where there’s smoke there’s fire

Editing pics with Nikon’s free Capture NX-D – is it worth saving money working with free software?

By Michael Eisenberg, Danish copy writer and photographer

When you buy an expensive camera, you also need a powerful computer and some post processing software. It all adds up moneywise. But actually, Nikon offers you a free picture viewing software, ViewNX-i, and a free post processing software, Capture NX-D. While, obviously, Capture NX-D may not be seen as the most sophisticated by professionals, this application enjoys the reputation of featuring one of the best RAW converters, if not the best. And with Capture NX-D you can process a picture in less than a minute. Let’s see if it is good enough for your needs.

In my daily work as a semi pro I mainly shoot cars, portraits, and cityscapes. I try to finish the pic as much as possible in-camera. So, what I need is a good RAW-converter and a quick processing tool. I rely solely on Capture NX-D for my post processing work.

Our test picture is of a VW Polo R5 rally car, a very potent weapon in the category just below the WRC rally cars. You will, of course, want to use one of your own shots in the following process. Like any other picture I take, it was shot in RAW to enable the highest picture quality and the most editing options. If you shoot jpegs, you are bound to lose a number of editing options.

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