sevencrossing said:
I would start by getting a trial version of LR3 . . .

Yeah, I was just reading the other thread ("Alternative RAW Converters"), and LR3 seems to be pretty popular, and is likely the best end-to-end solution, requiring the use of other applications only infrequently. Also, apparently Capture One has upped their game in their current release, and has some notable features, according to other members here. Although LR3 provides an attractive end-to-end solution, for RAW conversion, I'm still wanting to go with either NX 2 for both its native Nikon color profile support and comprehensive Nikkor lens correction database, or DxO for its excellent perspective control. Then use the plug-in versions of both Noise Ninja (also available in stand-alone, and Aperture plug-in versions) and BlowUp 2 (only available as a Photoshop plug-in) for CS5, for final output files. Since I'm only processing selected files for Durst Lambda output and/or digital pre-press, this workflow shouldn't be too cumbersome.

So my revised list of new OS X software may be:

1. Nikon Capture NX 2
2. DxO Optics Pro
3. Noise Ninja plug-in for Photoshop
4. BlowUp 2 plug-in for Photoshop
5. Adobe CS5 Design Premium

I would start by getting a trial version of LR3
other than CS5 I have not used any of the other programs you mention
Once your presets and preferences are sorted in LR3, it combined with CS5 does the business for me

sevencrossing said:
search for "adobe lens profiler" this seems to be a data base of profiles created by other photographers but not yet "certified" by adobe
(I use it in LR3 not CS5)

Thanks. There are just so many options, I'm getting a bit overwhelmed. I would like to opt for NX 2, but I would also like to use DxO and Noise Ninja. Of course, I eventually need to buy an OS X version of CS5 to replace my aging Windows licenses, but damnit, I need the "Design Premium" suite, because I also need InDesign and Illustrator. So, this is all adding up to quite a bit of coin. I'm also not completely clear on my intended workflow, using multiple apps.

I almost forgot. I still need a cataloging application! Now where does this fit into my workflow? I'm currently using the previous version of Aperture, but I think Lightroom may have more powerful features.

So, I'm probably going to get the following:

1. DxO Optics Pro for its powerful perspective features.
2. Noise Ninja for its leading noise reduction algorithms.
3. Alien Skin's Blow Up 2 for making gallery-sized enlargements from my 12MP D3s files.
4. Either the new version of Aperture or Lightroom.
5. Adobe CS5 Design Premium.

However, I do like the fact that NX 2 already has the Nikon profiles (or whatever they're called) already built in, so your colors look "right" as soon as you first open the NEFs. Anyone here who owns NX 2 able to make any additional arguments for getting it? Also, some have commented that NX 2's noise reduction is superior to CS5's, so that may be another rwason to go Nikon. Can anyone comment on NX 2's noise reduction capability vs. Noise Ninja's?

studio460 said:
Old thread, I know, but it seemed the most appropriate place to post this:

...... What I found frustrating with CS5, was that none of the lens correction data seemed to be up to date.

search for "adobe lens profiler" this seems to be a data base of profiles created by other photographers but not yet "certified" by adobe
(I use it in LR3 not CS5)

@studio460: I guess Capture NX 2 was not included due to the fact that the tool is not a general purpose RAW converter, but one tailored to Nikon RAW files.
(If I'm not wrong).

Old thread, I know, but it seemed the most appropriate place to post this:

I just downloaded Nikon Capture NX 2 this evening, since my stupid CS5 trial period has finally ended (all of my Adobe licenses are for Windows machines, which I don't use anymore, since I switched to OS X). I really like many of NX 2's features. What I found frustrating with CS5, was that none of the lens correction data seemed to be up to date. For example, there was no preset for the AF Nikkor 14mm f/2.8. I know I can plug values in, but I'd rather everything just be there already. So I installed the OS X version Capture NX 2, and of course, all of the lens correction actions just "happened," without a hitch. This got me wondering . . . there must be other image applications out there beside NX 2 and CS5 that I'm not even aware of.

