Nikon Capture NX2

[Canis Vulpes]

I have the *.dmg file downloaded after three attempts this morning. I can upload to my idisk for others to download if need be. It will be when I get home later this evening.

Good point Chris, it does seem to be Leopard compliant whereas NX never was although it caused no problem on my system.

[Don Hoey]

Well as you can guess Foxy sent me a ping about this.

No problem downloading program and manual from here as I just have.
http://nikonimglib.com/cnx2/

Re price well that may be the rub. I compared USA prices as at least they show them somewhere
Nikon Mall still only has NX and that is listed as Full version $149.95, Upgrade $89.95
Nikon USA Press Centre announcement - NX2 Full version $179.95 or Upgrade $109.95

Going back to the release of NX then I think the UK upgrade price from NC4.4 was around £75. So given that USA prices have risen the UK price for upgrade may be more like £80-£90.

I will read through the manual before installing and activating the 60 day clock.

Don

Have downloaded the .dmg, but unfortunately this time it is serious about wanting 10.4. However may be able to give it a whirl on disused family PC and expect it largely ignores the OS anyway same as 1.3

[Don Hoey]

For UK pricing and availability check this link
http://www.dphotoexpert.com/2008/06/...flow-software/

Don

Have given it a whirl on 3 images on the PC. There only appear to be 2 really new features:
1 - The auto-heal brush is simple and effective for removal of sensor dust and bits of gunk in unimportant areas; not yet a fully controllable stamp tool
2 - The selection control point is somewhat enigmatic, maybe works on the type of pic in the review or manual where there are objects of strong colour with strong edges, but on landscapes it is difficult to see what advantage it has over previous selection methods apart from opening up possibilities of creating and saving masks rather than relying on the duplication of a step including a selection and/or linked enhancements; need to wait for 3rd party tutorials on that as the manual is of little help.

Against the improvements, the interface (PC version) is pretty grisly. Fewer floating pallettes, slide bars of so subtle a grey they are near invisible and a PS style tool bar. Yuk.

There seems no obvious distinction between operators in RAW and others, the Exposure Compensation now being in View NX style 'Quickfix' section. Also more of View NX stitched into the browser part.

For speed, using a Dell dimension 2400 nominally 2.4x as fast as my ancient powerbook, the transformations appeared slightly faster, but against that, getting the tools in place if anything slower and overall less certainty as to whether it had finished doing whatever or not yet. In 1.3.2 on mac it covers its slowth by producing a preview of lowest resolution it can (intelligently) get away with and beavering away in the background on the full works; OK unless you are doing things needing 100% scale. NX 2 on PC seems to wait more until it has the 100% job available and the activity wheel meanwhile also an incredibly subtle/invisible grey.

I don't think I will be barging anyone else out of the way on the rush to upgrade immediately. Maybe see how soon really informative tutorials augment the rather basic manual and what the interface is like on Mac

[Canis Vulpes]

After working on one picture I have three comments.

Brilliant, Fantastic and Wonderful.

The sort of editting I do is quite repetitive and I found trawling through the menus on every photo fatiguing.

I managed to edit my photo without clicking a menu and finished it off in minutes.

Bravo, Nik software and Nikon.

Any chance of a screen dump Stephen? If poss with LCH>'master lightness' open, which is where about 80% of my landscape working happens and the window undersized so it has sliders? From your comments it must be better on mac than PC??? In the PC version the LCH panel seems fixed into the adjustments panel, though there is talk of alternative interface styles.

[Canis Vulpes]

Originally Posted by Chris

Any chance of a screen dump Stephen? If poss with LCH>'master lightness' open, which is where about 80% of my landscape working happens and the window undersized so it has sliders? From your comments it must be better on mac than PC??? In the PC version the LCH panel seems fixed into the adjustments panel, though there is talk of alternative interface styles.

Here you go, one with and one without. LCH window occupies parts of the edit list just like any other step then minimised within the edit list like the ones above.

Thank you Stephen - sorry, not making myself clear enough. I like the LCH panel as BIG as possible* and in NX2 it seems confined by the size of the edit list; so to get it wider one needs to stretch the whole edit list sideways? Also it was the image window I am worried about, the edges look ominously grey rather than trad mac blue bubbles on white?

*I rarely have pics with lovely clear edges and bright colours like this, so the curve in LCH becomes a series of undulating steps, but precisely matched to parts of a landscape
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...1&d=1212566130
Note F2,4,5 tools which I rarely touch minimised and out of way and F2 & F6 where they are handy - I don't think you can pull them out of the tool-bar in NX2? Nor have tool settings as squarish floating windows?

[Canis Vulpes]

Originally Posted by Chris

Thank you Stephen - sorry, not making myself clear enough. I like the LCH panel as BIG as possible* and in NX2 it seems confined by the size of the edit list; so to get it wider one needs to stretch the whole edit list sideways? Also it was the image window I am worried about, the edges look ominously grey rather than trad mac blue bubbles on white?

*I rarely have pics with lovely clear edges and bright colours like this, so the curve in LCH becomes a series of undulating steps, but precisely matched to parts of a landscape
http://www.worldphotographyforum.com...1&d=1212566130
Note F2,4,5 tools which I rarely touch minimised and out of way and F2 & F6 where they are handy - I don't think you can pull them out of the tool-bar in NX2? Nor have tool settings as squarish floating windows?

Sorry, Chris.

There does not seem to be a way of making the LCH tool larger than in the edit list.