I know there are some keen photographers here, so….

Using a Nikon D90 (NEF files) looking for something to edit the RAW files with.

Anything else worth looking at before I blow some hard earned cash?

Ta..

I haven’t used Elements – which is the only actual editing tool of the three – but found Lightroom to be a much, much easier and more powerful tool than Nikon Capture when it comes to photo developing. The editing capabilities (spot removal and minor corrections) of Lightroom are good for what they are, but limited – that’s not really what Lightroom is about. If it’s heavy editing and manipulation you’re after, then Elements may be your pick. Both Lightroom and Elements can be had as trials from the Adobe site; so why not take advantage and see exactly how each program suits your needs?

Depends on your needs to an extent. If you plan to process large numbers of files, go for LR. I would struggle to live without LR now – the ability to batch process big bundles of images is a real time saver. Yes, you can do this with PS but much less hassle in LR.

If I was just processing 20 landscape shots though, I’d probably stick with Elements (which I haven’t used but assuming it has the same interface as CS5 for dealing with raws).

I’m a big fan of Capture NX2.

Some key advantages:

– edits NEF files directly. Other editors go and create ‘sidecar’ files that you have to keep with the original or they store the changes in a database. CNX actually edits the NEF file, which means less to backup. You can even have multiple different versions of the image in the same file (i.e. black and white, close cropped, web version etc)

– entirely non-destructive editing. Whatever you do you can always go back to the “as shot” image. All edits are non-destructive and can be changed any time after they have been made, without removing other edits made after them.

– uses the Nikon algorithms and can access Nikon proprietary data. So if you have a NEF you can convert it to JPG without any changes and it will be near-as identical to what you would have had if you’d shot JPG in-camera.

– uses Nikon naming conventions which keeps things familiar (i.e. D-lighting, Color Modes, profiles etc)

– the U-point technology it uses is pretty unique and very powerful.

– it is cheap (comparatively).

Potential bad points:

– It is not a pixel-editor (like Photoshop). There are no tools for drawing lines and text, cloning areas etc. It is basically a RAW developer, concerned with colour, exposure, dodge/burn, sharpness, contrast, etc.

– it is not an image cataloguing program.

– the interface takes some getting used to.

Try the trial at http://www.capturenx.com

Also read http://www.luminescentphoto.com/blog/2010/12/30/why-i-still-use-nikons-capture-nx2/

(Jason Odell is the CaptureNX guru from Nikonians)

I used NX when I shot Nikon, then when moved to Canon (wanted to go full frame, 5D was the one that was affordable) I got lightroom. Have used since version 1, inc the beta’s, and it is bloomin fabulous. Quite a significant step from NX, although i admit that for RAW conversion for NEF files, NX prob has the edge out of the box.

I have an older copy of photoshop that I keep for any serious editing, but 90% gets done in lightroom. Great program. Print module is excellent if you print your own.

Interstingly (to me anyroads), my commercial work has taken a back seat recently so thought I would give iPhoto a spin as my only photo editing/storing/etc application (most shoots only for fun and it all ends up in iPhoto as jpegs anyway). heavens bejesus that is a dreadful buggy program when dealing with RAW files. Avoid!

HTH!

Kev

Right now you can get Aperture for a silly price on the new Apple App Store. I would say it is functionally more or less equivalent to Lightroom.

Funnily enough I just went through a similar exercise looking for software to use with a GF1. Their equivalent to the Nikon software is called Silkypix. What I found was:

Silkypix works well but is a little clunky and doesn’t have anything nearly as nice as the other two for quick fixes such as blemishes

Lightroom is really lovely to use but appears to be really designed for managing and updating large numbers of photos e.g. doing a bulk whitebalance update of 100 photos you took at a wedding and then quickly going through to adjust colours and remove blemishes. It doesn’t contain any of the masking stuff that Elements does but it also never changes the original files. It seems really designed for pros doing a lot of photos and who will also have photoshop for the detailed stuff.

Elements will allow you to do a vast amount of editing but isn’t as nice as Lightroom for handling RAW. It allows you to set white balance on the RAW and then converts and saves the file as jpeg for further editing. The editing is extremely easy and amazingly powerful though. It is also much cheaper than Lightroom.

There are free trials of lightroom and elements but elements wins for me

Wow, some good info above there.

Thanks for the breakdown of NX2 GrahamS

Think I need to do some more reading 😉

I think one other factor to look at is what training material is out there – a long time ago I switched from PaintShopPro to Photoshop, even though at that point they were rather similar, just to take advantage of all the books and tutorials available.

Think I need to do some more reading

Perhaps, but it would perhaps serve you better to just see which of the utilities best suits your needs. There will always be differences of opinion – for instance, I found Apple’s Aperture to be cumbersome and illogical compared to Lightroom – and it’s always going to come down to precisely what you need from a utility. All three are available as free downloadable trials, so why not just get stuck in…

Nikon Capture

Lightroom 3

Elements

Lightroom user here

it does 99% of what i need it to do on small numbers of photos and will handle batch operatiions/large export (including rename/size/sharpen etc) when i need it very easily.

NX2 supposedly does a better job of High ISO noise reduction but then there are bits of software specifically for this that are far better.

Lightroom has a lot of support material and loads of user submitted process presets and lens calibrations.

I’d do what Three Fish suggests above and try the three of them first.

SFB off’ve here extols the virtues of another package (darkroom or dbx or something)

Have a look at DXO. They have a free fully functional demo.

As a newcomer to dslr photography i have recently kitted myself out with a basic 1000d canon with a couple of lenses. Yes i know very basic but i dont expect to be able to reach the limits of the camera so its good enough for me.

Anyhow, although a different manufacturer, i was also in a similar position to the OP. I had the ability to shoot RAW and Jpeg but what was best. I liked manipulating the Raw files and i eventually decided to stick with Canons own package which i cant see any issues with. I then decided to plump for PSE as well. Surely this covers most bases by allowing me to do the Raw processing first then to ‘finnish’ off in PSE.

The fact that most of the tutorials in mags are based on PSE means i get relevant info and anything to do with RAW tends to cover most programmes.

Or am i missing something with lightroom?

BTW i know there are a few ‘more than keen’ photographers on this site. It would be lovely to have a thread where we can ask for tips and advice. Some of the photo forums arent that easy to understand