Don't CaptureNX2 NEF-JPG pictures look better?

[arun_seetharam]

<p>I use all kinds of Photo software. Mainly have been using Lightroom 2.x and Capture NX 2.x. Yea, I know the diferences and limitations. I know Capture, NX is clunky, not user friendly etc. etc.<br>

But, Dont you see a strange familiarity that Capture NX shows when it comes to NEFs?? I am just talking about NEFs. I some how always feel the CaptureNX tweaks yield much better results and the conversion to JPEGS look better. (relative to the Lightroom)<br>

Those of you who have used both...Do you feel the same? Or is it just me??<br>

Well, the bottom line is how the picture looks. Not what bells and whistles the software provide.</p>

 

[photo5]

<p>Never compared it to Lightroom, but NX2 is superior in my experience to the Adobe Photoshop Camera RAW plugin.</p>

[arun_seetharam]

<p>Basically Lightroom uses the Camera-RAW plgin. So, it is the same with a pretty interface.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>NX2 uses the same algorithms as the in-camera processors on Nikons so it comes out looking closer to what you thought it ought to look like, with your camera settings. 3rd party raw processors are all a bit different, don't read the flags set by the camera in the same way, and don't have exactly the same color optimization modes. So while I can get something I like out of ACR or Apple Raw, it's not quite what I was expecting from the camera.</p>

<p>But NX2 lacks so many other things that Photoshop, Lightroom and Aperture do well, it fails completely at being my main program for managing files. It's too cumbersome compared with the speed of Aperture and too lacking in features compared with Photoshop. I end up doing things like using it to translate a raw file to a 16-bit TIFF as the first step in a workflow (which quickly goes to Aperture and Photoshop), if there's some look that I can get from it that the other programs I use are giving me a hard time with. For example, the D90 Vivid mode and the color aberration fixes that NX2 will do but Aperture won't. In cases like that I'm really just using it to get more bits than the camera JPG file has and maybe work with the DR.</p>

[ian_white2]

<p>What we really need is an NX2 plug-in for Lightroom and then everyone will be happy.</p>

[paul_garland]

<p>I'm a long term Nikon fan. They make great cameras and lenses, but they still have a good ways to go in writing software. I use photoshop almost every day, but I sometimes go weeks without using the Nikon software.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>The NX2 conversion uses a tone curve and colour space that's optimised (in Nikon's eyes) for Nikon DSLRs. There's absolutely no reason why Adobe Camera RAW can't be customised to give EXACTLY the same result. All that's needed is to tweak the curves, colour balance, hue and saturation etc. in camera raw and save the profile. After the initial fiddling it then only requires the profile to be applied by default.</p>

<p>I actually prefer the colour rendering from the Canon Eos 5D, and it's perfectly possible to get a Nikon DSLR to emulate that in camera raw too!</p>

[hawkman]

<p>Arun,<br>

Nikon uses proprietary encoding for their WB data and tone curves, thus when you use NX2 you get the best colors. I have LR 2.3 and even with the camera profiles I have not been able to replicate NX2 colors, there is always some non-linear hue and warmth shifts that I can't correct, especially under artificial light, that's why I use NX2 despite its clumsy interface.</p>

[tri-x1]

<p>No program does Nikon nef files as well as NX2. I would use anything else for initial processing--evn with its clunky interface. I still prefer PS for final editing, however.</p>

[scott_pogorelc]

<p>Sigh, this issue comes up again and again. I've used ACR from day one and I guess I remain blissfully ignorant as to how much better Nikon's s/w is. I tend to agree with Rodeo Joe above -- ACR can be made to do a great job of rendering the images. Either that, or I'm a stud photographer and nail the shot every time (but I tend to believe the former).</p>

 

[jose_perez3]

<p>"There's absolutely no reason why Adobe Camera RAW can't be customised to give EXACTLY the same result. All that's needed is to tweak the curves, colour balance, hue and saturation etc. in camera raw and save the profile. "<br>

<br />How many photographers have actually done this? By the time you finish tweaking the curves, colour balance, hue, saturation and etc. (this etc part might be tricky), you might as well buy Nikons NX2 for $134.</p>

