Nikon Capture NX2

[another view]

Anybody here using it? I have NX and downloaded the free 60 day trial of NX2, and I think I'm going to get it. One complaint I had with NX was that there wasn't a good way to spot out sensor dust, and the tool in NX2 works very well.

The only problem is trying to get rid of something a lot larger than sensor dust because the tool only goes out to 100px in diameter. I'm sure there's a way but I haven't found it yet. Two examples - posting an image of my car and I wanted to clone out the license plate (it did the job, but looked funny), and another shot with a little vignetting (couldn't get anything other than an exact copy of the cloud right next to it, so it looks PS'd). Selective sharpening is really easy and very useful too.

[Len J]

I use NX2 & Love it.

The retouch tool can be used for larger items, it just takes a few passes. I view at 100% and use a smaller brush and then just "color" out the item like I am coloring in a coloring book.

Len

[jorgemonkey]

I have Nikon Capture, but since I got Lightroom, I haven't used Capture so I haven't gotten NX or NX2.

[shootme]

I have NX and between using ViewNX and Capture NX there is quite a bit you can do. I am finding out more tricks every time I use it. I am thinking of also getting CS4?

[another view]

Guess I forgot about this one...

I did buy the upgrade for NX2 and have gotten a little more used to it. Good stuff, but the upgrade seems a little steep percentage-wise compared to the full version ($110 vs $170). PS CS-series is more like $170 vs $600 I think. Still, it's well worth the money. I also bought a book on it that Amazon had - can't remember the title offhand but it hasn't shown up yet. I thought NX was decent, but I like NX2.

The other complaint I had about NX was the preview - it was a hassle to toggle back and forth to select the magnifying glass, and I seemed to always be hitting the wrong thing and making the previews bigger. Then it's a matter of figuring out the two-key combination to reduce them again (not in the manual, tip found via Google). This has received a nice, simple upgrade in NX2 - as well as the healing brush, which there wasn't anything before.

[Franglais]

I've been using NX2 for a few weeks. So far I haven't used a lot of features, just learnt where the basics are.

Puzzled about your problem with spotting out sensor dust. I just use the automatic dust-removal tool with a reference image from the camera, when I need it which hasn't been the case so far with the D300.

[drg]

One question I have for regular users of NX2 is about any experience you have with writing/re-writing NEF files.

Have worked with it (NX2) briefly (a lot actually for a week) I kept thinking I needed to be careful to not overwrite the original NEF file.

Thoughts, problems, comments?

[Len J]

One question I have for regular users of NX2 is about any experience you have with writing/re-writing NEF files.

Have worked with it (NX2) briefly (a lot actually for a week) I kept thinking I needed to be careful to not overwrite the original NEF file.

Thoughts, problems, comments?

NX2 is a non-destructive editing tool......consequently, any changes you make can be easily reversed.....so you can get back to the original file easily.

That being said, my process starts by rating the NEFS, deleting the lower rated NEFS, creating a sub-folder called work product, editing the individual NEFS, saving the edited NEFS into the Work Product sub-folder & then batch processing the edited NEFS into appropriate JPEGS for sifferent uses.. For me it's just habit.

There is also an ability in NX2 to do versioning of the same NEF. I don't use it, but someday I might.

len

[deckcadet]

Re-writing NEFs can be a bit slow, due to the fact that it also is updating the full size preview JPEG and saving that file in addition to changing the tags for the file itself, but it's a great feature I use sometimes. The versioning feature is a godsend. Sometimes when working on my personal stuff I will process the file to a certain point, save that as a version, then have multiple versions that all diverge at that same point to achieve different looks. I can save that all in one file with different versions.

