Nikon NX software.

[jhawk1000]

Nikon trial version of NX is now available from Nikon here:
http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=61


Mel

Looks good from my trial copy.

[Theo2005]

Nikon trial version of NX is now available from Nikon here:
http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=61


Mel

Looks good from my trial copy.


Downloaded it this morning - as most Americans were vast asleep :) -as it was too slow to download last evening.

Tried it on a typical - but highlights critical - wedding image and will be deinstalling it shortly.


Because although NX is much faster than NC4.4 when it comes to grabbing and moving a slidecontrol it's still dreadfully slow at most tasks and saving a tiff takes far too long.


But that's just speed....now for the ultimate goal: the best image quality.

These are my findings for D2X files!(please note: files from other dslrs may show different results!).

Photoshop + ACR: nice, smooth transitions near highlights, neutral coloured as well. Quite a bit of detail in the highlight area.

Capture One Pro: smooth transitions near highlights, less neutral coloured (tad blueish) and definately less detail in the hightlight area.

Nikon Capture 4.4: less smooth transitions near highlight, less neutral coloured (tad blueish) and hardly any detail in the highlight area.

Nikon Capture NX: bit cool, less smooth transitions near highlight, far less neutral coloured (blue) and not much detail in the highlight area.

Bibble: too warm, far less smooth transitions near highlight, far less neutral coloured (magenta), no detail in highlight area.

In numbers 1=awful, 10=excellent: transitions near highlight / colour neutrality near highlight / detail in hightlight

Photoshop + ACR: 9 / 9 / 9
Capture One Pro: 8 / 8 / 6
Nikon Capture 4.4: 7 / 8.5 / 5.5
Nikon Capture NX: 6 / 7 / 6
Bibble: 5 / 6 / 5

All these results came from trying to get the best with that specific software (automatic results were never good enough with any of them) without spending hours on the conversion of the one image. A practical approach in short.

Yes, I realize I'm a long time PS user but I have quite a bit of practise with with C1Pro and NC4.4 as well. I've tried too restore the highlight as good as possible while not getting the colours screwed up. Bibble was really awful, didn't see any way to get a better result and I tried...

Okay, I'm going to remove the trial Capture NX now...

Theo

[Theo2005]

Here is a screen copy showing the highlight area.

Put the texts on there for your conviniance :)

Unfortunately I had to save this screendump "for the Web" at a low quality because of the filesize restrictions...

Oh and, the file had a colourtemp of 5000K, which I changed to 6000K in all these converters. The differences in colour are tremendous despite the same WB coloursetting. Remarkable to say the least.

Theo

[Steve P]

Theo,

So what are you saying here. IS it worth spending out for NX or should I stick to PS ACR ? Your comparison shows NX giving a blue tinge!

Steve

[Keith Cocker]

Steve,

I think Theo's scores say it all. I have given NX a chance over the last 24hrs and I'm not impressed - speed is poor and results not up to CS2+ACR, Capture 1 or RawShooter.

I'll continue to play around with it for the rest of the trial period but I'm certaiin I won't be buying it.

[Theo2005]

Theo,

So what are you saying here. IS it worth spending out for NX or should I stick to PS ACR ? Your comparison shows NX giving a blue tinge!

Steve

Steve,

Apart from the slow speed,the quality I got on this difficult image was definately less than what I can achieve in PS/ACR easily. So I´m definately NOT going to buy the NX software.

