U POINT EXTENDED

Nikon's Capture NX 2 --
Putting the U Back in Editing

We found our way back to Dogpatch Studios (http://www.dogpatchstudios.com) again, this time for a demo of Nikon's latest release of their software suite. That includes last week's releases of Nikon Transfer and View, plus this week's release of Capture NX 2.

It's a crowded world on your hard disk. A lot of competent programs are competing to be part of your workflow solution. And frankly, none of them have won the argument. It doesn't matter if you're the Mom trying to keep track of all the digital images acquired every time you open your purse to pull out the camera or a pro who is trying to get home by 6 p.m. every night to see the family your supporting. Workflow is more work than flow.

Nikon is worried about that. Nikon's Lindsay Silverman told us that while the company is primarily identified with the pro market, that's a much smaller part of its business than the amateur market. And that piece of the pie is getting a lot of attention lately.

U HAVE OPTIONS | Back to Contents

On the long ride home from Dogpatch on the T streetcar, we had a chance to think about that.

Every camera comes with some sort of image editing software but that hasn't stopped the flow of options, no matter what brand camera you have. Kodak Easyshare (http://www.kodak.com) is one such, Google Picasa (http://picasa.google.com) another. And recently even Adobe has jumped on the free social networking model with Photoshop Express (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopexpress) and the formerly pay service Phanfare (http://www.phanfare.com) has opted for the free model, too.

All of those free options have some photo organizing and sharing options but as image editors they provide only what they have to provide in what they like to think are tools easy enough for a child to use.

While these tools make global changes easy to make -- lighting or darkening a whole image, for example -- making a change in just one part of an image is often obscure. Sure, you can eliminate red-eye or lighten a backlit subject but anything else gets tricky.

If you want more control, you look up a shelf. Among the more serious editing packages are Light Craft's LightZone (http://www.lightcrafts.com), Apple's Aperture (http://www.apple.com/aperture) and Adobe's Lightroom (http://www.adobe.com/products/lightroom) and Photoshop (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop). Except for Photoshop, each of these applications can edit without touching the original data, recording recipes in the metadata to affect changes when the image is opened.

None of these are free but they provide distinct advantages over the first group where user patience is short. Still, none of them are exactly transparent when it comes to making local corrections.

BUT DO U NEED 'EM? | Back to Contents

That may be because image editing itself is not something that comes naturally. You don't have to be a photographer to tell when a shot is too dark or too light or a face doesn't look right (because it has red-eye or is backlit or out of focus).

But concepts like hue, saturation and color temperature take some study to master. And who has time for that?

You don't want tools easy enough for a child to use, you want tools easy enough for an adult to use.

Lucky for you, there are a lot of you out there and companies like Nikon are taking notice, trying to build something you can appreciate. With its second revision to Capture NX, the company has extended the marvelous U Point technology developed by Nils Kokemohr of Nik Software to include masking.

Talk about local correction. We still remember sitting down with Nils at photokina as he turned a daylight image into a scary night scene (http://www.imaging-resource.com/EVENTS/PKNA06mrp/PKNA3.HTM#nik) using U Points.

WHAT U POINT CAN DO | Back to Contents

Let's get real for a minute.

We aren't shooting Raw. We're shooting JPEGs of a birthday party. And we want to edit a few images because we really like them enough to frame them but they have some flaws. We wonder if we can fix the flaws and salvage the image. We doubt it.

We doubt it because we don't know Photoshop. Scott Kelby does not live next door and we've never taken a weekend Photoshop seminar. We don't know which book to buy and we can't understand the chapter titles anyway.

We just want to improve the image. Make some local changes without becoming a wizard in masking techniques.

U Point is what we consider a Noble Prize worthy tool to do just that. You just point to a place in your image that you'd like to change and then, using nothing more than sliders, make an adjustment.

It's really very simple -- and even more fun.

This version of NX, we learned, makes it even simpler and a great deal more useful. Be forewarned that the interface isn't very simple but once you understand which icon does what, it's really easy to make big improvements to ordinary images that would take a doctorate in Photoshop to effect.

