Nikon NX studio

[Airy]

Apparently, this is a bug corrected in version 1.1, all the more annoying because it was "random".

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I don't use cropping or straightening in NX Studio, but do use D-Lighting, Picture Control settings, white balance, tone curve and such things, and haven't noticed settings not being followed in exports to TIFF files. I recall in NX-D initially the straighten and crop tools didn't work properly so I haven't tried to use those in NX Studio. I just want Nikon's raw conversion algorithms and use Photoshop or LR to work on the finishing touches to the images (including cropping and straightening). Ironically / sadly, the crop tool in NX2 was one of the nicest in the industry. NX2 never included any empty area in the corners like Photoshop often does. PS can prevent corners being outside of the image when the first time crop/straighten is done, but if making further adjustments, it'll often slip and include white area outside the original image area. It's very annoying. What is wrong with the world when things that are implemented like crap replace things that worked fluidly and perfectly?

It's a good idea to report bugs to Nikon, they will usually correct the reported bugs in a future release of the software.

[ColinM]

NX Studio has been out almost 11 months now.
I've resisted using it up till now, but after several frustrating weeks, am interested in how the rest of you are finding it?

Specifically

• Performance.
  I have a reasonable spec Windows machine with 16Gb ram.
  Performance is worse than any previous NX product I've used.
  Just doing some simple changes or zooming in/out regularly pushes CPU usage up to 100%
• Some features now seem worse.
  I'd got used to Active D being a tool I could apply & get reasonable results in previous versions of the NX tools
  Now, I rarely get results with it that i want to keep.
  I have to resort to Colour control points to manage underexposed areas
• I'm struggling with documentation,  plus where to find features
  - Gaussian Blur?
  - Unsharp Mask?
  - Being able to selectively copy certain adjustments to use on other images?
  etc
  

As background, the version of Nikon editing s/w I found most usable and gave me consistent results was Capture NX2.
I only moved away from it to be able to process my D500 files.
NX-D seemed worse, but partially usable.
So far, I haven't found anything in NX Studio that I like better than earlier versions

How about you?

[Anthony]

It can give good results, but is too slow, clunky and limited in facilities. It is overpriced.

[David H. Hartman]

ColinM,

My suggestion is if your camera(s) are supported by Nikon Capture NX-D I'd use NX-D until Nikon NX Studio becomes more mature or you have to due to camera support. From my limited use of NX Studio it will probably be a better organized program in time. Everything is there in NX-S but when it's not familiar it's frustrating. I'm not sure everything works.

So I recommend ignoring NX Studio until it's ready for prime time.

Dave

I'm not using NX-S much because my old MacBook Pro is stuck at High Sierra and I can't install it.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

I'm surprised you'd find the results any different from previous Nikon software (is this specific to D-lighting)? I use D-Lighting with NX Studio quite often to create quick solution to too high scene contrast without having to resort to laborious masking etc. I also like it that the auto and natural light auto WB settings are available on NX Studio.

I don't do sharpening or cropping in NX Studio; I transfer the image to Photoshop CC and do the late-stage edits there, or in Lightroom. The reason I use NX Studio at all is because of Nikon's algorithms and camera settings are available and sometimes I need them. I recognize that it's not a full image editing software that can be used to do all the steps, and I never expected it to be that. It's a browser and raw converter. None of Nikon's Capture versions was a full image editor in that sense (there were just too many bugs to rely on it for photofinishing and printing for me). NX-D was the only variant which I found unusable; I've happily used Capture NX2 up until 2014 and now NX Studio. The speed of the latest NX Studio software is okay on my computer.

I find that there is something special about Nikon's algorithms which seem more "wholesome" and "balanced" in terms of how the images are rendered. I also think the raw converters in general should pay detailed attention to camera settings so that the user can set a starting point on how the image should look in the camera and this should be the default conversion in post-processing software. Only Nikon software do this.

