Customer Reviews

Nikon Capture NX Software for Windows and Mac

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I was one of the first to download the full-featured Nikon NX software on a trial basis in July 2006. I was immediately hooked. This is a very innovative software program that most photographers who shoot in NIKON RAW format will want.

For those not familiar with RAW format, essentially a RAW format photo file enables the photographer to make post-shot changes to a photo to a much greater extent than is possible when shooting conventional JPEG file shots. So, for example, if one wishes to adjust the exposure on a RAW photo, you can do so and the effect is essentially the same, within the range of a couple of F/stops, as though you had shot the picture that way in the first place (there are exceptions to this beyond the scope of this review). The same is true for many other settings, such as Color Mode (SRGB versus Adobe, for example), White Balance, Sharpening, etc. You can modify some of these to some extent on JPEGs, but when you do there is always a loss of data--while there is no such loss when modifying RAW files. The bottom line is that if you botch a setting shooting RAW files you are much more likely to be able to salvage the photo if you shot RAW, as compared to if you shot JPEG. If you are shooting a wedding or some other critical event where failure is not an option, only a VERY competent expert would not opt to shoot RAW, in my opinion at least.

Capture NX enables the photographer to make very significant enhancements or adjustments to RAW, or to some extent JPEG or TIFF images. The centerpiece of the program is what Nikon calls "Control Points." The program enables one to place control points at various locations on a photograph, and thereby control or modify the color of selected portions of the image. What is even more amazing is that the program also enables the user to make very fine selective adjustments to other effects, such as sharpening or D-lighting, such that only selective parts of an image will be sharpened, for example.

Other programs have offered the ability to do what Nikon Capture NX can do, but in my opinion I have seen no other program that is so intuitive, and so easy for the photographer to learn. Many photographers, especially non-pros like me, want to spend more time taking photographs and less time behind the computer in the "digital darkroom" modifying them. Capture NX is designed for precisely that--it really is very intuitive and easy to learn.

I found the NX user interface to be better than that of Capture 4.4, which NX replaces. Others have differed on this point, but I very quickly became comfortable with the more orderly layout on Capture NX.

There are a few areas in which version 1.0 can stand some improvements in future upgrades. Certain menu options stubbornly return to default settings rather than remain at the user's last (and usually preferred) setting. Despite the good user interface, there are a few areas that will stand some tweaks in future upgrades. In short, NX V1.0 has a few rough edges as first-release versions of software usually do. Nonetheless, in most respects this is a polished product that certainly is ready for "prime time," in my opinion at least.

Like Capture 4.4 before it, Nikon NX want a LOT of memory. A fast CPU and at least 1 GB of RAM is recommended.

Overall, this is a remarkable product that I highly recommend to any photographer who shoots in Nikon's RAW format.

I am an amateur looking forward to get a deep understanding of digital photography. I decided buying Capture because I consider it to be a MUST for any amateur or professional photographer. The NEF editing capabilities of Nikon Capture 4.4 are astonishing, I tried the Capture 4.4 and then decided buying its successor NX. I own a Nikon D70 with kit 18-70mm lenses. Let me point out what I consider the functions I appreciated the most in Capture NX:

- Color noise reduction! Same as in Capture 4.4, I took pictures for a birthday party and the person I was photographing was a 45 years old female with some wrinkles, all wrinkles vanished setting the color noise reduction intensity to 10. Needless to say, she was extremely happy to see that "I had taken 15 years away from her in the picture".
- All the NEF Camera Adjustment settings where you can regulate WB, sharpness, contrast, compensation and color saturation.
- Last but not least the U point functionality is simply incredible to me where basically users can isolate sections of the picture and modify those sections without affecting the rest e.g. increase color saturation for only the face without affecting the clothing, backgrounds etc. Nikon has done a great job with this one.

All the incredible features offered by Capture are shadowed by the very poor implementation of the software: user-unfriendly and terribly slow. I have a Dell Precision Workstation Dual CPU Xeon 3.2Ghz with 2GB of RAM. Takes me up to a minute waiting whenever I tried changing any parameter, when I go back and check Capture's installation requirements it makes me laugh. I use it to re-touch all my NEF pictures but because of being very slow and unfriendly (I personally find NX more unfriendly than 4.4) will make you spend considerable amount of time even if you own the fastest PC in the market.

