WHich RAW Converter

[si barone]

Apologies if this is an often asked question, this is my first foray into P&V.

Which RAW converter do you guys recommend for Nikon? I'm currently using Photoshop but have read that Capture NX2 may be better.

Any info greatly appreciated.

[K12beano]

The one you can get on with best!

And I suspect that anyone who says Capture NX2 is better has used it and gets on with it well.


Capture seems quite complicated when compared to Adobe offerings, but obviously does a very good job.


Others' Mileage May Vary, but I have used Adobe Lightroom since the days before it was bought by Adobe (when it was Raw Shooter) and really like it, especially in version 4. I like pretty much everything about it. Certainly, when it comes to results Adobe seem to have a lot of things right so you are probably better off continuing to invest your time in Photoshop unless there's things you find you can't do. (And this forum is generally very good in sharing answers to lots of things including PP)



And welcome to P&V (the most often question is RAW v JPEG, of course..... Hey! we haven't had one of those for years! Second favourite is Canon versus Nikon, naturally! Thirdly some nice banter about our communal love for HDR ......or not.... )

[si barone]

Thanks for the welcome and advice. I did think that sticking with what I knew was probably best but always open to new ideas.

Have seen the JPEG v RAW and Canon v Nikon arguments on plenty other forums so def not gonna start that here

(RAW & Nikon in case you wondered!)

Have been looking through the random pictures thread and have come away with a pile of ideas to try already.

[K12beano]

si barone said:

(RAW & Nikon in case you wondered!)

Can't think of a better combination!

[markmullen]

I can't vouch for Nikon but I've found Capture One pulls more out of a raw than Lightroom, Aperture or ACR.

[Ev_]

Have you tried Nikon's freebie ViewNX software? It might be all you need.

Try converting a raw to a tiff in ViewNX, then open that tiff in Photoshop. Now open the original raw directly into Photoshop and compare the two images. You might be surprised by how much better the first one looks...

[si barone]

Ev_ said:

Have you tried Nikon's freebie ViewNX software? It might be all you need.

Try converting a raw to a tiff in ViewNX, then open that tiff in Photoshop. Now open the original raw directly into Photoshop and compare the two images. You might be surprised by how much better the first one looks...

Damn you!!!!! Just tried it and the results straight out the box are better, once I've had a play with it the images should be even better. Well that's created a load of learning work!

[RobDickinson]

K12beano said:

The one you can get on with best!

A nikon using friend who really knows his stuff says raw therape(?) is the best but a nightmare to use.

So I tend to agree, I use ACR(bridge/Photoshop) because I know it and get on with it.

[andy-xr]

Raw Therapee, RAW Magick, Lightroom, Aperture, Capture One, ACR....

I used RAW Magick a fair bit for noisy photos, did a really good job (better than LR to my eye) but Capture One always seems to get more out of the photo, and it's cleaner as well. I don't know where it gets that extra bit from, I've replicated the settings in LR and not got anything like the same clarity and detail