ONLY CaptureNX-D???

[ameerat42]

Guys.
I saw on one of the pages that you get a whole suite of programs if you download and install
Nikon CaptureNX-D. But now on this page it does not seem to be the case.
http://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/67.html

Scroll down and open the "Related Software" tab.

I ONLY want to convert NEFs, not "view" them, control cameras, or...

Can someone please advise?

Ta.
Am(a Nikon-novice:o).

[ameerat42]

OK, it actually installed Capture, View, Message Cent"er", and Picture Control. They seem harmless, though.

So I intend to use Capture NX as my conversion tool for Nikon raw files, NEFs.

I'm wondering what other methods there are for doing that.

Ta.

[tandeejay]

Adobe Camera Raw (if you have a late enough version...)
Adobe DNG converter? Althought that converts to DNG... not right if your trying to convert to jpg :D

[ameerat42]

Ta. But is there a free version of Lightroom? It doesn't have to be the latest.

[arthurking83]

It depends on what you mean by 'conversion tool'!!

two possible meanings: (there could be more, but the purpose of this question, we'll stick to these two meanings)

1. you want a fully featured method to view, edit, sort, label, and do other 'full featured' things to these NEFs ... or
2. you just need to convert to another format(usually jpg) for the purpose of another task!

If 1. then use CNX-D. you could try ViewNXi(which I hate madly) .. or possibly ViewNX2(but is limited to older gen cameras)
Exactly which cameras CNX2 is limited too, is something I can't fully remember, but the Nikon D5300 is a camera that comes to mind as one of the final offerings.

If 2. then the best option is to also make jpgs in camera(PITA really), or better yet, download IJFR and extract the embedded jpgs already in the raw file.

[ameerat42]

Two (2) is the go for me, AK. I have tried it on a couple of sample NEFS and it seems to work.
I see it also does much of what FastStone does about sorting etc. It wasn't too bad, and if it
just does that NEF > bitmapped file - then it'll apparently do. (But I :) FastStone and will keep it.)

Next, I'll be adhering to the law and seeing what I need for Canon files. (Parchemnt, perhaps?)

[arthurking83]

NX-D can be glacial sometimes(actually .. all the time! :p) .. but I (kind'a) persevere.
(actually I usually give up, but shhhhh! don't tell anyone that!)

Because all my cameras are currently pre NX-D, VNX2 is my go too program.
I'm not really concerned about sorting as such, I just need the ability to easily navigate to the folders I choose to place my images .. quickly!

My pet peeve about Nikon's new software(CNX-D and VNX-i) is that they give you no way to add metadata. You can search it, but not add it :confused013
Now that makes sense, doesn't it.
A total and neat 180° about face from Nikon, because with VNX2 it was the other way around! .. add it(which I've used heavily) .. but you can't search for it :rolleyes:

ps. mind you when I say add metadata, I'm not referring to the pseudo Adobe(+ other cohorts) method of not really adding metadata .. just sub-cross-partially linked too data of some abstract form!

I have(I think) DPP which itself is quite good as far as comparing to Nikon's self immolating software. (by that I mean CNX-D .. it kind'a self destructs at any random moment .. remember for me, VNX2 is solid and stable)
Up until Nikon's CNX-D, you had to buy CNX(1 and or 2) to do any decent editing to your NEF files.
DPP is much more like CNX-D in ability .. but NX-D is just slightly ahead in terms of overall features/ability.
They're very close, just that CNX-D has a few extra tiddly bits that makes DPP look a little limited.
(I think .. not 100 % sure tho) but DPP did have a few bits that CNX-D couldn't replicate .. haven't opened it for a long while now(close to a year maybe).

So if you're OK with CNX-D for Nikon NEFs, then you'll find DPP is close to 99% for Canon raw files by way of comparison.

One thing I like about manufacturer software is the point that you can 'zero out' the raw files(for the most part) to assess the real image quality.

That is: (and a bit of a long short story).
A while back I was browsing through some NEF files of a camera I was thinking about .. could have been a D7100 I think .. it was about that time frame when the D7100 was kind'a new.
I downloaded a few accessible images off the net(DPR, IR, etc ..) opened them of course in CNX-D and ViewNX2 and mainly looking at really high ISO images(to see how good bad the noise was).
So the images off the net say high ISO noise reduction set to OFF, but the really really high ISO images still have some NR applied.
What I noticed was that Lightroom(v4 I think) still applied this very very high ISO noise reduction.
I think the camera makers hard set this point, so even tho you may set ISO noise reduction to off, at some point in the ISO range, the camera still applies some NR.
There was a marked difference in the way Lr and VNX2 displayed the image with NR set to off(in software now!) .. and it seemed that Lr may not have turned off the hard set camera noise reduction or something.
Image was ever so slightly blurred in some parts, and less chroma noise compared to the VNX2 version.

[tandeejay]

NX-D can be glacial sometimes(actually .. all the time! :p)

:eek: I thought that was just my 9yr old system... was trying to use that as justification for a motherboard/CPU upgrade...

[ameerat42]

Ta AK. A point you raised has now raised a Q:

A friend who is not very photographically bent has a ??D70 and a ??D90 - anyway, oldish models
and both of 6MPx:eek: Will CNX-D process those files?

[arthurking83]

TDJ! .. my PC is about the same age. '09 I built it using middle road parts .. still the same HDD.
Been meaning to chance the HDD for an SSD for about a year at the least now.
I'm usually too busy and hence don't have the ability to retain the grey cells needed to remember to do it ...

OR .. I have the time to do it, but still don't have the grey matter ability as per above! :p

I find that it's just easier to switch CNX-D off when it turns all lazy on me! :D

I still have plans to get a new PC up and running with a lot more power than this slow old bugga!



Ta AK. A point you raised has now raised a Q:

A friend who is not very photographically bent has a ??D70 and a ??D90 - anyway, oldish models
and both of 6MPx:eek: Will CNX-D process those files?

:th3:

it'll process any Nikon NEF file up to the most current.
So will VNX2 up to the point where support ceased(about last year sometime).

The advantage in using CNX-D for D70 files is that it's noise reduction is far superior to what the camera can do .. and the dastardly job that VNX2 does to them.

If both of those old cameras are 6Mp each, then they're more likely to be D70(s), D50, or D40(but not x model!) .. I doubt it'd be the D100(also 6Mp) .. you'd know that from it's larger size and heft.
D90 has the D300's 12Mp sensor.

[richtbw]

You can download, install and use UFRAW to view and convert .NEF files to JPG, TIFF or other formats. UFRAW can be used as standalone RAW editor, should you wish to do so.