I have to respectfully disagree with the poor review from Wrestling NX before I give my opinion. The Windows are actually not Windows at all, they are called Palettes and are not supposed to be resized, otherwise anything that needs resizing, IE the image iteself can in fact be sized or viewed in the bird's eye (awesome feature). All of the Palettes can be maximized and minimized, not uncommon with Image Editors really. Lastly, the reason it looks different was not because Nikon wanted to confuse us, but rather because the previous version (awful) was created solely by Nikon, whereas this version was a collaborative effort between Nikon and Nik Software (no relation). Smart move since Camera makers are notorious for making terrible Image Editors.

My opinion on this software is high, spent 30 days with the trial and then bought it I thought it was so good. It is very easy to make a crappy image look wonderful, and a great image look even better. Extremely intuitive, and user friendly palettes; standout features are three-fold

-Control Points as a means to edit specifics. Allows real control over the image and it is very logical to make impactful changes with this feature.

-Edit List to show you what you have done without disturbing the original. Great because you check & uncheck what you have done and see with your eye if it was the correct choice.

-Raw editing is great, no compression so your starting with great source material the way you shot it from the camera. This is really where this software shines.

I would suggest spending a little time with the manual, especially if you are mostly familiar with Photochop. This software is not a chopshop, it is for balancing, and enhancing digital photographs, this is what it is designed and targeted to do, not compete head-to-head with PS. The workflows are great and easy to understand and don't interfere with anything.

My only knock on this software is it requires at a bare minimum 1GB of RAM to flow, if you want it to really move plan on 2GB, it's a hog. But all software is bloated these days (particularly image editors) so I am not removing a star for this.

Buy and enjoy, it will improve your editing experience.



1/17/06- One MAJOR point/drawback I want to make about this software..I advanced myself into shooting and editing in RAW since I learned everything else pretty well in this software. I just want to warn anyone thinking of this software, and please PLEASE!, HEED MY ADVICE HERE. If you don't have a MINIMUM, an absolute MINIMUM! if 2GB of RAM, raw mode will crawl to the point it is so slow and innefficient it becomes not worth it. I have 1GB of RDRAM and I switched back to jpeg mode because it was awful in RAW mode. Would have loved to have had that functionality, but I am not upgrading my entire PC in order to do it. Too bad it is so bloated.

I was an early adopter of Capture NX, and I had mixed feelings... The basic premise of the software is great -- especially the control points -- but it was excruciatingly slow. It bogged down, and sometimes even locked, while performing basic tasks. After downloading the update to version 1.1, however, these problems seem to have gone away. A great tool, and now no complaints.

I worked for 5 years as a professional photographer in the late 1980's. Since then my film camera equipment has collected dust. Now I am upgrading to digital and having to learn the tools that are now available.

I have used Photoshop, sporatically, for years using digitally scanned film negatives. Photoshop does a great job, but much of its power comes from pixel by pixel editing. The filters are great, but global application of an adjustment is often not desired. Along comes Nikon Capture NX Version 1.1.0!

I downloaded the free trial (30 days) onto a Dell D610 with 1GB memory. I have only tried working with JPEG images at maximum resolution from a 10.2 Megapixel sensor. The Capture NX program is fast and did not crash or stall my machine as other reviewers have reported.

Capture NX has the same unsharp mask and other filters commonly used in Photoshop to apply globally to an image. However, the real power of the software is the U Point technology. The user can apply control points that allow both the size of the region and amount of adjustment to be controlled. The results are truly amazing!! Also, unlike Photoshop, each adjustment can be removed or adjusted. In other words, the "undo" history includes every adjustment made to the image.

The Capture NX software has surprisingly few adjustment controls to master, but the adjustment/filters that are provided are the ones I use 98% of the time. For those last few changes, if needed, I can always go back into Photoshop. Again, Capture NX is a truly amazing software package! I wish I could of had this amount of control and ease of application back in the days of using a darkroom.

Nikon's Capture NX software is powerful and easy to use.
It can be used on Nikon's proprietary NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) files as well as standard JPEG and TIFF files
I recommend watching the online tutorials at Nikon's website. The tutorials are very well done. They may help you decide whether the product is for and if you purchase it, you will find the tutorials have shown you how to make very sophisticated photo editing enhancements without ever picking up the manual.
This software provides the most versatility if you are editing NEF files. The NEF file captures all the information that came through the camera lens when the photo was taken. The software allows you to change the camera's "original" settings of white balance, exposure value, sharpening value, and color mode and more. If the lens created a vignetting problem, you can remove it. Files in JPEG or TIFF mode can be edited as well but not to the same extent as NEF files.
The changes you make appear in the interface in chronological order and are stored with the file. The original file can always be retrieved by deselecting the changes that were made.

