Customer Reviews

The Photographer's Guide to Capture NX (eBook)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Instructional materials are often written by experts who have forgotten the viewpoint of what it is like to NOT be an expert in their own subject. As a result the author's manual can overshoot the tyro's reality and end up talking to other "experts" who don't need the manual in the first place as they are already experts. Fortunately, The Photographer's guide to Capture NX by well-known Nikonian, Jason Odell, doesn't make that mistake. It is one of those rare instructional manuals written by an expert who is also in touch with the viewpoint of someone who is NOT familiar with the materials.

When one studies any subject there are three barriers: 1) lack of graphic or physical representation of what one is studying 2) technical terms which aren't defined and 3) complexities are entered into before the basics have been reviewed. On all three counts Jason's Guide does splendidly. The strength of the book is in its step by step approach combined with graphics on every page. In fact, the photographs of before and after edited images and computer shots of the editing take up the majority of space. To slightly modify the truism, "a single picture can be worth more than any number of words."

Frankly, I don't know what I would have done without the GUIDE. Nikon's manual was daunting (and verbally, not visually oriented) and I didn't have time to laboriously wade through it. I needed results immediately so I could jump in and produce for clients. That's what the Photographer's Guide did for me. Within a few minutes I could apply what Jason was communicating and get a handle on the technology with a learning curve that I could win at. At this time, I'm not aware of any other after market instruction manual on the subject of NX. That was another advantage of Jason's Guide. It got there first and it got there fast with the data the pro photographer or photo enthusiast needed.

Kudos to the author.

David Ziff

Ziff Photography

I purchased this e-book to learn more about the new Nikon Capture software. I am not a professional but have enjoyed photography for decades. I now shoot in RAW to obtain maximum flexibility. I own Adobe CS2 which is a very powerful program, but for most of my personal work, I just don't need that much power and the time it takes to "process" a photo. I decided to try Nikon Capture with the new Control Points. It is a great program. Since the new version came out, there aren't many resources for training, books, etc. This e-book by Jason Odell was one of the first, so I thought I would give it a try. I was very pleasantly surprised with how good of a book this is. Jason takes a very practical approach and the book is very easy to follow and learn from. I would highly recommend the e-book for anyone that needs a little more instruction on the new Nikon Capture.

I'm a longtime Nikon shooter and have been using Photoshop CS2 for editing(ACR) for RAW files. Capture NX has some significant advantages over PSCS2 for the photographer (it doesn't contain a lot of features that the average amateur hobbyist photographer seldom uses).For example it can save edited JPEG images as NEF (RAW) images, and has a new innovative Control Point technology that allows easy adjustments both global and local.It does, however, lack healing or cloning tools. It contains several examples of using NX in practice.Dr. Odell's eBook is an excellent overview and guide to NX and I found it extremely helpful. If you are new to NX or seriously considering using it, I highly recommend it. In addition, I have seen Dr. Odell respond to questions and to clarify some issues on the popular photographic website DPReview.

Just bought Capture NX? Buy this tome . . . now! All software instruction should be this clear, to-the-point and immediately usable. The organization is straightforward . . . the information is understandable on first-read. You'll also -- quickly -- answer those embarrassing basic questions about different digital photo formats that you never asked. I have found few how-to resources to exceed my expectations, but this one does.

If you like NX this book will make you love NX. It gives details not covered in the manual and how to's that you will not find anywhere else. Jason Odell has given NX users the simplest and best book on how to get the most from your Nikon RAW files and NX. If you use NX you need this book.

Highly Recommended

I have tried Capture NX on my own but needed this book to do it. The book has the facts but the work to use it, would be better spent with a paper copy. Here are some issues.

1. Using an ebook to learn a graphics software program is way too hard. I spend all my time switching between programs (Capture and then the guide),and will now try my laptop if I can install the book on it.

2. I have NX 1.3 which is not supported. Instead of rewritting the book, they include another ebook with the changes, so you must try the book, find what doen't work and then open eBook2.

3. Despite some other reviews, I find you must be more familiar with NX than I am, to understand the book. Once I figure some thing out then rereading is easy.

4. I recommend Foxit or something other than Adobe Reader to read this. It is easy to lose your place and no bookmarks are allowed in Reader. When you close the Reader it loses your place. Adobe Acrobat does ok for $300 or Foxit that I found free. It also allows marking enough to track your place. There's probably better ones too.

Book is not bad, but Jason skips between the thoughts and does not fully show how things work from start to finish and step by step. For example selection tools section. I still cannot figure out how they work even after reading his book and practicing along. I think Ben Long does better job in his book.
Book can be very expensive to print. It emptied both cartridges in my HP 970 and the cost $55. It's a last e-book that I'll print. Paper copy would cost a lot less to buy.