Capture NX or ACR?

[shane shacaluga]

Hi all

I have been reading about the benefits of using DPP for RAW conversions on Canon cameras but cannot find any info on the use of Capture NX for Nikon

This programme was included free with my new D800e and I have not yet installed it

Have any of you compared results and can let me know if there are benefits in using it compared to ACR on my CS5? If so, what improvements would I be able to notice?

I did a quick search for Capture NX and it is all pretty old posts with no info on pros or cons. Any info would be appreciated

Thanks
Shane

[Dan Brown]

It might be hard to really tell if Capture NX2 produces better conversions than ACR but the fact is that NX2 is proprietary to NEF files and unlike ACR, is not guessing at the algorithms! I am using NX2 for NR, cropping and a little shadow and highlight recovery (could do more), then on to ACR as a tiff, tweek some more, presharpen and then into PSCS5 for the finish. Seems to work well with my D800 nefs

[shane shacaluga]

Ok thanks a lot, will try that out

Does it allow you to do selective NR or is it a general NR you are doing and then on separate layers once in PSCS5?

[Dan Brown]

I am only doing global nr on some of my noisier, high ISO shots in NX2. I do my selective nr in PSCS5, but I think that NX2 is capable of it.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Shane,

Greetings. There are a number of things that Capture NX (CNX) is just better at than ACR in terms of the actual raw conversion. A short list:

• Picture Controls - The in camera settings for Picture Controls are what Nikon intended.
• Picture Control Utility - Create your own picture control. The Picture Control is essentially the tonal curve which is applied during raw conversion.
• Access to camera focus point information stored in metadata. See where focus locked (or not).
• Auto Lateral Color Aberration - Automatic fix for some color aberrations (purple fringe). If I see them using ACR, they are usually fixed with CNX.
• Straight conversion handling of near blown highlights is IMO better than ACR, but ACR has better highlight adjustments.

That said. It's an old program that hasn't seen a major upgrade in years just minor upgrades adding new cameras and few new features. Not as easily integrated with a Lightroom-Photoshop-Plug-in workflow with their benefits. So there's an integration cost for using CNX.

I use it when ACR isn't good enough for a particular raw conversion or for those AA processing projects, in other words I would use it when results really count. But only for the raw conversion.

My 2 cents.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Don Lacy]

Shane, Speaking from a Canon user I prefer the control ACR gives me over the tonalities of RAW image and the ease of use over DPP and for the majority of my images I can match or exceded the DPP conversion, now I also rarely shoot above 800 ISO and when I do I will convert the image in DPP. I suspect the if I was a Nikon user I would still feel the same.

[arash_hazeghi]

When I had Nikon I always used NX2, conversion quality is much better plus it retains features such as D-lightning and lens aberration control (since it knows the optical formula for each lens). However it was somewhat slow and you needed a really fast machine (I have one) to keep it rolling.

James should chime in, he used NX2 I believe

[dankearl]

I am a Nikon guy who has used NX2 for years and just recently purchased PS CS6 with ACR.
I have to say NX2 is much easier and better for simple processing. I am starting to use ACR for conversion because it has some
features like clarity and vibrance that I like and it's color histogram tweaking is good.
NX2 does not do complicated PP like blending exposure, focus stacking etc., which I am starting to use but
no matter what I do in PS, I finish the photos in NX2.

I like the sharpening of NX2 better, the spot color tweaking and exposure is much simpler and works better than PS.
I also think NR is better in NX2.

If you have PS, you should load NX2 and give it a try. I think they both have good features, so why not use both?
NX2 NEF files you can process over and over. You just rename, bring into PS, work on them, save as TIFF and finish in NX2.

[Martin Dunn]

Shane,
i have been using Nikon Capture NX for a number of years now and I really like its ease of use.
I have tried on more than one occasion to come to grips with Photoshop and Lightroom but each time I come back to Capture NX. I can't easily explain why it is but I find images much easier to look at in Capture NX and the controls seem logical to me.
I do all my PP in Capture NX and only move the image across to Photoshop Elements for final resizing, sharpening and saving for the web.

Capture NX offers the option of selectively applying just about any adjustment, including sharpening and noise reduction. You should give it a try for sure.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks a lot. Will try it out as soon as I get a new pc. Adding another programme will choke my current laptop

regards