Bought Nikon D90, what software now?

[gogu]

<p>Hi all!<br>

I decided at last to upgrade and bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D90 wit a 16-85/4,5-5,6.<br>

I already have Photoshop Elements 7.0 and of course the included with the camera ViewNX.<br>

My question is if I should buy the Capture NX2 or can I do (almost) everything I want with P.E 7 and ViewNX?<br>

I don't want to spend hours to manipulate my photos, just the basic retouches.<br>

<br>

Thanks!</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>Stay with Photoshop 7 until you find something you cannot do.</p>

[johnny_anderson]

<p>You can do most everything with PSE 7 but there are some things that only work in NX2. As I understand it (and I'm a new NX2 user) NX2 will remove hot pixels, can use the dust frame that you can make with your Nikon camera to remove dust problems from photos, and is supposed to give the best conversion (better noise processing) of any of the other software on the market. I'm sure that I'm missing some of the features but it does a great job for me.</p>

<p>I have PSE 6 but I find NX2 easier and faster to use for most of my processing needs. If I really want to do a lot of special processing then I use PSE 6. If you go to the Nikonusa web site you can run some tutorials on NX2.</p>

[tobey_bilek]

<p>NX 2 had auto lens distortion correction, allpies picture control to bodies that are not supported and you can change them after the fact, auto CA correction, reads all the EXIF data instead of only WB which is what PS does. </p>

<p>Once you learn it, you will not go back. $119 at Cameta Camera.</p>

<p>But if you are now happy, stay with what you know.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>NX2 is good for making some types of adjustments and corrections on single raw images. Things like changing white balance and removing CA, and of course it's the only raw processor that accurately reproduces the in-camera processing of Nikon cameras - so your colors will come out just like a camera JPG would.</p>

<p>But it has its limitations. For example, if you need to work on many files it will frustrate the crap out of you and you'll want to be using Aperture or Lightroom. I use Aperture for almost everything, Photoshop for things Aperture doesn't do and NX2 rarely.</p>

[tri-x1]

<p>I have PS 7 Elements and can pull Nikon raw files directly into it. But NX2 can fine tune raw files better than any non Nikon program. I usually run the images through NX2 for sharpening, straightening, cropping and color and brightness-contrast tuning, then save that image as a tif or jpeg that can be pulled into PS for additional work if it's needed. NX2 also can be used to batch process multiple files--it's not just for single files.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>Basic retouches? I really like Lightroom! Not too expensive either AND a totally free download trial if you want to check it out.</p>

<p>I'm a Photoshop junkie since v. 2.5.1 but more and more, I'm using Lightroom.</p>

[gogu]

<p>Thank you all for your answers.<br>

I was thinking of what poster <a href="../photodb/user?user_id=1127224">Wayne Cornell</a> proposed: do the first corrections in NX2--->save as TIFF--->more work in PSE7.0 if needed.<br>

As for buing the software at Cameta Camera, no such luck: I live in Europe and Cameta is charging around $44.00 for shipping!</p>

<p>Thanks again everyone for your answers!</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>The free GIMP is far better than Elements. At least it has a proper curves tool that you can shape. The White Elements "curves" is actually a glorified levels tool.<br>

http://www.gimp.org/</p>

[glenn_c1]

<p>I'll ask this here since I suspect the answers will be helpful to the OP as well. I'm still trying to decide between NX2 and LR2 and now leaning towards Capture. I'm curious what important editing features LR2 might have, if any, that are absent in NX2.</p>

 

[curritch]

<p>I've been a Photoshop Elements user for a long time. But I must say that PSE6 & PSE7 are not Adobe's greatest efforts. They take forever to load and the user interface is not nearly as friendly as PSE3. Too much crap.</p>

<p>I'm stuck with PSE6 or 7 since the camera raw plug in for the D90 doesn't work with any PSE version prior to PSE6.</p>