Theo

[jhawk1000]

My very limited experience with NX leads me to believe that for a first release of the new software, it is very good. Yes it is slow on older computers but on my 3.2 Pentium 4, it is okay. I like the colors and am figuring out the sliders for adjustments. I suspect that as it matures, it will be a great hit with Nikon shooters. I am on a list with Nikon reps and they are doing their best to answer all complaints, kudos, etc and to offer tips to speed it up, etc. For a first release from Nikon and NIK in partnership, I plan not only to use the 30 day trial but to buy the upgrade from 4.4 when it is available. I understand it will be $89.00 US for the upgrade.
My likes are that, unlike Theo, it gives me a more realistic coloration (maybe the camera settings on my D200 are different) and I really like how I can tone down the highlights with several different adjustments. I like the sliders if I can figure it all out. It is not intuitive and takes some serious playing around to figure out the controls but I think it is more Photoshop related than Capture 4.4. I suspect that with the feedback coming from email lists such as the D1scussion list, Nikon is already starting the process to upgrade as likes and dislikes appear. I seem to recall that there was great disappointment at first with every new model of either Nikon or Fuji S series until the photographers get more acquainted with the product. I suspect that as I learn and become more familiar with NX, you will not get it out of my hands since I do the majority of my work in Capture 4.4 and only use Photoshop to resize or save to jpegs.
I do not use the other products so the decision to use NX will be easy for me since I already like it better than photoshop.

Mel

[Theo2005]

My very limited experience with NX leads me to believe that for a first release of the new software, it is very good. Yes it is slow on older computers but on my 3.2 Pentium 4, it is okay. I like the colors and am figuring out the sliders for adjustments. I suspect that as it matures, it will be a great hit with Nikon shooters. I am on a list with Nikon reps and they are doing their best to answer all complaints, kudos, etc and to offer tips to speed it up, etc. For a first release from Nikon and NIK in partnership, I plan not only to use the 30 day trial but to buy the upgrade from 4.4 when it is available. I understand it will be $89.00 US for the upgrade.
My likes are that, unlike Theo, it gives me a more realistic coloration (maybe the camera settings on my D200 are different) and I really like how I can tone down the highlights with several different adjustments. I like the sliders if I can figure it all out. It is not intuitive and takes some serious playing around to figure out the controls but I think it is more Photoshop related than Capture 4.4. I suspect that with the feedback coming from email lists such as the D1scussion list, Nikon is already starting the process to upgrade as likes and dislikes appear. I seem to recall that there was great disappointment at first with every new model of either Nikon or Fuji S series until the photographers get more acquainted with the product. I suspect that as I learn and become more familiar with NX, you will not get it out of my hands since I do the majority of my work in Capture 4.4 and only use Photoshop to resize or save to jpegs.
I do not use the other products so the decision to use NX will be easy for me since I already like it better than photoshop.

Mel

Mel, it's deadslow! :woot: Compared to all of the other converters, except NC4.4. And I don't see how that's going to improve before the end of the month. :( It's far to slow for someone like me, who often has to work through huge quantaties of images to select and eventually convert the selected ones.

But my biggest worry regarding raw-converters is the quality aspect. In the weddingshooting business we always are faced with highlight areas that need some detail to look nice / proper.

If I see PS-ACR showing me that detail, while I can't get to see it with NX, no matter what I try, then that's the end of NX for me.

I have a specific test-image for this, with highlight areas on the very brink of being burnt-out and PS-ACR manages to show the detail without a problem. NX simply fails this test, sorry. Again: I'm talking about converting D2X files...because that's what I use professionally.

Theo

[jhawk1000]

Theo,

I certainly respect your findings. I also understand how wedding photographers need the extra dynamic range. My findings using the product in an admittedly very short time are different. I was able to undo some highlights on white flowers which were not so pleasing on my other programs such as Photoshop CS (not CS2), Capture 4.4. I do not do this editing for my living and my findings may be more subjective since I really like the finished image of NX.

I suspect that the use of NX will be, like most other things, a personal choice with some of us loving it and others not loving it and that is okay. I respect your experiences and I know that your respect my choices also.

Mel

[Theo2005]

... I suspect that the use of NX will be, like most other things, a personal choice with some of us loving it and others not loving it and that is okay. I respect your experiences and I know that your respect my choices also. Mel

Of course Mel, that goes without saying. And it's quite possible that files from other cameras yield different results...it has been know to happen.

Theo