[Richard Williams]

<p>You may find the results are much closer if you use Adobe's Camera Matching profiles, though as I think Arash is suggesting, they still won't be identical:<br>

http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles_FAQ<br>

http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles</p>

 

[hawkman]

<p>Here are two examples, converted with NX2 (default settings, camera standard, no further adjustment) and LR 2.3 using standard camera profile, 100% crops. notice the excessive red cast on the white car and on the wooden door in the UR corner in the first example. Second example: notice how there is a strong green/cyan cast on the column, there was no green tone in this scene. I yet have to see someone show a full size example with identical colors from Capture and NX2.<br>

Here is a somewhat vague statement on Adobe website regarding their software compatibility with NEF files, it is not clear what exactly they try to state but to me it is more like: Nikon wants to have their own sw so they do not show us all the tricks.<br>

<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/nikonraw.html">http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/nikonraw.html</a></p>

 

[hawkman]

<p>Here are two examples, converted with NX2 (default settings, camera standard, no further adjustment) and LR 2.3 using standard camera profile, 100% crops. notice the excessive red cast on the white car and on the wooden door in the UR corner in the first example. Second example: notice how there is a strong green/cyan cast on the column, there was no green tone in this scene. I yet have to see someone show a full size example with identical colors from Capture and NX2.<br>

Here is a somewhat vague statement on Adobe website regarding their software compatibility with NEF files, it is not clear what exactly they try to state but to me it is more like: Nikon wants to have their own sw so they do not show us all the tricks.<br>

<a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/nikonraw.html">http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/nikonraw.html</a></p>

<div></div>

[hawkman]

<p>Example 2, interior shot.<br>

The other major difference between LR2.3/ACR and NX2 is sharpening, ironically LR/ACR have much better sharpening than NX2 and sometimes I can extract detail in LR/ACR that is partially filtered out in NX2.<br>

See my earlier thread about difference in detail/sharpness between ACR/LR2.3 and NX2<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox</a></p>

[hawkman]

<p>Example 2, interior shot.<br>

The other major difference between LR2.3/ACR and NX2 is sharpening, ironically LR/ACR have much better sharpening than NX2 and sometimes I can extract detail in LR/ACR that is partially filtered out in NX2.<br>

See my earlier thread about difference in detail/sharpness between ACR/LR2.3 and NX2<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox</a></p>

[hawkman]

<p>Example 2, interior shot.<br>

The other major difference between LR2.3/ACR and NX2 is sharpening, ironically LR/ACR have much better sharpening than NX2 and sometimes I can extract detail in LR/ACR that is partially filtered out in NX2.<br>

See my earlier thread about difference in detail/sharpness between ACR/LR2.3 and NX2<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox</a></p>

[hawkman]

<p>Example 2, interior shot.<br /><img src="http://www.stanford.edu/~ahazeghi/Photos/photonet/ex2.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="794" /></p>

<p>The other major difference between LR2.3/ACR and NX2 is sharpening, ironically LR/ACR have much better sharpening than NX2 and sometimes I can extract detail in LR/ACR that is partially filtered out in NX2.<br />See my earlier thread about difference in detail/sharpness between ACR/LR2.3 and NX2<br /><a href="../nikon-camera-forum/00STox">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00STox</a></p><div></div>

[hawkman]

<p>Photo.net server errors and bugs are really frustrating, I posted only once, got 3 posts!</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>What is Lightroom? Is it related to Photoshop in some distant way?</p>

<p>Seriously, the comparison here should be between ACR and NX2 - what happens after the raw conversion shouldn't enter into it. The examples shown above are absolutely nothing like I get from ACR/CS3 from NEFs. Also, my version of NX2 was a "freebie" with my D700 - and I think it's just about worth what I paid for it.</p>

[hawkman]

<p>1) Both PhotoShop and LR use ACR.<br>

2) CS3 does not even support camera profiles, you need CS4.<br>

3) <em>The examples shown above are absolutely nothing like I get from ACR </em><br>

But how can you compare when you don't have my original NEF files?<br>

4) NX2 does not come free with D700, at least in the US, what you get is a trial copy.</p>