Some people are reporting a weird bug in Nikon Capture NX software. Enter a small value for the exposure compensation (e.g. 0.01) and the photo becomes less sharp. I had trouble reproducing this bug on my own using Capture NX 1.3 and NEF from my D200. So it appeared to be related to specific circumstances.
I then downloaded a D300 NEF file and to my surprise, it happened! I also found that if you change the exposure compensation in Raw Adjustment, you will no longer be able to change the sharpening setting in the Picture Control: dragging the sharpening slider will have no effect. If you do not perform the exposure compensation adjustment, you can adjust the sharpening level using the sharpening slider in Picture Control. As soon as you do any exposure adjustment, the sharpening will disappear. You can get the sharpening back by unchecking the Apply checkbox next to Exposure Compensation.
I think this is related to the Picture Control system in the D300. According to Nikon, the unique Picture Control system makes it possible to share image processing settings among compatible devices and software. It is likely that there is a bug in Capture NX related to the Picture Control. Nikon D200 does not have Picture Control system and is therefore not typically affected. However if you turn on the Picture Control on a NEF file from D200, you can experience the same bug! It doesn’t seem possible to turn off the Picture Control for NEF files from a D300.
Posted in
Photo editing,
Software on December 10th, 2007.
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Nikon has released the update to its ViewNX photo viewer and browser software. It has a long list of fixes and improvements to its glaring weaknesses in the previous versions, mostly related to user interface usability. Finally I can delete a photo in full screen mode! Read more and find the download links after the jump. Read More…
Posted in
Software on December 5th, 2007.
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I shoot 100% in RAW and use Nikon Capture NX for NEF raw file editing most of the time. Until recently, I have been uploading photos to Flickr by first saving the photo as JPEG to a folder, start Flickr Uploader, add the photos, then hit the upload button. I just found out that it could be much easier by cutting off the unnecessary steps.
First, download and install Flickr uploader here if you don’t have it already.
Read More…
Nikon just made the Capture NX 1.3 (direct download link) available on its US website. This version is an upgrade-only installer, which will upgrade previous installation of Capture NX version 1.00 - 1.20 to version 1.30.
The major changes from previous versions are:
- Support for RAW NEF images taken with the D3 and D300 has been added.
- Support for Picture Control has been added.
- A Picture Control item has been added to Camera Adjustments in the Base Adjustments. The Color Mode, Tone Compensation, Saturation and Sharpening items have been moved to the new Picture Control item.
- An Active D-Lighting item has been added to RAW adjustments in the Base Adjustments, and Sodium Vapor Lamps and High Temperature Mercury Vapor (7200K) settings have been added.
- RAW images can now be saved with lossless compression. Images captured in lossless-compressed RAW format can now be saved in lossless-compressed RAW format, regardless of camera model. (Limited to use with images captured with Nikon digital-SLR cameras).
- The Vignette Control function, which was previously for use only with RAW images, is now supported with JPEG and TIFF images. (Limited to use with images captured by Nikon digital -SLR cameras).
- The function for modifying images captured with a fisheye lens, available in Lens Adjustments in the Base Adjustments, is now compatible with images captured with the AF Fisheye-Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D.
- Features for editing RAW images, previously available in the Camera Settings palette, have been eliminated.
If you have not heard it before, the Image Doctors have a detailed hands-on preview of Nikon Capture NX 1.3 podcast. I also have some Capture NX tutorials on creating LOMO effect, selection brush, high-pass sharpening, and D-lighting.
Posted in
Software on November 21st, 2007.
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Nikon shooters with Vibration Reduction (VR) lens may be interested in knowing if the lens VR function was on or off for a particular photo. It is recorded by the camera in the photo but many if not most software do not report this information. The one that works is the new Nikon ViewNX. Nikon ViewNX is rumored to be the replacement of the old Nikon View but the exact status is unclear.
Another option is the more powerful software ExifTool, which was featured earlier. This is mostly a Perl library and a command-line application for power users. It can report a lot more information than a typical software. You can find an example after the jump. Read More…
Corel announced the Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 photo editing software. It appears to be a low cost alternative to Adobe Photoshop for only $99. Below are the key features mentioned in the press release. The Reviewer Guide(pdf) has more detailed demonstration of its capabilities.
Powerful Photo Editing Made Easy
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 offers a number of new features and significant enhancements to bring the power and creative possibilities of digital photography to more users. New features in Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 include:
Express Lab
The all-new Express Lab mode enables users to view and edit dozens of photos in the time it used to take to edit just a few. When using Express Lab, users can rapidly crop, rotate, apply color adjustments and perform other common tasks on large numbers of images without having to open each image individually. Now even new users can edit photos with the speed and efficiency of a professional photographer. Express Lab includes full support for all file formats including camera raw.
Graphite Look and Feel
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 features a new graphite workspace that puts the focus on the photo. The new interface also provides a neutral background for unbiased color adjustments.
HDR Photo Merge
With the NEW HDR Photo Merge, users can easily create photos that capture the full details found in the shadows and the highlights of a high-contrast scene. Users can combine two or more photos taken at different exposures and use the Clarify feature to automatically “dodge and burn” bringing out the contrast. Read More…
Posted in
Software on September 6th, 2007.
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ImageMagick is a free software package to create, edit, and compose bitmap images. It can read, write, and convert between over 100 different image formats. If you have a large number of photos to process, ImageMagick is the perfect choice with its powerful command-line tools. Here are some examples on how to batch re-size jpeg photos in the current directory using “mogrify”. Read More…
Posted in
Software on September 6th, 2007.
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Graphita Live Studio is a free, easy-to-use web application (nothing to install!) for expressive graphical effects on your own high resolution photos. You can doodle, add captions, and add art objects. It has hundreds of digital effects to choose from and each effect has options for customization. The best of all is that the effects are live and editable so you can go back to fix a mistake you made early in the editing without having to repeat all the steps. You can share your creation easily by email. You can save your work, print on posters, t-shirts, mugs, and greeting cards, etc.
Posted in
Links,
Software on August 12th, 2007.
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