Capture NX 1.3 or v2.0 VS PS CS3

[windforce]

Searched the forums but didn't realli find any constructive in depth info on Capture NX.

I just bought my D300 n it came with the Capture NX 1.3 with serial no. so i believe it shld be the full version of the Capture NX 1.3. I've heard some stuff abt Capture NX 2.0.

Currently i'm using Adobe bridge + PS CS3 for my workflow n i find it reasonably good in terms of Raw handling as i shoot with Raw.

Any advice from anyone who had used both softwares b4 on which is better in handling Raws or Jpegs?

1. Noise reduction
2. Colours
3. Sharpening
4. Black n white
5. Exposure
6. Shadows/ Blacks/ Curves
7. ++++++

Also like whether its fast, simple and convenient to use when comparing both of them. Would also be helpful if 2.0 is a major improvement from 1.3 coz wondering whether i shld upgrade to 2.0.

Thanks alot in advance

[nightwolf75]

NX is still, IMO, best in extracting the most amt of info from NEFs. i'm currently trying out NX2 while still hanging onto my 1.3.

CS3 is good for the final touch-ups after you are done converting your NEFs and tweaking the raw file. somehow, i din quite like wat ACR is doing with my NEFs.

NX2 is slightly faster in opening up the NEFs. they have this quick fix function now.. not really useful IMO. still prefer doing it the manual way. i'm not too used to the layout of NX2 yet... so, not committing to buy the upgrade disc for my 1.3 just yet.

[chngpe01]

CS 3

Seriously, Nikon should leave the serous software development to these company rather than spending their resources in this area.

Look at PhaseOne Capture which is doing a great job for Canon especially the tethering part. Nikon Camera Control pro( I know we are talking about NX Capture) is bad and slow especially for Mac

I bought a copy of Capture NX and Capture Pro but find it "useless" wasted my $

CS3 much better

[prolensdreamer]

I personally like Capture NX2.0 as it is more user friendly .(Using CS3 is quite a threatening experience to me).

[fotoudavid]

my old capture pro from nikon cannot install in my mac.

[windforce]

hmm... it seems like i can't use bridge or PS to open my NEF files although i've updated my adobe softwares n ACR plugin to 4.4.1 which is the latest.

However Nx can open... hmm... any idea where else went wrong?

Hmm seems like i gotta fiddle with NX more often coz i'm so used to PS n bridge but just not sure whether the quality of NX is better than PS.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by windforce 1. Noise reduction = NX 2. Colours = NX 3. Sharpening = NX 4. Black n white = personally find NX easier probably becos i don do CS3 that much, but CS3 does have much more option to choose from for b/w 5. Exposure = eh u mean getting same as what shot? definitely NX then. 6. Shadows/ Blacks/ Curves = NX 7. ++++++

yes, looks like NX ahead in terms of image quality output, but it doesn't look good when it comes to functionality and speed, the CS3 easily win in terms of both areas (comparing NX2 with CS3, which is also way faster than the older 1.3). NX2 is really slow especially so if you are doing editing of RAW files 1 by 1. and they just have the very basic functions of what you need, nothing fanciful like what CS3 can offer.

imho
image quality = NX2 > capture one > CS3(said to say, i hate the raw output probably becos I didn't really try out all the options , but i did see a review giving the same opinion as me)
Speed = CS3 > capture one > NX2(really no fight comparing with c1 and cs3)
Features = CS3 > NX2/Capture One 4(latest LE version) > Capture One Pro 3.7(developing v4 as of now)

all this are my personal experience so far. u might want to download the trial of each and then compare and see which 1 suits u better. for best result it be NX/C1 followed by CS3 for further processing.

here is one pretty old review by Thom Hogan

[windforce]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ yes, looks like NX ahead in terms of image quality output, but it doesn't look good when it comes to functionality and speed, the CS3 easily win in terms of both areas (comparing NX2 with CS3, which is also way faster than the older 1.3). NX2 is really slow especially so if you are doing editing of RAW files 1 by 1. and they just have the very basic functions of what you need, nothing fanciful like what CS3 can offer. imho image quality = NX2 > capture one > CS3(said to say, i hate the raw output probably becos I didn't really try out all the options , but i did see a review giving the same opinion as me) Speed = CS3 > capture one > NX2(really no fight comparing with c1 and cs3) Features = CS3 > NX2/Capture One 4(latest LE version) > Capture One Pro 3.7(developing v4 as of now) all this are my personal experience so far. u might want to download the trial of each and then compare and see which 1 suits u better. for best result it be NX/C1 followed by CS3 for further processing. here is one pretty old review by Thom Hogan

