Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part II
Posted by photonovice on April 26th, 2007
I keep testing Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Nikon Capture NX.
The first thing one might need in a software designed for professional photographers is a photo organizer that helps labelling, rating, naming, keywording, and later finding a photo.
Capture NX calls it’s organizer Browser.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
You can add labels to images and rate them, but there is no way to assign keywords. The worst thing with the Browser of Capture NX is that when you resize the browser window or change the size of the thumbnail images with the Bird’s eye tool in the top right hand corner the images are not rearranged and you are forced to scroll right-left to find a picture.
Lightroom’s photo organizer is called Library.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
In Litghroom’s Library you can flag, rate and keyword your images and assign them to collections. You can make some basic adjustments as well activating the right hand side panel.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
The user interface of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is much more handy with its folding and unfolding panels. I also prefer it’s black and grey background color which is - apart from that it looks stylish - supports color perception throughout the image adjustment work. I also like the shooting details - EXIF info - that is available on the screen without a mouse click.
Looking at the photo organizer capabilities of the two software packages I’d vote for Lightroom.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
[...] Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part II [...]
April 26th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part II - organizing photos
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX story continues with screenshots: comparing the image organizing capabilities of the two professional tools.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Hi Photonovice,
alpenglowpro here…..which OS are you using mac or pc…..I am currently on pc but really considering mac because of there program compatability….
i do have nikon i have an older 80-200ed that is really sharp and I think lightroom is better thatn what nikon offers. that combined with cs3’s bridge you can’t go wrong
take a look at my site occasionally good job on your photos greg
April 26th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
Hi Alpenglowpro,
Thanks for your comment.
I’m using Windows XP for these tools although I’m a big Linux and Unix fan. I’d love to use a Mac.
I’m planning to write about UFRaw later, as an alternative solution and available for Mac OS, Windows and Linux as well.
Regards,
photonovice
April 27th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hi Photonovice,
Have you considered integrating them together?
Certainly Lightroom has a strong browser-its strongest feature in my opinion.
The NX browser is designed to allow batching and quick views for selection; it is not designed for moving images around the hard drive, although it can.
Lightroom allows for “round tripping” where you use Lightroom to organize and make selects (Edit); then click on a NEF, JPEG or TIFF and have it sent to Capture NX. From NX you can send it back to Lightroom as a finished file and add it to your library, and also save the NEF file with all the changes intact.
Feel free to visit: CaptureNX.com for more general info and also:
http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=14234
or:
http://tinyurl.com/33jera
Good luck in your quest,
Michael D. Rubin
Sr. Manager, Product & Software
Nikon Inc.
mrubin (at) nikon (dot) net
April 27th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comment and the great links.
It’s good to know that relevant people are reading users’ opinions.
photonovice
May 24th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
[...] Lightroom vs Capture NX part II [...]
May 24th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
[...] Lightroom vs Capture NX part II [...]