<p>I'm afraid Adobe is following the model of Microsoft. More and more that works worse and worse.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>Don't think of LR2 in terms of its editing abilities. Think of it in terms of its organizing abilities. If you have a large library of photos it's really good to have a program like LR2 or Aperture that you can use for organizing and quickly going through, sorting, filtering by keyword, rating, etc., deciding which photos to use and what to do with them, then outputting them in whatever way you need. NX2 is fine for tweaking raw files and useless for maintaining a library.</p>

<p>I use Aperture for this but LR2 does most of the same things. For example, if I want to spit out JPGs of every photo I took in 2008-2009 that's tagged "flower" and I've rated 4 or 5 stars, it's about 20 seconds worth of work. Or if I want to see portraits I used a flash on. Or take my 100 best raw files of landscapes and process them to B&W JPGs at 2000 px wide using presets I've set up to emulate T-Max film, a red filter and a high contrast process, that's a minute or two. You just can't get stuff like that to happen using NX2 or Photoshop.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>For now, I would stick to ViewNX and PSE. You can always throw money at it later, once you find out what you like and dislike.<br />Conversion from RAW to TIFF is something I'd use ViewNX for, since I'm not impressed with Adobe Camera RAW handling high ISO files of my D300 (and your D90 delivers pretty much the same files). Lightroom uses the same conversion engine (from NEF to TIFF/JPEG) as Photoshop Elements, so no gain there. And organising pictures, well, PSE does that quite well. So spending a lot of money on Lightroom? It won't bring you a lot of extra in the short term.<br>

<br />For all other editing, PSE7 will do that well. The one big missing thing is curves, but there are free plug-ins adding this functionality to Elements. Just google for it, and you will find several. GIMP is an option, but only if you like terrible user interfaces. Elements is certainly easier to work with (another free option would be Paint.NET, by the way).<br>

It's all a matter of preference, we can't tell you which workflow you like best. So, try things out! Lightroom does have a trial version. Capture NX2 has one. Both programs are not very cheap, though.<br />For a little less money, Bibble Lite is another nice option which can do most normal retouching. And Capture One is affordable with seriously good quality output in my experience.<br>

Just run the trialversions, see which workflow you like best and which quality you like best.<br>

And PSE7 will stay valuable no matter what. It may not be ideal for RAW conversion, but it is a very well rounded image editor.</p>

[bsd230]

<p>I considering learning NX2. I have a trial of CS4 and I really don't like the menu layout as much. It seems different from CS3. I also have a 60 day trial of NX2 that came with my camera, so I might give it a shot.</p>

[glenn_c1]

<p>Not trying to step on OP's toes here, hopefully he will find any resulting commentary interesting....</p>

<p>I'd been leaning towards LR2 as an editing AND cataloging solution. However, I'm actually fairly satisfied with iPhoto's cataloging abilities. I like the interface, it's easy to use, and it can do all the things Andrew mentioned in his post about finding all the photos that fit a given combination of metrics. It also does most basic editing and seems to even handle my RAW files properly. And it's free.</p>

<p>So I've been thinking about using a Capture NX/iPhoto workflow, at least for the forseeable future. But I know LR2 does have some good editing capabilities, like localized dodging and burning, that would be very helpful to me (essential, really) - and I'm sure there is more. So I'm trying to make sure I'm not giving anything up by choosing NX2 over LR2. Eventually I'd add some other NIK software, perhaps the full suite of filtering software for example, and quite possibly elements and some plugins for distortion correction, noise reduction, and who knows what.</p>

<p>This has the advantage of being cheap and working with what I already have. It has the disadvantage of being slower and not suited to pro-style "production" work - which is fine for me. It seems to me though that it would be quite flexible and usable and that I wouldn't be giving up all that much by not having a full copy of PS - which I may go with some day, but not any time soon.</p>

<p>Any thoughts?</p>

 

[george_nowakowski]

