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Nikon Capture NX User Reviews (12 posts)Write A Review
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Nov 8 2009

UMIJIN  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.  
(Version 2.2.2)

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Nov 25 2009

UMIJIN  Laughable - still no official support for Snow Leopard. Nikon's support site says that they expect to release updates in, like, January for their software suite.  
(Version 2.2.3)

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Nov 25 2009

GFORCE  Nikon Capture NX 2.20 unofficially works with Snow Leopard and 2.22 does not. I don't know about 2.2.3. Lack of official support is appalling.   
(Version 2.2.3)

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Nov 26 2009

DANMARC  Nikon = great hardware shame about their software (specially for Mac). As example I have a high end Nikon scanner - when it stopped working due to software (not compatible) their support told me to get Vuescan ....I will continue to buy their cameras but never again be fooled to get their other gear.

Sidecomment to the others here...  
(Version 2.2.3)

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Sep 14 2008

FILCHESCAT  I'd like to be able to use Nikon's Mac software, but it chronically crashes or otherwise weanies out. I've been duped into buying activation numbers for it over the years when purchasing Nikon camera equipment (no gripes there!), but it's never quite lived up to expectations. Even this new release of Capture sucks (immediately asks for a serial number or offers an option to purchase one, with no option to try it out). Quite expensive for something a more versatile, mainstream app like Adobe's Lightroom, Apple's Aperture or for that matter, Photoshop can take care of. Still hoping.  
(Version 2.0)

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Sep 14 2008

JOBURG94  Nikon USA has offered a 60 day demo of Capture NX 2 since early June. It can be downloaded from this page: http://nikonimglib.com/cnx2/index_en_nsa.html  
(Version 2.0)

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Mar 25 2008

SANDAL  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!   
(Version 1.3.2)

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May 7 2008

MACNOOK  iPhoto is the consumer level solution and it really doesn't deal with RAW files all that well.

There is no single solution that can "capture all Nikon camera settings, organize with ease and work in RAW." Unfortunately, the only thing that's going to perfectly capture all of Nikon's settings is Capture NX, and that's not much of an organizer.

Lightroom or Aperture are going to allow you to keep track of and organize (like iPhoto), but will do a lot better job dealing with the RAW files. Both have downloadable demos-- try both. I thought I'd prefer Aperture, but I prefer Lightroom (by far) and suspect you might too (since you're using Photoshop as well).

With Lightroom, I can drag a RAW thumbnail to Capture NX and make changes to the RAW file-- with Aperture, unless I'm missing something, this is not possible.

Re Capture NX-- I don't have experience with the D80 and I probably wouldn't have bought Capture NX in the first place, but it came free with my D300. The interface is "different" (I'm being nice) and it's pretty slow, but acceptable once I had 4GB of RAM installed. The latest version does work with Leopard, finally.

I thought it was worthless at first, but after learning and trying it with more and more photos-- let me tell you, nothing will ever be able to match CNX abilities with Nikon's images. Any photo where you want to pull out shadows, change a funky color cast in part of the picture... ANY "problem" picture, you'll likely do a whole lot better with Capture NX. I had high ISO shots that I thought were unusable until I ran them through NX.

If the photo is already perfect or it's a sunset/sunrise shot, IMO Capture NX won't impress. Anything else, give it a try. Long story short-- I'd buy Capture NX in a heartbeat now.

Oh, yeah-- and if you upgrade to Photoshop CS3, the RAW handling is worlds beyond CS2.

Hope some of that helps.  
(Version 1.3.3)

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Feb 24 2008

MACINEN  1.3.2 not working in Leopard (10.5.2). When I try to open a .nef-file: "Can not open file .... .nef"

:(  
(Version 1.3.2)

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Feb 23 2008

PAULSRANDALL  This update appears to work with Leopard. It crashes immediately on a PowerPC running Tiger 10.4.11. A re-install of version 1.3.1 works fine in Tiger.  
(Version 1.3.2)

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Nov 29 2007
*****

MACINEN  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!  
(Version 1.3)

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Feb 18 2007
*****

MOK.IN.TOUCH™  Excellent, excellent, excellent!

This is one of the best photo editing software. Just as good as my old Nikon F  
(Version 1.1)

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Jul 15 2006

MONTEBRENDON  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  
(Version 1.0)

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Jul 10 2006

GARYI  Not intel native? You boys like making work for yourselves eh?

Tactical error.  
(Version 1.0)

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Jul 10 2006

DRAW  Why do one have to set Distortion Control levels manually? My Nikon Camera (of course) stores Lens and Focus data in the EXIF.

Why, Nikon, are you not able to read them out for automatic distortion management in batch mode? Nikon, you are confusing me a bit...  
(Version 1.0)

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Jul 10 2006

DRAW  I love the distortion control and the revolutionary Color Control Point, both working quite well.

But:

The GUI is no fun at all and the applikation is sooo slow (compared with comparable softwares that are written by experts).

I hope, other developers will focus on the integration of the Color Control Point idea.  
(Version 1.0)

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Jul 9 2006
**½..

SDMEYERS   I expected much more from this long awaited upgrade from Nikon Capture. The interface is terribly confusing and bulky (Capture was ugly but usable). I can't comment on speed since it's not a Universal app and I use a MBP, but it's painfully slow on this. I guess I'm sticking with Aperture for RAW processing for now.  
(Version 1.0)

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