[Hammster]

I've been using NX 2 for the last 60 days. I downloaded the free demo. I really like it. I went ahead and ordered the software and got a great deal. $99 from J&R through Amazon. Although I think you can get the $99 direct from J&R as well. I got the software yesterday, 10/31, and only had to enter the product key into the demo I already had installed on my computer.
I'm really having fun with NX 2 and it sure is a lot easier to learn than Photoshop Elements that I have.
I agree that the spot healing brush is a little cludgy for larger areas, but it's manageable. Maybe that will be an area that gets improved in the future.

[another view]

Puzzled about your problem with spotting out sensor dust.

I haven't had any problems with removing dust with the Auto Retouch Brush, just the one time I tried to do a bigger area with it, that's all. When I use it as intended it works really well. With the Photoshop clone tool, you select the area that it uses to sample from for the "repair" where NX2 picks it automatically. I only had trouble with that one time but again, it wasn't really how they intended it to work.

The Real World book showed up the other day but I haven't had much chance to read thru it yet. So far it's the only printed book I know of for NX2. I had the Vincent Versace DVD set for the original NX and although I picked up a couple of ideas from it, it really seemed more like a sales pitch for Nik software and Wacom tablets...

[Hammster]

.....and another shot with a little vignetting (couldn't get anything other than an exact copy of the cloud right next to it, so it looks PS'd).

There is a vignetting removal tool in NX2. Very easy to access and use.
In the edit list palette, scroll down a little and open the "Camera and Lens Correction" area of it. Within there you will see the vignette control. The higher the number, the more vignetting is removed. The lower the number, vignetting can be added.

[ErikT]

These are all kind remarks about NX2. I also downloaded the trial version, but I am still in doubt. I am still looking for one particular function that I could not find. May be one of you has the solution?
It is about correcting perspectives. Last year I made some pictures of circular stained glass windows, with straight crossing enforcements. You know that if you are not exactly on the center axis of such window, the circle becomes elliptical and the enforcements are no longer straight horizontal or vertical. To correct this in Photoshop is easy. But how can I do this with Capture NX2?

[armando_m]

I purchased the license for NX2

@erikT, I have only seen distortion control, but that is intended for the lens distortion , I have not seen what you are looking for.

@Len J, I have to look into the versioning , that can certainly help

The non-destructive editing works on NEF, but I have not seen it keep a history of edits on JPG or TIFF files

I agree controlling the retouch tool on large areas is difficult, for large areas I have used the trial version of lightroom , it works really well

[gracie]

Well, this topic's been dead for 4 months, but what-the-heck.....

Bought a D300 some time ago. It came with a serial number for Capture NX2. So, I went and got 2.0.0 and installed it, and things worked fine.

Since I didn't see anything in there that was magically delicious and would cause me to put up with the shortcomings I dumped it and stayed with CS3 (at the time).......

Fast forward..... Now running Windows 7 64-bit. About to upgrade to CS5. Figured I'd take a quick look at the latest Capture and see if it'd improved significantly. Downloaded 2.2.4 from Nikon, installed and put in my old serial... Says it's no good.......

Uninstalled. Installed 2.0.0 and put in serial. Happy.......

What's going on? If 2.2.4 will work, I'll give it a look. If not, I'll uninstall it and dump it with the other software Nikon wants to charge for that duplicates existing CS(n) functionality.

AGAIN, 2.0 works FINE. Did Nikon build in some incredible new capabilities to 2.2.4 that warrants forcing new serial numbers?

[Franglais]

Register your version 2.0.0 then use the upgrade option. I started at 2.0.0 and I'm now at 2.2.3. V2.2.4 will run under Windows 7 64 bits in 32 bit mode.

I see NX2 as being part of the camera. It has all the camera manufacturer's knowledge about the RAW files and how to treat them, plus some features like dust removal that go with camera options.

I see PS as an image editing program which can also treat RAW files, without having any info from the manufacturer on how to do it.

I use NX2 to rpoduce as good a photographic image as I can then I output a TIFF and use that in my image editing program.

[gracie]

What do I have to do to "register"? Even Adobe doesn't require that for updating products.....

