The latest version of NX2 is version 2.3.0 and it's much faster than previous versions. Actions that took several seconds and sometimes minutes, are now processed much faster. The app is now 64-bit.

This software is a great tool if you use Nikon DSLRs. What I still really miss is the possibility to use plugins as Silver Efex Pro™ 2 from NikSoftware. I hope that Nikon and NikSoftware eventually finally will decide to make it possible to use all of NikSooftwares plugins from within NX2. That will make my day!

With all it quirky ways, I would love to use CaptureNX2 but it doesn't play well with other apps. If only it supported DNG. I would buy it right away.

An updated and working Snow Leopard compatible ViewNX would also not go amiss. But nobody from Nikon will read this.

I have a new macbook with Leopard and have photoshop cs2. I have been using iphoto to keep track/organize the photos but am disappointed that it does not keep track of all my camera settings for each image. For example, white balance doesn't seem to be captured. I haven't loaded the basic software nikon packed with my d80 (picture perfect?) but maybe that's what I need to try. I just heard that I couldn't work with RAW images without Nikon Capture nx and I didn't really want to pay the $150 for it. I could use advice on software that would be best to capture all Nikon camera settings, organize with ease and work in RAW, perferably for a decent price. From the reviews here and others I've seen, Capture NX is cumbersome and not working with Leopard that well anyway. Thanks!

Great editing software! I almost always get better results with Capture NX than PS (except when I need many layers or need more graphical changes to a picture). The resulting picture (taken with D80) has less noise and is somehow more clear than wiht PS, I just don't know why. From the tools Color control point is the most amazing thing - fast and efective means to a great picture. Keep up the great work!

Having recently begun recording my images in RAW format, I've been in the market for a good RAW converter. I've used Nikon's Capture NX as well as CaptureOne from PhaseOne and Bibble. I'll divide my comments and comparisons into broad categories:

EASE OF USE
With Capture NX it was easy to browse and load images. I found no batch-renaming function. The workflow to process images was fairly logical but long. Since many functions duplicate or overlap one another , I could skip many of these steps. For example, there is a good curves/levels function, so it wasn't necessary to pull up the fuctions that adjusted contast & brightness. CaptureOne is much easier to use and faster than Capture NX, but it lacks some features. Bibble was very intuitive, but I found difficulty fine-tuning things like white balance and curves.

WHITE BALANCE
The hands-down winner was CaptureOne, for its intuitive interface for this function and instantaneous feedback. Adjusting white balance was clunky and slow in Capture NX. All programs allow you to easily apply this basic setting to other images.

COLOR-SPACE MANAGEMENT
CaptureNX and CaptureOne both allow for robust color management; NX extends this into printing images.

WORKFLOW
Bibble has a few "fast-fix" buttons that are pretty slick--they provide for crisp contrasty images with good white balance and skin tones (without much sweat on your part). CaptureOne lets you quickly make and see changes in your images, then cranks through the processor-time in the background. Capture NX is a little more clunky in this regard. Since it manipulates large raw files in real time, it can be slow. The workflow tabs on the right side of the screen are a little cumbersome at first.

NOISE and SHARPENING
I think sharpening was similar among the three programs--appropriate sliders, you get to see what you'll get. The noise reduction seemed best in Nikon Capture NX and worst in CaptureOne, but not by a large margin.

EXTRA FUCTIONALITY
Okay, this is where Nikon Capture NX blows away the competition. The Control Points work brilliantly. I would have to be really adept at Photoshop masking and level manipulations to duplicate what can be done with a few clicks in Capture NX. Very skick, very fast, very easy to learn.

RAW WORKSPACE
Like Apple's Aperature and Adobe's new program (Lightbox?) Capture NX keeps the images in RAW format. This is helpful on two levels. First, you get to hold onto all 12 bits per channel of color information that get lost when you convert into JPEG or 8-bit TIFF files. Second, the underlying ("raw") data is not affected when you edit an image. You can keep several versions of final images associated witht the same raw data, and can go back to modify your earlier changes days or years after making them.

SUMMARY
If you are a Photoshop expert or plan to manipulate the composition within your photos, then the extra functionality of Nikon Capture NX is probably superfluous; stick instead with CaptureOne or (for PC users) Bibble, or check out Apple's Aperature. But if you'd like to open up the vast and amazing world of changing the colors, contrast, and brightness of parts of your image, than give Capture NX a spin. The full version is downloadable for a free 30-day trial.

LAST THOUGHT
It doesn't work on the new intel processors. And it seriously hogs processor time. Hopefully within six months we'll have a version for the new processor, right?

-Brendon

Users are reporting that Capture NX 2 isn't functional on Snow Leopard. Nikon has not bothered to update Capture NX 2 (or its weaker cousin ViewNX) since SL was released. Their official policy is that they haven't decided IF they will support SL.

TIP: If you want to use Nikon Capture NX 2 in Snow Leopard do not update it to v2.2.2 *after* you have installed Snow Leopard. Stick with v2.2.0 for now, which reportedly works.

If you have installed v.2.2.2 *BEFORE* installing Snow Leopard, CaptureNX 2 may work for you.