Nikon allows you to download Capture NX for a thirty-day trial period. A fantastic idea! I recommend waiting to download it until you have the time to really to work with it.

If you are adept at using photoshop, you might not think this product is for you.
If you are new to photo editing, you might find that this product is all you will ever need, especially if you shoot in NEF format.

I am a fairly skilled photoshop user and yet, I found that this product has enhanced my abilities in photo editing. I think it's fantastic!

I have been using various photo editors over the years and haven't found one that does it all. I haven't tried Photoshop because of its high price and steep learning curve. What prompted me to get Capture NX was my desire to shoot RAW format in my new Nikon D80.

Why shoot RAW? This can be a whole other story, but RAW is the best image you can get from a digital camera. It is compressed, but RAW takes truer colors than JPEG. Plus it has more information about a photo for better editing.

All Nikon DSLR's come with Project which is a rudimentary photo manager. All it does well is convert RAW to JPEG. Other photo editors can edit RAW, but their capabilities are usually limited.

I first heard about Capture NX from a few web sites and Nikon offers a 30-day trial. Once I started using the trial version I was hooked. It doesn't do everything, but it has some really powerful capabilities. Nikon has a new term for image editing they call D-Lighting. I guess that means Dynamic Lighting. The closest comparison is Auto-Exposure. It sharpens and adjusts lighting on photos. I use this a lot as it does a pretty good job of enhancing a photo. Some of Nikon's new DSLR's like the D80 and D40 now have D-Lighting as part of the camera's built-in editing capabilities.

Another "cool" feature are the "Control Points". These are points that you can be put anywhere on a photo and selectively adjust brightness, contrast and saturation. You can adjust how wide or small of an area it adjusts. This is really good for adjusting a wide area in a photo. Like darkening a background to hide it or enhancing a background to make it pop out. This is much easier than other photo editors where they either adjust the whole photo, or you have to carefully mask an area off. Problem with masking is the adjustments are usually too noticeable. With Capture NX the adjustments with the Control Point are blended pretty well so you can't really see the adjustment. It also has the normal red-eye reduction and other adjustments. It has a lot of sophisticated adjustments for light curves and RGB histograms. I haven't mastered those yet, but they do help. Noise reduction is another plus.

What is missing from this program are some basic cloning tools. Many times I like to clone an area on to a similar area to remove hot spots or smooth them up. Capture NX just allows you to tone it down, but not complete cover it up. I also wish it had more basic batch tools like renaming many photos at once. The renaming process is overly complicated.

This editor can be used with any JPEG or TIFF photo. You can also compensate for dust on a DSLR CCD sensor by taking a reference dust-off photo and then Capture NX can use that photo to remove dust particles on images.

Who should use this software? I would not recommend this to beginners. It is powerful, but many of the tools are not for beginners. If you own a Nikon DSLR then this would be good for editing RAW. I have been taking photos for years and have owned about 5 SLR cameras and this tool is teaching me new things about photos in general. I would also not consider this software a replacement for Photoshop, but it does do a lot for the price.

I shoot Nikon cameras (D80 and D70) in raw mode as well as non-Nikon point and shoot cameras. I also have and use Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe LightRoom. The latest release of Nikon Capture NX has caused me to change my work flow because of the ease of use. The U-Point Technology really makes a difference (once you figure out how to use it) and in most cases it eliminates the need to use Photoshop layers, etc. This program has saved me many hours in doing photo edits. From a work flow standpoint, I use Nikon View first to review raw files and then I move to Nikon Capture NX for edits, adjustments and sharpening. Only in some cases do I need to use PhotoShop now.

This program is the best Nikon RAW converter available. Images look much better with Capture NX than conversions through Adobe Photoshop or adobe Lightroom. It's not even close. And the noise reduction for high ISO images is superb. You need this program to get the very best from your Nikon Raw files.

Originally the program was a little slow on my AMD Athlon 64 3200 with 1GB ram. After I applied all of the updates as well as the new version 1.1 update the program is at least 250% faster than prior to the updates. This program is right up there with Photoshop when it comes to photo editing.