think it could be so much more powerful and accessible if Nikon would hire devs that were trained in this century and management let them create something new.

I was a happy CNX2 user, but it was clear already before CNX-D that it was a dead-end street, and it's a pity. As an editor, CNX2 was fine and while its UI has its quirks, it sure beats CNX-D for usability in my book (but personal preference plays a part).

 

I decided to go with CaptureOne Pro, mainly because I wanted also something of an organiser (not C1's strong point, but better than the ViewNX/Capture NX combo), and I like both its results and UI a lot better than the Adobe products. It doesn't do Control Points the way CNX2 did, but it does allow for fairly precise colour selections which can then be converted to masks. While one step more eloborate, it does bring control-point-like functionality awfully close.

 

The other alternative (which I haven't used, so can't judge it in any way) is DxO Photolab - they bought the Control Point technology, and integrated it into their raw editing software, which had a good reputation already. In case you haven't tried (yet), it might be worth it to download a trial version and give it a try. After all, if your D800 ever fails, a new camera won't have native support in CNX2, so in the end you are only postponing the moment you'll need to learn new software, so why not getting prepared and move to a program that still does receive proper support from its maker?

Thank you all for your thoughts! I just want to see if I can bring this back around to the question I asked. Does anyone know if Capture NX2 will run under OS X, after 10.10. Holy Grail would be someone who knew it ran on High Sierra, but I'm just trying to know if it runs on any version after my 10.10. Thanks again.

This looks promising:

 

High Sierra (macOS 10.13) and Capture NX2 | Nikon Capture NX Users Group | Flickr

I have pcs with windows but no Apple or Macs. I still use Nikon Capture NX2 for my RAW images from my D 800. I also use it to process Tiff files made in Capture NX-D from RAW files taken with my my D 810 and D 500.

 

Like Wouter said, check out DXO Photo Lab as they now own NIK and Control Points have been incorporated into their raw processor. I am also going to check out Luminar and maybe Capture One Pro 11.

 

I have learned to live with the issues with NX-D. I am finding that View Nx -i is has trouble handing large RAW files from my D 810.

 

Joe

Just to report, I'm generally a happy DxO software user (partly for their lens corrections, partly for their denoising). I'm probably not getting the best out of it, and I'm a little frustrated that they don't obviously seem to have a post-shrink sharpening option, so I have to export my Nikon Wednesday images to Photoshop, shrink them, then sharpen them. I wasn't previously familiar with the control point stuff; I've had a quick play, and it seems interesting. If it's an interface you like, I'd at least give the DxO stuff a trial.

 

I don't promise it's the best on the market (those who try things more tend to report that different software "wins" with different images) - but generally I'd say it's at least worth a try. And at least it's current and their support team is vaguely responsive.

Mod Note - for context, the following is Andrew's response to a spammer's post which has been removed, Andrew did not revive this thread, the spammer did.

 

I'm still using DxO (photolab 2, now). It's picked up the U-point stuff, although I rarely use it, and has in-place minor edits (spot healing, etc.) - though if I have anything significant to do I just export to Photoshop. A few things work better than a few revisions ago, and of course the support for newer cameras and lenses gets rolled out. PRIME denoising is faster than it used to be too, and it's got a bit better for reviewing lots of images. It's still generally my first import path. I still don't think there's a post-resize sharpening option, though. :) (To be fair, I could just reimport the image!)

 

I've just started trying Topaz for a few things - there are some artifacts, and it doesn't always play nicely with DxO's lens corrections, but at least the denoising works very well, when it works. (It sometimes renders fur a bit oddly). I'm a bit disappointed to find that I couldn't get gigapixel to play nicely on my 16GB MacBook Pro, though - the GPU is under-powered, but there's a CPU-only path that I expected to work. Oh well.

Edited April 25, 2020 by William Michael