Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part III
Posted by photonovice on May 2nd, 2007
The most important function of photo adjustment software tools is definitely photo adjustment itself.
Since Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Nikon Capture NX are supporting the image processing workflow starting from raw images, both have tools for adjusting white balance and exposure. These functions are pretty similar in the tools.
The adjustment tool of Capture NX is called Editor. The Edit list panel of Capture NX’s Editor lists all the image enhancements on the right hand side of the screen. Steps of basic adjustments are arranged in a hierarchical way quite logically.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
The best thing about the Edit list is that any enhancement can be switched on and off and their effect can be checked on the screen immediately. It’s just like enabling or disabling a layer in Gimp or Photoshop CSx.
The Develop module of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom has an adjustment panel on the right hand side of the screen. This panel lists the enhancements which are available to use without a singe mouse click.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
Naming and usage of the sliders are quite intuitive and with the exception of the basic adjustments all the enhancements can be switched on and off - just like in Capture NX - checking their effect immediately.
I think you should start the adjustment process with envisioning the final result that you’d like to achieve. (Surely you can do that only when you are over the experiencing period of your new software.)
In this example all I wanted to do was just adjusting white balance to daylight and regaining some details of the guy’s black leather suit. White balance setting was quite simple in both packages. the real work started with those details in the shadow area.
In Capture NX first I tried it with magic D-Lighting but I did not like the result because D-Lighting altered the whole image - especially the sky’s blue - quite a lot. The second option was the “Nikon-only” U-Point technology and the related Color control point. I placed two control points on the leather suit and adjusted only the brightness slider modifying only similar colors.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
I was quite satisfied with the result. The Color control points recovered the details that were actually there - due to the 12 bit color depth of the raw format - just could not be seen before the enhancement.
In Lightroom, after not being able to achieve my goal with the redesigned histogram and its Blacks and Fill lights sliders I gave a try to the also redesigned Tone Curve. You can use this tool in the old way - dragging the curve itself - an in a new way - pulling sliders.
click on the screenshot to see it in full size
I have chosen the new way and pulled the Shadows slider to the right. (There would’ve been an even smarter way to do this: with the Targeted Adjustment tool. The Targeted Adjustment tool is available for Tone Curve and Hue/Saturation/Luminance and can be activated by clicking on the little bull’s eye on the upper left corner of e.g. the Tone Curve panel. After the click you move your mouse on any area of your image and make adjustments on similar tones of the whole picture by moving up or down your mouse.)
When I started the comparison I thought that I’d be able to achieve the very same results with Capture NX and Lightroom. Viewing the final images I admit that I failed - there are differences. I prefer the color of the sky of the Lightroom version and the contrast and colors of the rocks of the Capture NX version. So looking at only the results I would not be able to choose one of the two.
In Lightroom you can create snapshots at any step of the process and go back to any of the created snapshots. You can also display how the image looked Before and After the adjustments by clicking on the X|Y button at the bottom of the screen.
I miss the selective enhancements very much from Lightroom, that are supported by Capture NX in many ways.
A summary of my findings
| Feature | Nikon Capture NX | Adobe Photoshop Lightroom |
| Raw format compatibility | Nikon file formats | many file formats |
| Organizing photos | Browser: somewhat clumsy labels and rating |
Library module: mature and handy labels, rating, keywords, collections |
| Basic enhancements | Editor: easy to use steps can be switched off and on |
Develop module: intuitive sliders, snapshots |
| Selective enhancements | U-Point, Lasso & Marquee tools, Selection brush | Targeted Adjustment for Tone Curve and HSL |
| Non-destructive image editing | keeping the original image data and storing the enhancements in the NEF file |
not touching the original file, enhancements are in separate database |
| Lens and camera adjustments | chromatic aberration control vignetting control fisheye lens control |
chromatic aberration control vignetting control |
| User interface | there is room for improvement | great, intuitive, stylish |
For me Lightroom is still slightly ahead of Capture NX.
Nikon Capture NX resources:
- Capture NX “How to…” series
- Official Nikon video tutorials
- Capture NX Tips & Tricks by www.dphotojournal.com
Lightroom resources:
- Lightroom video tutorials by Michael Tapes
- Lightroom Editing Essentials: How to Develop Your Photos a detailed step-by-step guide with examples written by Scott Kelby
- Lightroom Resource Center at photoshopsupport.com
- Using Photoshop Lightroom based on beta 4 of Lightroom by Ben Long
Part 1: Import and organize photos
Part 2: Edit photos
Part 3: Output photos - Lightroom Killer Tips
You can buy Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Nikon Capture NX from our Trusted Sponsor B&H Photo-Video
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 am
[...] Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part III [...]
May 2nd, 2007 at 10:56 am
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom vs. Nikon Capture NX - part III photo enhancements
The final part of the comparison trilogy focuses on image enhancement features of Nikon Capture NX and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.
May 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am
Good comparison.
May 8th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
Very interesting comparison! Thanks
May 24th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
[...] Lightroom vs Capture NX part III [...]
October 26th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Very interesting comparison. Thanks. I would have liked to see a comparison of the PRINTING FUNCTIONS for both programs as well.
On this subject, I have tried both programs and I am pleasingly suprised at the printing functions in Lightroom. I have used Photoshop (7 and then CS2) until now for my printing, but, should I buy Lightroom, I would not have any doubts on which program I would use.
Finally, re. the “zone” adjustments, I feel that I would still prefer Photoshop to Capture. I would use Lightroom for my “standard” (i.e. not requiring Lazo type tools) adjustments and conversion from RAW and, for the few cases where I would require “zone” adjustments, revert to Photoshop, whose functionalities in this department are miles ahead of Capture.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:32 am
[...] in edumacating myself on the subject, I’ve stumbled on the this link: Lightroom vs Capture which provides a great comparison and a run through of the main uses you would work with. My [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Good review!
With regards to the edit list, I much prefer the data embedded with the file. No data to lose as long as you have the photo file itself, and flexibility organizing your folders as you please, ease of backup etc. Also, since NEF is Nikon’s format, I’d say Adobe is behind the 8 ball and needs to catch up.