As far as using NX rather than Adobe Camera Raw, I usually try to stay out of these little urination festivals... I tested 2.0.0 against ACR CS3 in the past and done side-by-side comparisons at 800% and above. Couldn't find any advantage to using NX2, and having to deal with TIFF files, which are SIGNIFICANTLY larger than .NEF, .psd, or .dng files wasn't worth it.....

But, there are folks that insist NX2 or Capture One, or some other product works better, and that's cool.

BTW: in NX2, an attempt to check for updates retrieves nothing...

[Franglais]

I have an account with Nikon France support. All my bodies, lenses and other stuff are registered in their database. If I need to know anything specific - like what I just wrote about Windows 7 64-bit - I look it up in their database.

It's been years since I installed NX2 but I'm pretty sure that the update machanism is linked to the support account. When I use the product I sometimes get a popup saying there's an update and when I go and get it it's in the support environment.

[38Super]

From what I understand, NX2 is the only raw converter out there that "sees" all of the settings applied to the raw image in the camera. I was pretty happy with ACR in CS3 until I spent enough time to learn some of the capabilities of NX2. Now I usually do everything I need in NX2 and only use PhotShop when I want to artificially change the image I've captured. If you find ACR adequate, by all means stick with it. NX2 take a little while to get comfortable with. Take a look at "The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX2" - a relatively inexpensive e-book that does a great job introducing you to the NX2 software.
http://www.luminescentphoto.com/nx2guide.html

[vinsolo]

i wonder if anyone using mac has my problem:

i use imac i7, 8GB ram and sys 10.6.3

NX2 runs for 5 to 15 edit steps and then ALWAYS crashes, no warning. Nikon and Apple have been of no help. I have done all the usual, permissions, uninstall/reinstall, etc. Tried all the cache suggestions, i think.

I also use NIK software's viveza, color effects pro, etc. does anyone have any experience with this situation. is it possible that there is some conflict between NX2 and the NIK software. they are produced by the same company. just grasping at straws because it REALLY need to be able to use NX2.

appreciate any advice/info. thanks

[armando_m]

i wonder if anyone using mac has my problem:

i use imac i7, 8GB ram and sys 10.6.3

NX2 runs for 5 to 15 edit steps and then ALWAYS crashes, no warning. Nikon and Apple have been of no help. I have done all the usual, permissions, uninstall/reinstall, etc. Tried all the cache suggestions, i think.

I also use NIK software's viveza, color effects pro, etc. does anyone have any experience with this situation. is it possible that there is some conflict between NX2 and the NIK software. they are produced by the same company. just grasping at straws because it REALLY need to be able to use NX2.

appreciate any advice/info. thanks

I tried color effex with capture nx2 and it started to crash quite frequently, so I removed color effex, sorry I do not have a solution, only a "me too" comment

[Snowball]

I need some help, hopefully someone here has an answer for me. Just downloaded the 60-day trial version of Capture NX2 to edit Nikon's NEF RAW files. But every time I try to open one of the NEF files, Capture NX2 gives me an error message saying its not a valid file. I tried double-clicking on the file and tried to open from within Capture, always with the same result, regardless of which NEF file I try to open. I'm shooting with a Nikon D5100. My system is up to date, have plenty of memory and processor power. Vista OS. Every other image file opens fine.... Not sure what, if anything, I'm doign wrong to cause this. Even tried reinstalling the trial software, but rec'd the same results. I'd appreciate any help you all might be able to offer.

[GB1]

Hmm.. I wonder if it's possible that the trial software isn't even up to date with their own newest version of that RAW format. I would email Nikon and ask, but they're notoriously bad w/ customer service, esp responding to emails.

[Snowball]

Thanks for your response, I've sent a message to Nikon, I guess I'll wait and see what kind of response I get. It *could* be that the trial software isn't as up to date as it should be, but I'm not going to plunk down any $$ for the full version until I (a) know it works and (b) am comfortable using it.