So I did a quick seach and found twinpixel's "RAW Deathmatch" article. Basically, a review of Lightroom, Bibble, Capture One, and DxO. All of the reviewed versions have been updated since the time of that writing, but I was very interested to learn of DxO Optics Pro's amazing perspective correction features. Okay, so I finally listened to you guys, and I'm starting to shoot RAW + JPG now. I just got two 16GB CF cards from B+H today, so I could shoot with both 16GB and 4GB CF cards in my D3s' dual card slots, for simultaneous RAW + JPG capture.

Anywho, I read the twinpixels' review, and it really was an eye-opener. Again, I really had no idea these types of programs even existed. Bibble scored high marks for noise reduction, but that's thanks to its integrated Noise Ninja plug-in, which I suppose I could buy separately (but then I would have to apply it in CS5, after RAW conversion?). Both LR and Bibble scored high marks for colorimetry as well. As I said, the lens correction and perspective control features in DxO really seemed worth the price of Optics Pro alone. But Capture NX 2 wasn't included in the review, and there seems to be some general thinking that software from Nikon, made for RAW conversion from files by cameras made by Nikon, has some benefits.

E-mail would be fine.

Just let me know if you want me to send the file back to you or put it up here.

Wow, you are a big help. Thank you. I always find myself shooting outdoors and in shadows with bright backgrounds. I can't wait to give it a try to see how it performs.

"Now what exactly does ADL do as far as exposure in the camera, and can the benefits be seen in other RAW developers"

As far as I know, ADL can only be adjusted in PP if you're using Capture NX. This is one of those Nikon only features and only Nikon software can recognize it properly. It's the same with the picture controls settings as well.

Awesome! I would prefer to work with the RAW file.

ADL attempts to balance both the shadows and the highlights. This is the advantage it has over other adaptive dynamic range technologies. It works best in high contrasting images; lots of hills, trees shadows and bright areas for example. It works best with matrix metering. In fact, the matrix meter seems to work best with it.

As far as underexposing slightly, I disagree with that. Some think it does but those people don't fully understand ADL themselves. If anything, it may seem to slightly overexpose sometimes depending on the lens you're using. Remember, it works with the metering and different lenses meter differently. I personally don't like using it with my 70-200 because it really blows out the highlights. It does much better with my 300mmF4 and 70-300. It also works very well in matrix metering with the 12-24.

It's really good for bring detail out in dark areas on the fly. Let me show you one more example of this:

Active D Lighting off

Active D Lighting Low

Active D lighting Normal

Active D Lighting High

Notice in each succeeding image, more detail is seen on the bushes and a few other otherwise dark areas in this night shot. Because this is a night shot, this is an extreme example and during daytime contrasting shots, it may be even more obvious. This was done with the D300. The D90 has two extra settings; very high (extra high on D300s) and auto (also on the D700 and D300s).

If you have a camera with auto, just leave it there. It's really smart about how much to apply. Also if you switch metering modes it will turn if off completely as needed.

I would be happy to send you the RAW which should be about 10megs, actually, I,ll just send you link to download it. Please give me the weekend though as this is a busy one for me.

Now what exactly does ADL do as far as exposure in the camera, and can the benefits be seen in other RAW developers,or does it just embed data that can only be used with Capture NX? Does ADL just under expose the shadows keeping the highlights intact as my thinking leads me to believe. AS you can see, I have very little experience with this feature. Nikon definately pulled a Microsoft with this one, remember .Net, three completely different technologies all with the same name. Thanks Nikon.

You are a big help, thank you.

Yeah sure(wink,wink), but don't worry your secret's safe with me ;^)

lol I don't even have a youtube account lol

eurodancefreak2004?! OMG I've seen your youtube videos!!! YOUR the dancefreak Gentoo?

LOL

Do me a favor, if you don't mind I would like to edit your girlfriends pic in Capture NX2. Can you send it to me if that's ok? Send an un edited and unresized. If it's over 10Mb then upload it to yousendit.com then for the recipients address enter the one below.

