Capture NX or Photoshop

New to the job. Did film years ago. Have a starter pack. D300/12-24/18-65 just short at the long end.

Anyway have to come to grips with a software package. My level is interested ametuer. Whatever I

use I need to learn from square one. I tend to buy all Nikon gear. So which package to buy and

what/where is the best place to learn it? I should add that technically being 61 I am not as I used to be!

I can just about work a DVD recorder and am well on the way to getting results from the D300.

Using you know who's settings - (I buy mine from here here and here - whats he called Roc Kenwell) - did throw me.

photo.net forums are the place to go so instead of sending you know who a donation I joined.

Thanks in advance

Graham.

NX2 would definitely be simpler, and bring good results. Photoshop is a very step learning curve, if techno isn't your forte.

the types of things most people want to do can be done w/ Capture NX2 or Lightroom 2. If you really need the ultimate pixel pushing capabilities of Photoshop, then, there isn't a substitute but as a semi-beginner, PS may well be too much too soon.

 

NX2 will give you the best RAW conversion and has some unique capabilities (love those control points) but it can be slow and clunky to work with.

 

You can download and demo both. You can get online training from lynda.com or kelbytraining.com

Capture NX2 is a good companion for the D300, but it's only pleasant to use if you've got a computer with a fair

amount of horsepower (a quick, recently made processor, and at least 2GB or RAM and plenty of free disk space).

Same can be said about any image editing package, really. The good news is that you can download fully functional

free trial copies and give 'em a try. Nikon's package has a 60 day trial... which should be enough if you really apply

yourself to the learning curve.

 

For someone coming to this as something of a blank slate, you'll probably find NX's interface - especially when it

comes to sifting through a folder of just-shot RAW image and then making

rotate/dodge/burn/saturation/contrast/brightness/color-temp/touch-up type changes - quite friendly. It's a very different

animal than Photoshop, but not in a bad way. Definitely give the free try a try.

Thank you all.

Decided on NX.

(I'll buy it from here , here and here!!!!!)

Sorry Ken.

http://www.moosepeterson.com/D3/media_center.html#

 

Look at the bottom 3 on above page.

 

http://www.niksoftware.com/learnmore/usa/entry.php

 

Almost at the bottom is NX2. Watch the movies.

 

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Source/Jay%20Arraich/1/

 

Here is one on Photoshop Elements

 

http://www.thelightsrightstudio.com/digital-darkroom.htm

 

these are still or PDF tutorials with a few on quicktime, blended exposures and burn/dodge

 

http://www.russellbrown.com/

 

Dr. Brown is the creative director of Adobe. Don`t let his style put you off as there is great stuff there.

 

I definately would stay away from the full photoshop Design Suite or CS3 ot CS4. That is like buying a race care to drive to work and harder to learn. Elements is more user friendly and will get you most things. Anything you learn in Elements can be applied to full Photoshop later should you want to to get into profesional retouching or doing more advanced work.

 

All that being said, they are both nice programs. You can not download and try all the editing programs out there, so pick one and take the time to learn it fully and you will be happy.

 

Watch the tutorials before you download so you get the idea of how it works. Then you don`t cut into the trial time while you learn.

 

Have some images ready to experiment with.

I have a D-50 and a D-300 with the Capture NX2 too. I prefer using Adobe Lightroom 2 for photography over Capture NX2 and Photoshop. For me Lightroom is much more intuitive, less clunky and cumbersome than Capture NX2. I found Photoshop to be bloat-ware, since it's mostly packed with too many gimmicks that I have no need for at this time. Now if I were a graphics artist Photoshop would fit the bill well, but Lightroom is specifically for photography only and that's all I'm interested in. On the Adobe site you can download a full working 30 day trial of Lightroom 2 and they feature tutorial videos on the site as well.

 

If you haven't already; check out your big book store in your area for Magic Lantern books by Simon Stafford. There is a recent one specifically for the D-300 that makes the Nikon manual seem like it's written in another language and the loosely translated back to English.

Graham, both PS and NX2 will give you most of what you may need, especially if you are new to this. I mostly use NX2 with the D300 but PS -- and even Elements -- has some tools that are missing in NX and sometimes they are real helpful.

 

Either way, there is a definite learning curve. Best to try out the trials, find which seems to work best for you, then find some good books or tutorials.