I've recently converted over to a Mac platform so I now have to buy new editing software. I' d like to know if any one is using Capture NX as their primary editing tool. It's considerably cheaper than CS2.

Thanks

I am using Capture NX.

My advice? It's a fantastic program, but it's still 1.0 software- buggy, far from optimized, inconsistent UI, and worst of all for us mac users, it is not an universal binary.
Now Nikon has previewed a beta of the Universal build of NX, with several bug fixes and feature tweaks, but it isn't out yet... so right now, it's painfully slow even on a highly specced machine with dedicated cache disk.

Then again, CS2 is much more expensive, and is also not universal, but I think it runs faster to my subjective assessment.

Capture NX is *Not* photoshop and Photoshop is not Capture NX. NX is missing vital tools like clone features and the other complex layer editing features of Photoshop, however it has some neat things like control points, which when combined with masking makes for a powerful application. I also find the RAW conversion with Capture NX to be light years ahead of Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw with certain recent cameras.

I'd advise holding off a bit more if you can. Buying CS2 at this point is a mistake- you'll be paying a lot of money for a very slow old version, with an Intel-native CS3 just around the corner, which will be a paid upgrade. CS3 Beta flies, however it will only last until shortly after the commercial release of CS3.

I'm not a Mac owner but I keep getting closer...:)

Could your version of Photoshop CS2 be used on a Mac thru Bootcamp (think that's what it's called)? I would be in the same boat on this and have wondered about it myself.

If you already have a *legal* copy of CS2, you can call up Adobe and they can do a little thing where for a minimal cost (like $15) they send you some paperwork that says you will destroy your windows CS2 copy, you sign it and return it to them (I think by fax?) and the money covers the shipping of your new Mac license :D

Great - thanks for the info! I did not know that... Yes, mine's fully legal, bought and paid for...

I figured as much :-p

And while you're at it, you can always then upgrade to CS3 when it comes out, or you could use your mac version s/n to downlod the CS3 Beta from Adobe Labs, and use Adobe's utility to activate that beta for longer than the 2-day trial period, letting you use it until a bit after CS3 comes out retail.