*Link Removed*

Don't ask lol

"So are you telling me that Capture NX2 has separate D-Lighting, and Active D-Lighting features. One which can be used if you did not have Active D-Lighting on, and another to adjust your Active D-Lighting results afterwards?"

No, no, no, no ,no.

What I'm saying is, D Lighting and Active D Lighting are two completely different things. Damn Nikon for using names that are confusingly alike. The word "active" is the key in ADL. One thing I agree with Ken Rockwell on is the idiotic use of that name, "Active D Lighting". It's really adaptive dynamic range and that would be a better name for it.

In Capture NX, you can adjust DL and ADL true. However, ADL can only be adjusted in the RAW specific settings. It also looks quite different than DL when applied to the image. DL on the other hand is available for any image. In fact that first pic was taken in JPG, the second one may have been as well but I was not yet shooting RAW when I took that first pic last summer. The adjustments for DL are much more flexible. Just like the other features in the adjustments dialog, you can select "faster" or "better quality". Always select better quality.

Learn this; D Lighting and Active D Lighting are two completely different things. Because of Nikons naming, people do not understand how to use them and apply them correctly. DL, as well as other adjustments in Capture NX and in Nikon camera bodies, is a powerful tool. This is why I like newer tech in my cameras so much. I've learned how to take advantage of these tools. I'm not saying that makes me better. On the contrary, it makes me a little weird lol. I am very good at taking advantage of what these caeras have to offer. It's why I feel like I'm missing something on simpler models like a D40.

It's bewildering at 1st but once you get it, it's simple and Capture NX can actually be fun to use. I hated PP when I used photoshop and other PP programs. I actually like what I can do in Capture NX and enjoy PP in it.

What a save, that is quite incredible how you able to recoup a blown shot. But don’t worry, every photographer on the planet has one of those what was I smoking moments when I took that shot. :-)

So are you telling me that Capture NX2 has separate D-Lighting, and Active D-Lighting features. One which can be used if you did not have Active D-Lighting on, and another to adjust your Active D-Lighting results afterwards? This is one feature I haven’t experimented with much at all, and it sounds like if I do not use Capture NX, Active D-Lighting is useless. It seems when I use it, it just under exposes the shadows, leaving the highlights intact when I bring it into Capture One. It appears I am going to have a lot of questions to ask the Nikon rep when I go to Calumet’s 70th anniversary event in November. If you happen to live near one of their stores, they are having a mini tradeshow, and most of the manufactures reps will be there. I happen to be at one a couple of years ago, and the reps are truly helpful, since their not flooded with people, they have time to spend with you.

Going back to my original example of my girlfriend’s hair, I see we may had a misunderstanding, and pardon me for being a bit vague. The picture I was referring to was taken indoors using an on camera flash with a Gary Fong diffuser. The image was properly exposed with no stark shadows. I just wanted to give it a little extra punch in contrast, and lost the detail in the black hair completely. I don’t see how D-Lighting could help me in this case, am I off on this?

Now what if you get a picture thats in real deep trouble. You can use the D Lighting feature in conjunction with some other tools:

I don't know what I was smoking when I took this one

Check out what I was able to save

D Lighting was definitely applied. However on here I also used levels and curves after D Lighting as well as a bit of the brightness slider. A few well placed color control points to bring the background colors up a bit. But these color control points have another secret use; I applied them to darker areas of the face, mostly around the eyes and only used the brightening feature slider in the U Point just to bring the circles under eyes out of the shadows a bit Well in pictures where you can see the eyes. However they were still useful here too.. If you use these control points, don't forget to reduce the radius, it's the U point slider without a letter, so you only adjust the area you want.

This is not including any sharpening I did and noise reduction which was also added.

"Gentoo, I thought the D-Lighting feature only worked if you used D-Lighting when the shot was taken? Am I wrong?"

Nikon has three different confusingly named D Lighting features that each work differently.

D Lighting as a post process in camera feature. That one sucks.

Active D Lighting is the one you're speaking of. This works with the cameras metering to adjust shadows and highlight on the fly while shooting. This one can only be adjust in Capture NX/NX2 if you shot in RAW AND if you had it turned on in the first place.