<p>I realize that if you don't have a Mac, its not an option, but I really like Aperture. It is fast and easy and will do 99% of what you need to get done.</p>

[kenneth_englade]

<p>I use NX2 and PSE 6 an d would recommend the combination. Be aware, though, that there is a fairly steep ;earning curve for NX2. I tried two books which only confused me, then discovered a new cook entitled "Nikon Capture NX2: After the Shoot" by Mike Hagen. It's a great book.</p>

[gogu]

<p>Thanks again for your answers!<br>

I've decided to download the 60 days trial version and see how I feel with it...<br>

If I like it (and learn to work with it in those 60 days;-)) I'll go for it along the PSE 7.0 I already own.<br>

The only thing I miss with PSE 7.0 is what some of you have correctly pointed out: the lack of the curves tool...<br>

tnx</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Gogu, There is a curves plugin that works for Photoshop Elements, google for EasyFilter SmartCurves. It works fine, and free.</p>

<p>Glenn C,<br>

Capture NX not up to pro work? I wouldn't say so. Colour control points are about the most powerful editing feature I've ever seen. Making similar selections in photoshop will cost a lot more time for sure :-) And all the basic needed features for making pictures look good are there. Capture NX slow - yes, certainly. <br />I'm no Mac user anymore, so the last iPhoto I saw was long ago (os x 10.3). So maybe my advice is way off....but here it goes anyway. You might want to take a look at View NX as viewing application. It plays nice with Capture NX, and it can do the really basic RAW editing with the same quality as Capture NX. I find the Nikon View/Capture combo to work really nicely.</p>

[glenn_c1]

<p>Wouter, by pro-style "production" work I meant the type of work where, for example, you have 1,000 wedding shots, you need to apply similar edits to all or a majority of them in the shortest possible time, isolate your picks, and get them ready to print or whatever, all in the shortest possible space of time. I wasn't referring to actual editing capabilities.</p>

<p>That's moot as far as I'm concerned anyway.</p>

<p>I've downloaded a trial of NX2 and I have to say I agree completely that the control point technology is immensesly powerful and easy to use. My learning curve for NX2 as a whole is just beginning, but I can see that this is a very flexible technology that I do not want to be without in the future. </p>

<p>So that means either making NX2 work with other programs I use, or switching to programs that work well with NX2. I've considered trying ViewNX, even though I've heard mixed things - can't hurt to try. Unfortunately it looks as though an NX/iPhoto workflow is going to be just about impossibly cumbersome to apply, which is too bad, because the latest iPhoto is a beautiful and transparent app for my purposes.</p>

<p>I have sort of another question, though. I'm very interested in the other Nik software, Color Efex, Silver Efex, and so on, and see that they are available as a suite at a seemingly reasonable price, but from what I can tell they are only sold that way for use either with LR2 or PS (and oddly, far more expensive if purchased for use with PS). Is it not possible to get this suite of programs for use simply with Capture? Do they make you pay the much higher individual costs for each program if you don't already have LR2? I don't get it. </p>

 

[gogu]

<p>Wouter,<br>

a million <strong>*<em>THANKS*</em></strong> for the suggestion on SmartCurves software!<br>

Downloaded it and works fine with P.S.E 7.0!<br>

Exactly what I was missing from the CS4!</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Glenn, sorry, I never felt the need (so far) to extend Capture NX2. There is one filter collection from Nik software for Capture NX2, that's all I know: <a href="http://www.niksoftware.com/cepnx/en/entry.php">http://www.niksoftware.com/cepnx/en/entry.php</a>.<br>

For me, the type of "edits" that these filters provide happen in Photoshop Elements. Good as Capture NX is, there is still a need for a tool like that. But workflow is a personal thing in the end :-)</p>

<p>As for the production work, Capture NX2 can store edits, and you can apply those to multiple pictures, also in the batch conversion mode. It's not very obviously implemented, but it is there.</p>