Nikon Capture NX 2: by Ron Eggers and Wendell Benedetti

December 2, 2008

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Nikon Capture NX 2: by Ron Eggers and Wendell Benedetti

Expanding the Advantages of Working with NEF/RAW Files

Article rating: 7.23

Because of its broad functionality, when Nikon first introduced Capture NX, the company's NEF/RAW file format converter and image optimization program, some photographers wondered if it was designed as a replacement for Adobe Photoshop. It wasn't. Rather, Capture NX, which was developed with Nik Software, was designed to augment Photoshop. While it wasn't designed to replace Photoshop, in some respects, it goes beyond that program's functions and capabilities.

Nikon Capture NX 2

Capture NX 2 was primarily designed to convert and work with Nikon proprietary RAW files, but its powerful imaging tools also work with JPEG and TIFF image files. Like all proprietary RAW image files, NEF format digital images include all the original, unmodified data that was recorded when the camera's sensor was exposed to light. Since, by definition, RAW images have not been modified in any way, they are often referred to as Digital Negatives. But that's not the best description. They actually correspond more closely to the latent image content on exposed film, rather than the film after it's developed. Think of them as a digital approximation of the light that fell on the imaging sensor.

The program gives Nikon camera users photographically intuitively tools that optimize, convert and enhance NEF files. The differences between Capture NX 2 and other imaging applications quickly becomes apparent when running the program. By default, the workspace is organized with related tools and functions grouped together. The left portion of the Capture NX 2 screen, for example, includes three movable windows, which display directory/folder listings, file metadata and individual image thumbnails. From within these windows it's possible to choose the directories and ultimately the image files to be optimized. Clicking on an image's thumbnail automatically displays the metadata.

The right portion of the workspace contains the Bird's Eye navigation window, a Photo Info window with histogram and individual points info, and the Edit List window. Like the Folders, Metadata and Browser windows on the left, all three windows can be moved, resized and minimized.

The navigation and photo info windows let users zoom into an image or graphically display the image's histogram. It's also possible to display the color data of specific points on the image in that window. The innovative Edit List window is actually a dynamic list of all the things that have been done to an image. It's somewhat like Photoshop's enabling/disabling layers, but without the steep learning curve.

It lists all the optimization commands that have been made to the image, but it's more than just a command summary. It includes three optimization tools. There are the Camera Settings, Quick Fix option and a Camera and Lens Corrections menu. With just a click of the mouse, it lets users turn on or off, each optimization, filter and effect that's been applied to an image, no matter what tool was used. That makes it very easy to quickly see how each effect interacts with the others. It also makes the List Window the ultimate Undo Command.

The top portion of the Capture NX 2 screen is home to the Hand icon, which moves the image around the screen, a Magnifier for zooming into images, assorted cropping tools and six different Control Point tools, each of which uses proprietary U-Point Technology.

Developed by Nik Software, U-Point technology is an entirely new approach to making selections. Instead of requiring users to painstakingly map the object or section that's to be modified, it features user-positioned control points, which initially identify the unique characteristics, such as color and saturation, that are found where the point is positioned and then all the other points that have the same characteristics within a user-definable distance from the point. It sounds complicated, but it's not.

There also are Lasso Tools and a Selection Brush, as well as a Selection Gradient and a Fill-Remove tool. When used with the Lasso Tools and Selection Brush, Control Points give photographers the ability, using sliders, to precisely optimize specific sections of an image - all without having to create complicated masks and layers. The range of functions and capabilities varies with the type of Control Point. The Color Control Point, for example, adjusts Brightness, Contrast and Saturation, while the Red Eye Control Point does just that.

The Auto Retouch Brush is another of the tools located, by default, on the top portion of the screen. It's one of the easiest ways to remove unwanted image content, such as sensor dust. Simply paint the effect over and around the unwanted image content and the application automatically figures out what needs to be removed and what should be mapped in to take its place.

Control Points can also be used to apply other optimization effects, such as the Unsharp Mask, Noise Reduction with sharpening, and a D-Lighting tool that digs out image content in badly exposed sections of an image. The ability to apply additional optimization effects with control point technology provides extensive control, again without having to master layers, or to get involved in masking certain portions of images.

One of the advantages of working with NEF files in Capture NX 2 is that none of the digital data is destroyed or lost. That can happen when NEF files are converted more generic RAW files. Also, everything that the program does to the image is done non-destructively, without stripping away or changing any of the original data set. None of the original latent image content is lost.

In the same vane, when Capture NX 2 is used to optimize a NEF file, it gives photographers a much greater ability to fix lens distortion, remove high-ISO noise and grain, and set the correct White Balance. While other imaging applications include similar tools, Capture NX 2 tools remedy NEF image problems without losing any metadata.

As a Nikon NEF RAW file converter Capture NX 2 also has batch file processing. Handling batch processing and conversion is simply a matter of selecting "watched directories", choosing the appropriate conversion settings and then the file format and location where the converted files will be stored. And there's a handy tool that pulls in digital images from a digital camera.

Capture NX 2 is easy to use and it gives photographers the ability to configure the workspace for specific tasks, such as editing, retrieving metadata or viewing images using the build-in browser. There's the option to configure the application to meet specific operating requirements.

It may not be a replacement for Photoshop, but it really is the primary tool for working with Nikon NEF files, such as those generated by Nikon's D300 dSLR or the incredibly sensitive D3. Unfortunately, it only works with the NEF RAW files. It doesn't work with Adobe DNG files and certainly not with RAW files from competing manufacturers. That's unfortunate, but understandable.

The boxed version of Capture NX 2 ships with a colorful 20-page Quick Start Guide and an extensive 265-page User Manual. It carries a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $179.95 for the full version, $109.95 for the upgrade from Version 1. A 60-day free trial version can be downloaded from www.nikonusa.com.

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