Nx2 questions

[amin_siminati]

<p>

<p >Hello,</p>

<p > </p>

<p ><br /></p>

<p >I'm fairly new to photography, but I've got the basics covered. I always shoot in manual, and have no problem making technical decisions quickly (shutter, iso, aperture, focus mode, etc ) . My problem is composition, and post processing. I'm working on my composition, and it's improving at a good rate, and I'm decent with photoshop, and it's almost okay for when I'm shooting jpeg (still working on it), but i've started shooting raw (schools d300) so i can adjust white balance later. I've got nx2, but I don't really know how to use it. I'm not dumb, I realize the noise reduction bar does noise reduction, and stuff like that, but I'm not fluent at it, and am not quite sure what things i need to adjust in a raw image besides white balance, and noise reduction, crops, and contrast... I also find that I do way to much trial and error when doing contrast, and it takes me way to long until I'm satisfied with the image. </p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p >So I'm looking for some tutorials, preferably video ones, to start mastering nx2. Also, once I have it mastered, how long should i spending on each image (i know there's aloooooooot of variables, but assuming i did a fairly decent job while shooting..)</p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p >One last question, nx2 needs to load when I change noise reduction settings, like it's not instant. I have a quad core (q6600) running at 2.4 ghz, 4 gigs of 800mhz ram, and a 512mb 8800gt graphic card. I'm guessing the main issue is the slightly outdated graphic card, but would over clocking my cpu help a lot to? Don't worry, I know what I'm doing , I had it up to 3.8 ghz one air, and it was stable, but almost too hot. I could bring it up to 3.6ghz with no issues (brought it down, cause everything was running full speed before to), but would I really gain performance, or is it the gpu holding me back? </p>

</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Your video card doesn't really have anything to do with the speed at which a noise reduction routine will crunch an image. It's more about page swapping in RAM and the main CPU. The more you ask of it (using the better quality setting), the more it has to "look over" the entire image, and arrive at the right strategy for reducing the noise. If you change the controls on the noise routine while it's working, it starts over. A nice clean disk and non-defragmented scratch space help.<br /><br />In terms of general strategy, just spend some time looking at <strong><a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=nikon+nx2+video+tutorial&search_type=&aq=f">Capture NX2 video tutorials on YouTube</a></strong>. Not because every one of those is good, or does everything in the most sensible way ... but because it's a quick way to get a sense of the SORT of things that you do with that very cool piece of software.</p>

[amin_siminati]

<p>thank you for the quick response. I will be looking at the tutorials, , and will oc my cpu in the coming days. I'll installing a fresh copy of windows 7 soon, so that might help to.</p>

<p>thank you.</p>

[don_cooper]

<p>This link to NX2 tutorials might give you some help. - http://static.nikonusa.com/NX2_90_Seconds/NX2/page2/page2.html</p>

[liljuddakalilknyttphotogra]

<p>I have friends who recommend this e-book<br>

http://www.luminescentphoto.com/capturenx.html</p>

 

[amin_siminati]

<p>thank you, i will take a look at it all later this week.. Hopefully i will have time tomorrow..</p>

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>Mike Hagen's book is excellent:</p>

<p>http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-Capture-NX-After-Shoot/dp/0470409266/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262091522&sr=8-2</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Nima,<br>

Capture NX2 is never going to be instant. If that is the reason to overclock, then by all means, don't. It is not a fast application, but the quality it delivers makes up for it.<br>

RAM is the usual bottleneck, though 4GB is fine, and if you're on a 32-bits operating system, also the maximum anyway. Matt's notion to check the hard drives is very good though. Ideally use 2: one OS/application, another one (with plenty free space) for the CNX cache files.<br>

And even with that all sorted, it's still a tad slow.</p>

[joseph_smith3]

<p>I second the recommendation about Mike Hagen's book. I got mine at Barnes and Noble. It is a great book for learning NX2. Do the tutorials too. To maximize the performance of NX2 on your pc you need to set NX2's cache settings properly given the hardware on your pc. Mike's book explains all of this. Very simply stated, you want your NEF images on a large and fast internal hard drive with lots of space devoted to them. And you need to tell NX2 this by setting cache by designating the hard drive and space available for cache.<br>

I hope you have two internal hard drives on your pc. One could be for the operating system and other programs and the other could be for your data, likle your image files. Given the relatively low cost of hard drives these days, you may want to increase each internal hard drive to the max size allowable under your system, like 1 TB each. While you are doing this you might want to change the operating system to Windows 7, either 32 or 64 byte, depending on what is allowable for your current system and consider expanding RAM if that is possible or feasible for your motherboard.<br>

Joe Smith </p>

[amin_siminati]

<p>I do have 2 hard drives.. Well i have 4, but 2 of them are really old.. I bought a 500gb hard drive 2 years ago when i put my computer together, and i bought a 1.5 terra during the summer. I've unplugged the 500gb since then.. I'll replug it, and dedicate it to my images. I've got a 64 bit, ultimate 7 installed, and will be doing a fresh install probably today. my mother board can handle up to 8gbs of ddr2 ram running at 1333mhz (p5k premium black pearl edit.) I'm currently running 4 gigs of 800mhz ram.</p>

<p>yesterday i posted something, but i guess i must of not hit confirm, cause it's not up right now.. Anyways, i looked at the videos on the nikon site, and edited 2 images. I would like to get some feedback on how to improve them. There still in raw format, so all the changes cna be seen... I'm partially colour blind, and have problem setting white balance, so that might be off. i try to always shoot raw, and will be getting a gray card soon, which will make setting the white balance easier.</p>

<p>http://www.4shared.com/file/184317515/adadef77/DSC_2247.html<br>

http://www.4shared.com/file/184315635/37d4fb27/DSC_2292.html</p>

<p>I'll probably buy the book, and i'm also looking for a book on portrait, and flash photography since i'm really interested in it. I also enjoy sport photography, but i feel like i'm currently improving at a decent pace, and know what I need to work on. When ever i feel like i've hit a plato, i'll get a book or two.</p>

[dan_mccarty1]

<p>Read Ben Long's Capture NX and J. Odell's book at http://www.luminescentphoto.com/capturenx.html. Odell also has viewlets/video that are very helpful. Being able to see the steps as they are performed in NX 2 can be very helpful. </p>

<p>The Nikon School's DVD, "A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting" is a very good tutorial on the Nikon flash system. </p>

<p>My system sounds like it is very similar to yours. NX 2 takes a few seconds to sharpen and do noise reduction on my system but I would not say it is a problem. SAVING a file is slow on my system though. Of course speed is relative. I can open, do my usual photo edits and save in 30-60 seconds. Maybe 10-15 seconds is processing/saving time.</p>

<p>Later,<br>

Dan</p>