Nikon Capture NX 2 Full Version

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Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001B057U6
• Item model number: NX 2 Full
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #6 in	Software > Macintosh > Graphics > Photo Editing
  #12 in	Software > Graphics > Photo Editing

• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com
Nikon's Capture NX 2 software is a full-featured, nondestructive photo-editing program that gives photographers all the tools they need to quickly and easily edit their photographs. Also available in a reduced-price upgrade version (requires a valid serial number from v1.x), the software offers such editing features as color control points, selection control points, an auto-retouch brush, and shadow/highlight adjustment.

Enhancing the hue, brightness, and saturation of an image is as simple as placing a color control point on your image, then adjusting the length of the sliders. For example, color control points are a remarkably convenient way to change the color of flowers to look better against green surrounding foliage. As an alternative, editors can take a dull gray sky and add blue to change the mood of a captured scene. The selection control points, meanwhile, let you selectively edit photographs without manually outlining or masking the area for editing. Simply place a selection control point anywhere on the photograph, and then choose from almost any adjustment, including D-Lighting, Unsharp Mask, or Noise Reduction, while limiting the 'reach" of that adjustment to just the selected area.

Capture NX 2 also adds an automatic retouch tool to its image editing toolbox, allowing users to seamlessly remove blemishes, dust, and other distracting elements from photographs while maintaining the integrity of the image. And thanks to the shadow/highlight adjustment, you can easily open up shadows or recover blown-out highlights. Highlight recovery is most effective for RAW (NEF) files; however, it will work with JPEG and TIFF files as well.

The software's redesigned v2 interface includes such features as customized workspaces, an improved toolbar function and layout, improved edit list functionality, a redesigned image browser with a favorites folder, and improved image resolution adjustments. The software's holdover features from v1.x range include black/white/neutral control points, color management control, color aberration control, distortion control, a color booster, contrast/brightness adjustment, a saturation/warmth adjustment, black-and-white conversion, straighten and crop tools, and much more.

Finally, Capture NX 2 features award-winning U Point technology for precision selection and application of enhancements without complicated selections or layer masks. Designed to closely match the way photographers work with their images, Capture NX2 is easy to learn and creates the highest-quality results. Note that the software fully integrated with all Nikon software, including Camera Control Pro 2, Image Authentication Software, Transfer, and ViewNX.

Capture NX 2 System Requirements

Windows

• Preinstalled version of 32-bit Windows Vista Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Enterprise/Ultimate (Service Pack 1) editions or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) editions
• Pentium 4 processor or better
• 768 MB RAM minimum (1 GB or more recommended)
• 200 MB free hard disk space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 or higher monitor resolution (1,280 x 1,024 recommended) with 16-bit color (32-bit color recommended)
• CD-ROM drive; Internet connection; approved memory cards for importing/exporting custom picture controls

Macintosh

• OS Macintosh OS X v10.4.11 or 10.5.2
• PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon, or better processor
• 768 MB RAM minimum (1 GB or more recommended)
• 200 MB free hard disk space for installation
• 1,024 x 768 or higher monitor resolution (1,280 x 1,024 recommended) with 64,000 colors (16.7 million colors recommended)
• CD-ROM drive; Internet connection; approved memory cards for importing/exporting custom picture controls

Product Description
There are lots of photo opportunities that wait beyond the behind-the-camera experience you have with any of the Nikon D-series DSLR cameras. Nikon Capture-NX software is like having a professional darkroom and editing lab of your own. It's easy to use yet uncompromising in quality. Capture NX 2 features award-winning U Point technology for precision selection and application of enhancements without complicated selections or layer masks. Designed to closely match the way photographers work with their images, Capture NX 2 is easy to learn and creates the highest quality results. Now you can selectively edit photographs without the need to manually outline or mask the area for editing. Simply place a Selection Control Point anywhere on the photograph then choose from almost any adjustment such as D-Lighting, Unsharp Mask or Noise Reduction, while limiting the reach of that adjustment to just the selected area. Capture NX 2 adds an automatic retouch tool to its image editing toolbox allowing users to seamlessly remove blemishes, dust and other distracting elements from photographs while maintaining the integrity of the image. With just a simple slider adjustment you can easily open up shadows or recover blown-out highlights. Highlight recovery is most effective for RAW (NEF) files however it will work with JPEG and TIFF files as well. Color Control Points (improved operation) Black/White/Neutral Control Points (improved layout) Color management control with Soft Proofing Color Aberration Control, D-Lighting (High Speed/High Quality), Image Dust Off, Vignette Control and Fisheye-to-Rectilinear Image Transformation Noise Reduction - global or selective adjustments Distortion Control - reduces pincushion and barrel distortion effects Color Booster Color Balance Contrast/Brightness Saturation/Warmth Photo Enhance (for toning, sepia, black and white) Levels/Curves Editor, LCH Editor, Auto Levels

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very impressed with the colors and auto-retouching, October 22, 2008

By	S. Kim - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a long-time user of Photoshop, I was frequently disappointed with the colors in my digitally-manipulated photos. It's possible that it's because I'm not savvy at creating masks in Photoshop. After looking at demos on the Nikon website, I decided to give Capture NX2 a try and was very impressed with the color controls like D-lighting (simply shadows/highlights in Photoshop), and the ability to easily make local changes. One of the best features of Nikon Capture NX2 is the auto-retouch tool, which replaces a selection with something else in the picture with similar surroundings. I can't tell you how this has saved many wedding photos. To me, this feature alone is worth the purchase price.

Although I like this program a lot, the interface is extremely clunky. It's hard to browse the edit list on the right-hand side as the list gets longer. Capture NX2 is slow, even on a powerful desktop. I can't see it becoming part of a regular workflow unless performance is improved. One of the nice things that it allows you to do is copy the edit list from one file and apply it to another, but this is also painfully slow.

If you're looking to give this program a try, download the 60-day trial from Nikon before making a purchase decision since it won't appeal to everyone.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So long Photoshop! Hello Capture NX 2!!, August 15, 2008

By	mickster - See all my reviews

While I was a big fan of Capture NX, it had its shortcomings.

Long live Capture NX 2! This is far and away the easiest software I've ever used.

I can put a color control point on any area of the image to adjust brightness, contrast, saturation and color.

Now I can do the same thing for any effect. When I want to sharpen the eyes in a portrait, I can select them with 2 selection control points.

The auto-retouch brush helps me remove dust and other problems with my images.

The highlight and shadow recovery makes toning my images a snap.

The new browser allows me to rate and filter my images and the shortcuts let me get to my images fast.

This is the one tool I use more than any other whether I shoot RAW with my D80 or JPEGs with my other cameras.

I strongly suggest it for anyone-not just Nikon users and not just RAW shooters of Nikon.

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wake Up!, July 25, 2008

By	S. L. Miller - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Those who don't use NX simply won't get the same quality out of better DSLRs, such as the D300 or D700. Compared against lightroom or Photoshop, NX will always do a better job, especially with RAW conversions. Almost every complaint about it's slowness is from people with slow computers. It's quite fast on my system, quicker even than the old Elements. For batch handling, NX is clumsy, but it's still the best way to work on Nikon files bar none. If you have doubts do some research in forums like DPreview. Good luck!