Now, the D Lighting feature in Capture NX/NX2 is a wonderful thing. This can really save a shot if you screwed it up bad. I did this a while ago but I'll give you a couple of examples:

Before D Lighting

After D Lighting

Notice is didn't destroy the highlights and the background is not blown out.

This is just a simple addition of D Lighting just to demonstrate how effective it can be.

Gentoo, I thought the D-Lighting feature only worked if you used D-Lighting when the shot was taken? Am I wrong?

pabnj: You wouldn't use the contrast feature for that in NX2. You use the D Lighting feature.

Gentoo, thank you very much for your Capture NX2 class, it is much appreciated. I do like the U-Point features, and I do want to play around with them more so.

After some more experimenting with Capture NX2, I did notice something that drove me nuts, and that’s when I had an enlightening moment. A couple of years ago, I was using Adobe Lightroom 1, and I was adjusting a photo I took of my girlfriend who has jet black hair. In Lightroom, I was unable to render the detail in her hair as it looked like a big black blob on her head. No matter what I did, I could not get any natural looking detail. Now here comes the enlightening moment, In NX2, I took a photo of her, and added a small amount of contrast to it, and ah ha, we now have the same black blob on her head. Gone are the details of strands of hair. In Capture One, I can move the contrast slider all the way, granted, the photo looks horrible, but it still holds most of the detail in her hair. The more I play, the more I find NX2’s contrast adjustment to be more destructive to Shadow detail, but it really is very destructive to my girlfriend’s hair. Looking back, I have a hunch Lightroom did the same thing with the contrast adjustment, and it never dawned on me. You know the feeling after frustration sets in, the answer can be right under your nose, and you never notice it. 

The first thing I do is select adjust at the top left then click correct. This will correct any lens distortion. Just let it do it automatically after you select it.

the next steps will depend on your image; whether it's underexposed or not. Are the colors how you like them? What about the sharpness and contrast or the shadows and highlights? Is there noise you want to get rid of?

But what if the WB, picture controls or other setting are out of wack? For these go to the dialog box on the right, the big one in the middle. At the top you will see camera settings. If you click that you will see where you can adjust WB which includes color temperature. Recorder value next one down is what you shot it at. If you click that you will see other choices that are available in the menu of your camera that you can choose. This info is in the RAW data of each image shot in RAW. You're just deciding whether or not to turn it on now. Below that is picture controls. If you shot in vivid but really meant to shoot standard, you can change that now. You can also fine tune these just as you could in camera before you shoot as all of these settings are there and IMO work better in Capture NX. If you scroll down you can also change the noise reduction you used in camera and more importantly if you scroll down a bit more, there are your Active D-Lighting adjustments. NOTE: ADL can only be adjust if it was turn on in the first place. If your camera does not have it, I don't believe you will even see this option.

Now for other settings, please ask as I can go on for ever about those in the other drop down menu. This is how you get to the RAW adjustments. Remember, the RAW adjustments are in a dialog box on the RIGHT, the big one in the middle between the birds eye and the histogram.

I must once again use one of my favorite words in photography...subjectivity. This whole business of work flow is subjective. It does depend on the computer you're running it on. Personally I have no problem importing and exporting finished files. That's just me though:

Niko, you will need a hall pass before you go anywhere. You are not to disrupt my class again or else you'll be banished to shooting with a Canon 20D. Understood?

Here's a rather simplified way to begin in Capture.

After you open your file, RAW or otherwise, we will assume RAW for right now. You will need to close the dialog boxes if it's your first time. I mean the ones that atempt to show your last images opened etc. You may see on your left a couple of other selection boxes; folders, browser etc. There's a +/- sign at the top of those. Click the + sign to see your folders. Once you see them, click the + to show the browser. From there you should be able to see your pictures in that folder. If not (Capture sometimes has issues), no worries, click the file at the top left corner and then select "open image". Usually it goes to the folder you tried to open before. Select thumbnails for easier viewing. from there you will know how to select the image you want to edit.

See next post for basic editing options.