D2x file processing

Hi guys,

As I said before, I bought a D2x and it is waiting for me at home (I am writing from Taipei's airport). I rely on Photoshop CS to handle my scanned slides, but I just heard that PS CS can't read D2x raw files because of the white balance encryption. I will spend some time in the US in my way back home, and will have the chance to buy Nikon Capture. My question is, should I buy it or wait for PS CS to solve the white balance deal with Nikon (and shoot in JPG+RAW for now)? I remember that Alex said the JPGs out of the D2x are amazingly good.

Thanks for any info,

Luiz

If you get the latest version of Nikon View then you will get the Nikon NEF plug-in which works in Photoshop CS. This doesn't offer anything like the control of ACR, but it does output 16bit files so you can still process in 16bit before saving in 8bit. Also if you have Nikon View it can create JPGs for you after shooting.

Do be aware that the 20MB NEFs from the D2X really eat storage space! And even the JPGs are amazing. All the D2X images I have had published so far have been basic jpgs (although I also have RAW files too).

Alternatively you can download Nikon Capture on a 30 day free trial. I prefer ACR to Nikon capture for white balance. But many photographers love Nikon capture - whcih has some cool features like de-fisheye button, dust removal etc.

The other option is to upgrade to CS2 which does fully support the D2X NEFs.

Alex

Alex, so Photoshop and Nikon resolved their issues and now CS2 fully supports Nikon D2x NEF files? Even the white balance encryption? Or can CS2 open the D2x NEFs, but does not tell you what the white balance out of the camera is?

David.

The second one.

Today is actually the first day I have sat down and really done any RAW conversions on my D2X files. O have been totally blown away by the images.

Over the last few months I have been going on about the quality of D2X JPGs here on WP. Well they are very inferior to PSD files, correctly white balanced, created from D2X NEFs.

At the moment I am using Nikon Capture on the 30 day trial. But I will get ACR. I have no problem with the lack of white balance data. I have not used the as-shot white balance on any shot yet in NC! I can see this being a problem for land photographers - but UW I am looking forward to getting my hands on ACR. Most annoying that I have to buy CS2 to use it. I prefer the white balance controls in ACR.

NC is nice. I can see uses for the noise reduction feature - although it makes my images look very like Canon ones with super smooth colours - which I don't prefer. The fisheye function seems a total gimmick for UW photographers. Haven't found an image that it works on yet!

Alex

The second one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's what I thought.

I have no problem with the lack of white balance data. I have not used the as-shot white balance on any shot yet in NC! I can see this being a problem for land photographers - but UW I am looking forward to getting my hands on ACR. Most annoying that I have to buy CS2 to use it. I prefer the white balance controls in ACR.

Alex

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree Alex. I have not used the as-shot white balance much either in my UW photography, I just white-balance in ACR by selecting the whitest point. It is a problem for land photography though, and I do a lot of land photography. For that, I would normally try to white-balance in-camera previously to taking the pic, in order to get a good rendition of colors. Almost all photographers that I know do that. It will be interesting to see how that is going to affect the workflow of land photographers that use the D2x. I hope that Adobe and Nikon do come to an agreement, since this situation will probably hurt both of them (though mostly Nikon I presume).

Cheers,

David.

PS. I am glad that they did not encrypt the white-balance in the new D70 firmware. I would have been very bothered by it.

I finally got round to upgrading to PS CS2 today. And all day I have been regretting not doing it before. Nikon Capture has some nice features but for setting white balance I much prefer the controls in ACR.

It has completely transformed some of my D2X pictures. Finally my shots are as I had imaged them. I am a very happy chap today.

The encripted WB is a complete non-issue. I just open up the image in ACR and then set the WB to daylight and then adjust from their as necessary. Very little difference between daylight and the AUTO WB setting that I see on the JPG in most cases.

The one disadvantage is with filter shots where I have set a custom WB underwater with my grey card. That now seems a bit pointless with the D2X. Although I guess it means that my JPGs are better when I shoot RAW + JPG.

Alex

Good to know that you had good results with CS2 Alex. I've had it for a couple of weeks and think the ACR in this version is fantastic! B)

I am also glad to hear that WB encryption is not being such a problem for your UW shots. What are you planning on doing about your custom WB calibrated shots from now on? Switching techniques to just calibrate on ACR, just use the JPGs, or something else maybe? I am interested since I know how fond you are about available light/filtered uw photography.

Cheers,

David.

After reading the dpreview on the D2X...

Alex, I wonder whether you have any comments about the difference in detail and moire artifacts (unlikely to be a problem uw i guess) between ACR and NC.

Hi Anthony,

Don't generally find moire is too much of problem underwater. Possibly on fish scales? And I haven't done any comparisons between the two, yet.

This might be of interest on the RAW encription issue:

http://luminous-landscape.com/essays/raw-flaw.shtml

Alex