I guess since NX2 is made purposely to do its job of editing photos or rather Nikon photos it shld be the best in terms of quality. but the lack of functionality n speed is wad i can't live with. I tried Nx 1.3 n its

dont realli like it. just installed ACR 4.5 n i think its good since i'm realli familiar with the workflow n i guess if u take good shots u dont realli need to process so much. gotta learn to shoot better i guess.

seems like i got a Nx 1.3 to sell if anyone wants haha.

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by windforce I guess since NX2 is made purposely to do its job of editing photos or rather Nikon photos it shld be the best in terms of quality. but the lack of functionality n speed is wad i can't live with. I tried Nx 1.3 n its dont realli like it. just installed ACR 4.5 n i think its good since i'm realli familiar with the workflow n i guess if u take good shots u dont realli need to process so much. gotta learn to shoot better i guess. seems like i got a Nx 1.3 to sell if anyone wants haha.

well, its really up to u to decide on which way u want, quality or speed. i just prefer the output of nx 2 much better than acr in terms of color, sharpness, noise and sharpening.

[windforce]

Originally Posted by ExplorerZ well, its really up to u to decide on which way u want, quality or speed. i just prefer the output of nx 2 much better than acr in terms of color, sharpness, noise and sharpening.

yea i realli have to agree that on the noise n sharpening part the ACR is realli lacking somewhat . So is NX1.3 comparable to CS3 in terms of noise n all? or onli NX2 is better than CS3?

thanks dude for giving such valuable input

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by windforce yea i realli have to agree that on the noise n sharpening part the ACR is realli lacking somewhat . So is NX1.3 comparable to CS3 in terms of noise n all? or onli NX2 is better than CS3? thanks dude for giving such valuable input

both NX1.3 and NX2.1 beat CS3 ACR in terms of noise unless you are using 3rd party noiseware like noiseninja... etc, i can't guarantee anything.

best thing you can do would probably to do some serious test and then decide yourself.

[yyD70S]

At the very least, I think we all agree that NX is the best raw converter for Nikon cameras.

One could use NX to convert the raw files (camera basic settings) to tif... and then follow on from there ... using 3rd party editors.

NX serves my basic needs but it ain't good in ...

(a) batch processing
(b) transform tool (to take care of keystone effects, etc at the very least)

[windforce]

yea i believe that i just gotta test it out myself n see how it goes. D300 doesn't have much noise =/

If i got time will do some testing n post here hhaa. uni starting gonna be bz!

thanks all for the help.

[windforce]

Finally found time to do the testing:

Shutter speed: 0.4s
Aperture: F16
ISO: 6400


CS3 Full



NX 1.3 Full



CS3 Cropped 100%



NX 1.3 Cropped 100%




Comments please thanks!

[ExplorerZ]

in terms of noise control, i like the NX more, but i prefer the overrall of CS3 due to its higher sharpening and also contrast which NX can do when beefed up as well.

[windforce]

yea it looks like NX has better noise control but CS3 is far easier and faster to use compared to NX.

[hlw8888]

have a qn to ask, hope it is not too off topic.

can both NX1.3 and NX2 co-exist within a pc system ah? or upgrade to NX2, it will auto overwrite NX1.3?

[agape01]

Originally Posted by hlw8888 have a qn to ask, hope it is not too off topic. can both NX1.3 and NX2 co-exist within a pc system ah? or upgrade to NX2, it will auto overwrite NX1.3?

Yup... both can coexist at the same time.

I've got both running on my PC.

Most Pros are going with ACR as it is more feasible but that was before Nikon came out with the free version of NX on the D300 and D3.

Having said that, I would prefer using NX if I were doing large prints and ACR for mass RAW file conversion. NX is just way too slow for that.