Let's check the specs and then see how it runs.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS | Back to Contents

The system requirements for Capture NX 2 are:

For Windows:

• OS: Pre-installed versions of 32-bit Windows Vista Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Enterprise/Ultimate (Service Pack 1) editions or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 2) editions
• Processor: Pentium 4 or better
• RAM (Memory): 768-MB minimum (1-GB or more recommended)
• Hard-disk space: 200-MB required for installation
• Monitor resolution: 1024x768 pixels or higher (1280x1024 pixels or higher recommended) with 16-bit color or more (32-bit color recommended)
• Other: CD-ROM drive required for installation, Internet connection required, approved memory cards required to import/export Custom Picture Controls

For Macintosh:

• OS: Macintosh OS X (version 10.4.11, 10.5.2)
• Processor: PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon or better
• RAM (Memory): 768-MB minimum (1-GB or more recommended)
• Hard-disk space 200-MB required for installation
• Monitor resolution: 1024x768 pixels or higher (1280x1024 pixels or higher recommended) with 64,000 colors or more (16.7 million colors or more recommended)
• Other: CD-ROM drive required for installation, Internet connection required, approved memory cards required to import/export Custom PictureControls

PRICING & AVAILABILITY | Back to Contents

Capture NX 2 will be available in late June 2008 for $179.95 (full version) or $109.95 (upgrade). A 60-day free trial version is available today at http://www.nikonusa.com".

INSTALLATION | Back to Contents

Installation was painless. We installed a version labeled 2.0.0 on a PowerPC G4 laptop that had been running NX. NX 2 met the system requirements easily for the other specs with 2-MB RAM and plenty of disk space. Unlike Photoshop, NX 2 does not quibble about your video card.

There are a few Color Management Options to configure, too. You can tell NX 2 which working space to use when you open a file (either that of the file or the default color space. And you can set that default color space, too, of course.

You can run the product in trial mode or activate it. To activate it, you enter the Purchase Product Key with your name and optionally your company. If you're upgrading from version 1, you'll need your version 1 product key as well.

NEW IN NX 2 | Back to Contents

After the release of NX in 2006, the two most requested features were:

• The ability to use Control Points to select areas for other adjustments besides color
• A simple tool to fix dust spots and other blemishes

The company responded to both requests in NX 2 with:

Selection Control Points: You can now selectively edit photographs without the need to manually outline or mask the area for editing. Simply place a Selection Control Point anywhere on the photograph then choose from almost any adjustment such as D-Lighting, Unsharp Mask or noise reduction, while limiting the reach of that adjustment to just the selected area.

Auto Retouch Brush: NX 2 adds an automatic retouch tool to its image editing toolbox to seamlessly remove blemishes, dust and other distracting elements from photographs while maintaining the integrity of the image.

In addition, NX 2 adds these enhancements:

Shadow/Highlight Adjustment: With just a simple slider adjustment, you can easily open up shadows or recover blown out highlights, particularly in NEF images.

Redesigned GUI with Customizable Workspaces: As part of an interface redesign, NX 2 includes a Workspace feature to maximize the tool and palette layout for the task at hand. You can create unique custom workspaces ideal for working with single or multiple monitors. All palettes and windows within can be docked or undocked or hidden as needed. Predefined workspaces include: Browser, Metadata, Edit or an optimized combination of each. In addition, you can access their most used folders with the new Favorite Folder feature.

Improved Edit List: NX 2 also incorporates an improved edit list that allows you to easily apply common enhancements. Common tools like tone curves, exposure compensation, contrast and highlight and shadow protection are a click away on the Quick Fix menu. The improved edit list allows for camera and lens corrections like color moire reduction, dust off, auto color aberration, auto red-eye correction, vignette control and fisheye lens correction (if a fisheye lens was used).

Simultaneous Use of Tools: You can now complete image editing faster with the use of simultaneous tools. For example, you can adjust the brightness and contrast of an image while boosting the color of the image at the same time.

Filters, Ratings and Sorting Toolbar: NX 2 offers an advanced filtering system in its tool bar, affording users an efficient way to filter through hundreds of images by user-defined labels, ratings, file types and file attributes. What's more, these new filters, ratings and sorting tools are integrated into the metadata palette, allowing users the ability to easily edit and view XMP/IPTC information.