ViewNX vs Lightroom vs Photoshop

[Talita]

My question should be pretty clear based on the subject on this thread. but I`m kinda technical so I have ALOT of questions.

Is ViewNX (that you receive with the Nikkon camera) the software you are supposed to use to edit raw ? Or is it a toned down version of something you can buy, I have browsed the web but can`t seem to see if there is a difference. the ViewNX that I received with my camera has most of the features that I see on the screenshots of Lightroom tutorials, so I`m guessing that is it. But I`ll never know if I don`t ask.

If it is, what is the difference between NX and Lightroom. Afaik understand lightroom is for editing photos and mostly used by photographers ?

And how many professional photographers use only PS to pp their shots ?

I`m not new to photoshop, but i haven`t really done extensive "image editing" on it, mostly creating. Hence the questions. PS is pretty powerful so I`m sure it would be able to do anything lightroom can do, or does it have extra features. I`m saving up for CS5, I have CS3 at the mo and I want to know if I need to get lightroom or if I will be able to edit as successful with only just CS5 ?

I`ve read most of the threads on here relating to raw, also the ones in the "everything you need to know thread" and it seems as if it is best to edit your raw files with the software provided for your camera. I`m still learning the nifties of raw, but after reading the threads and taking some pics with the white balance kinda off so I can see if I can fix it, I see why most prefer raw.

I would prefer to do most of my processing in one application, but there are options in NX that I cannot find in PS and I guess those were created spesifically for the camera raw pics. Now I just need to figure them out.

Thanks,

[RLucas]

As far as View NX goes, it's really nothing more than a viewer. It does have a couple of sliders that you can use to adjust exposure and such, but that is about it. AFAIK, it will not let you adjust white balance, and adjust for blown highlights like LR or Other dedicated RAW converters. Capture NX is a great program, and I believe it does come with some of the higher end Nikon cameras. It is made by Nik Software, which has some great PS plugins.
Capture is a stand alone tool that you can do some major editing with. It seems to do great with color rendering of NEF files. It's in about the same price range as LR, but it can do a little more. They have what they call control points which you can attach to the image, and make adjustments to just a section of the image at a time. The only drawback I had with it was that it would get extremely slow. Especially as the edit cache built up.

LR is another great RAW processor. You can do most of you global editing with it, and if you need to tweak anything, like cloning, or more major editing, like skin smoothing, or background swaps and such, you can just import it to PS.

[Talita]

Thanks for the reply Luke. I will look into those.

[gtpete]

Hi Talita.
View NX is really a great tool if you are a Nikon user & you shoot raw. It WILL let you adjust white balance, exposure as well as shadows, highlights, contrast, brightness & colour not to mention shapreneing. Just ermember that the limitation is that these basic adjustments will made globally to your image. You can not make area specific changes to your image as you would do in CNX 2. I use both programs exclusively now as LR & PS5 can not produce the quality i like from my photos.
IMO the difference is like chalk & cheese.
Once you get use to the UI they do the job brilliantly. you can trial verison of CNX2 from the NIkon website.
If you want to be creative then PS5 is your best option. If your a purist like me and want an image that truly represents what you shot then CNX2 is all you need and it does it better than any other program & i have tried just about all of them!

cheers
Peter

[RLucas]

Originally Posted by gtpete

Hi Talita.
View NX is really a great tool if you are a Nikon user & you shoot raw. It WILL let you adjust white balance, exposure as well as shadows, highlights, contrast, brightness & colour not to mention shapreneing. Just ermember that the limitation is that these basic adjustments will made globally to your image. You can not make area specific changes to your image as you would do in CNX 2. I use both programs exclusively now as LR & PS5 can not produce the quality i like from my photos.
IMO the difference is like chalk & cheese.
Once you get use to the UI they do the job brilliantly. you can trial verison of CNX2 from the NIkon website.
If you want to be creative then PS5 is your best option. If your a purist like me and want an image that truly represents what you shot then CNX2 is all you need and it does it better than any other program & i have tried just about all of them!

cheers
Peter

Hmm? I had an older version of View, and don't remember any of the controls other than a slider for exposure. I just downloaded the updated version, and I was actually amazed at what you can do with it now! I really did like CaptureNX except for the slow downs. It does the best, hands down with NEF colors.
Thanks for posting and correcting me!

[mk12mod]

I have just finished up trial versions of Lightroom3 and Nikon Capture NX2. I ended purchasing NX2 as it was easier for me to manipulate captures and navigate files as well and not to mention after 60 days of trial I got use to using it... As I learn more and more of NX2 is the right choice for me and the RAW/NEF file format. Lightroom is an amazing app and has plenty to offer those who choose it.

[Talita]

I`m busy with the trail for NX2, it has fabulous features and everytime I wanted to do something I found it in the help file.

I`m going to try Lightroom next week and see but I really like nx2, since i have a nikon and shoot in raw, there are no add ons it opens up the images with no problems.

I`ll be updating to CS5 anyway as I do digital scrapbooking but need something that work better with the photography.

Thanks for all the tips.

[dave.turley]

Hi,
Personally I added via disk, Capture and View when I bought my Nikon, but removed it as I didn't see the point of adding another layer of software in front of ACR and CS5. I just let this software deal with my RAW files, Adobe Bridge to view and organise, and CS5 to faff around with them. I'm the worlds worst, I hate to see perfectly good software go to waste, but I just didn't need it.
Dave

[Talita]

So I can`t really update yet, I haven`t even downloaded the trail for lightroom yet. Still busy with NX2, very happy with it so far. I don`t understand everything yet, but their helpfiles are very laymen friendly.

I took a pic of my daughter and edited it in ps and did the same in NX2 to see if I understand the controls and such and it came out almost the same, so I`m getting there.

Still haven`t downloaded photomechanic, but will def try it. I`m on a testing phase :-D Love it.

[Jojie]

nerver heard of viewnx so no comment.

Lightroom vs photoshop.

They are 2 different softwares as you would know. for Basic photography I use lightroom. for extensive work I use photoshop.

That said, I use a lot more lightroom than photoshop for colour corrections, labeling just about everything. Except for image manipulation where photoshop is stil my #1