Capture NX2 broken on MAC OSX?

[Kim Pilegaard]

Following the latest update of my Mac now running OS X El Capitan 10.11.6, it seems that Capture NX2 is broken.

I have been a happy user of NX2 for many years and have been reluctant to change to another system, since NX2 was quite sufficient for me.

Now when I open a NEF file with NX2, the picture I get is only partly opened - about 2/3 of the frame is just coloured stripes.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there any solution to the problem, or do I have to start learning something new (e.g. Photoshop or Lightroom)?

[Kim Pilegaard]

The situation is even worse!

It seems that opening a file in NX2 now damages the NEF file.

I dowloaded NX-D, and files I had previously tried to open with NX-2 now look like this. Fortunately, I still have the original files on my Memory Card from the camera.

[stenrasmussen]

That is bizzare. Nikon ought to warn users about this issue. Nikon states that the software is OS X 10.11.6 compatible so something is fishy.

[PedroS]

Never had this, but somethig serious is happening. 

You said that you still have the photos on the canera's card.
Try to open them with any type of viewer and see if the photos are not corrupted already on the camera's card. I have that on one of my cameras just due to a bad card... and nothing else.
Please note that NX2 stopped being upgraded and newer cameras are not supported.

If they are ok, make some copies to the hard disk in different locations.

Do tottally clean the previously NX2 instalation, not only putting it on trash, use appdelete or similar apllication and reinstall.

Open the files in one of the locations and see.

Still happening? Forget NX2, and use something else

[Kim Pilegaard]

I better make sure that the files on the memory card are OK. I will do that tonight. If the files were corrupted in the camera, it is not due to CNX2.

[bjornthun]

Also try another SD card. Try to look at a few of the images in the camera as well. That should help in the elimination process.

[Kim Pilegaard]

Fortunately, the NEF files on the card are fully intact.

So it must be something related to the software I used: Nikon Transfer, Nikon View NX2, and/or Nikon Capture NX2.

I noticed that the problem was most severe in the beginning of the downloaded lot of pictures. The last part of the downloaded pictures was taken in DX format, and they were fully intact. Also nothing was wrong with the preview part (jpeg).

[elsa hoffmann]

Did you just check the photos in camera or did you download it elsewhere and checked?

[Kim Pilegaard]

I copied the files from the card to the MacBook without using Nikon Transfer. I then opened the files in Photoshop without any problems.

[PedroS]

I copied the files from the card to the MacBook without using Nikon Transfer. I then opened the files in Photoshop without any problems.

Clean and reinstall all Nikon software

[David H. Hartman]

A long shot but are you using an old version of Nikon Transfer? I had a few unimportant NEF(s) damage by the version of Nikon Transfer that came with an older camera (D2H/D300s). I loaded the version of Transfer from the D800 and never had the problem again.

Dave Hartman

I don't have CNX-2 on my MAC as it came to me with El Capitan already installed. I still have CNX-2 on my Windows 7 computer.

[EDIT: to be safe always use the version of Nikon Transfer that came with your newest camera or a version that is newer that that. ]

[Lorne]

Kim, if you haven't already done so clear the cache for NX-2 and NX-D. If you are *familiar* with the Library folder in Finder, feel free to look in Application Support and in Caches for any Nikon caches as well. Then restart your Mac.

Copy the originals from the SD card to a different folder on your Mac using either Finder or Transfer from within ViewNX2.

Use Quick Look to check the newly downloaded photos: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18813?locale=en_US

If they look ok then try viewing them in View NX2 or C-NX2

Edit: Forgot to add the David is correct to warn against using Nikon Transfer - Use Nikon Transfer 2 only. It is included with View NX2 and View NX-i.

[MFloyd]

The problem with NX2 is that it interferes / writes into the NEF file; apparently this isn't the case anymore with NX-D which keeps changes in a sidecar file. NX2 is neither supported or maintained anymore, this is danger zone when operated under a new OS.

[Kim Pilegaard]

Thanks to all for good advice.

I cleaned up everything and re-installed VNX2 and CNX2 from my backup. Apart from the normal problem of CNX2 freezing up from time to time, everything works OK.

The conclusion is that something must have gone wrong during the transfer. BTW, I used Nikon Transfer 2 all the time.

I am considering moving to Lightroom, although I find it more convenient having the editing information stored in the NEF files rather than having a catalog to take care of, complicating  the moving of edited files from one computer to another.

I briefly tried View NX-i and Capture NX-D, but I really don't like them.

[MFloyd]

Thanks to all for good advice.
....
I am considering moving to Lightroom, although I find it more convenient having the editing information stored in the NEF files rather than having a catalog to take care of, complicating  the moving of edited files from one computer to another.
...

I recommend you to have an in depth review of Lr. Indeed, the Lr catalog keeps all changes outside the NEF file and within the catalog.  Nevertheless, all more proficient Lr users set their Lr parameters up to ALSO keep the sidecar files together with the image libraries.  So if something goes wrong with the Lr catalog, or, if you have to export your images to another application the NEF file has always his sidecar companion. Interfering with the NEF file integrity is a not so innocuous activity, but I leave it up to you .... 😊