[Birna Rørslett]

Like Ilkka, I also find NX-Studio quite useful and not too slow on a decently specified machine. Besides, my usual Photo Ninja workflow is at present hampered as it does not support Z9 files. PN can process them, but the outcome is not optimal. Thus NX-Studio comes to the rescue.

What annoys me the most with this software are two things; firstly, how slow it reads files across a local network, and secondly, that the user interface cannot be expanded to multiple monitors /separate windows are not detachable, This makes the UI cramped and hard to read, and even harder to use in a relaxed manner. To be honest PN also shares some of these traits, but as its UI is much simpler the problem is better mitigated.

I would wish Nikon was less eager to make prior Windows versions "obsolete" as seen from the software's point of view. NX-Studio will only run on Windows 10/11 (OK, Macs too I presume but these are of no interest to me).  Technically it should run on Windows 7 as well, and a pipe dream is seeing Nikon software run under Linux. Photo Ninja does even though the maker doesn't mention this fact.

[Wally]

No speed issues with 45 MP Nefs on a MacBook Pro 8-core 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD 

[David H. Hartman]

I've tried searching and haven't found anything useful. I also asked Nikon USA help and found those responding didn't understand what Nikon's Capture NX-D's *.nxd files are and how they are used so I'm asking here...

Can the latest release of Nikon NX Studio open and apply *.nxd files from Capture NX-D to NEF files.

Are there any utilities from any source that can convert an *.nxd file to an *.nka file?

In the past I found the only bridge between edits applied in Capture NX-D to processing an NEF file in NX Studio to be the *.nksc or side car file.

Thank you for any information regarding applying edits to NEF files done in Capture NX-D to NEF files in NX Studio.

Dave

[Wally]

David,
I just tested this on my MBP (late 2020) with both NX-D and NX Studio installed.
As you stated already the bridge btw both applications is the *.nksc file. Changed settings of a NEF in NX-D apply without any issue when you open the same raw file in NX Studio.
Adjustments saved in NX-D as *.nxd can't be opened (gray'd out) in NX Studio (and vice versa for *.nka).
Renaming *.nxd to *.nka makes these files selectable but settings won't be applied (IMHO no surprise).
I am not aware about a utility to convert these files.

[David H. Hartman]

Thanks Wally,

I was afraid of all this. I could not check when I asked as I don't have a Windows PC available where I am and my MacBook Pro is too old to install NX-Studio. The MacBook Pro I'm using is a 2011 and needs to be replaced badly.

Dave

[Wannabebetter]

There is no need to loose all your edits. You can "Save all adjustments" found in the "Adjust" menu. NX Studio will save an *.nka file (as I recall) in the folder you specify (or the last one you used). The same is available in Capture NX-D but the file saved is an *.nxd file. Note that Nikon in their wisdom has offered no way for NX Studio to read the older *.nxd files.

Dave

Thank you for that clarification! I'll make note of what you said.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

There is a new version of NX Studio available (1.20).

Maps feature has been removed. I am not sure why they introduce features then people start using them then they remove the features. I now have to burn my external GPS data into the NEF files in order to be able to see it (and I have to use other software to view it). I was quite happy using Nikon's side car file approach to store the GPS data and view it on the map in NX Studio. Of course that was always limited to that software and so using more sophisticated tools to search for files in a certain area were not available. However, I don't get it why they removed these features, I thought it was quite handy.

Nikon seem to add stuff and remove it on a seemingly random basis. It doesn't help in forming trust in the company.

I guess David's problem of how to move adjustments from NX-D to NX Studio is a similar case. Nikon just don't think anyone would use their software seriously and need to keep the changes over a long period of time.

[Fons Baerken]

NX Studio version 1.1.2 is the latest,
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/215.html

[Ilkka Nissilä]

NX Studio version 1.1.2 is the latest,
https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/download/sw/215.html

I meant 1.2.0, I somehow merged those into 1.20. 1.1.2 is the previous version to the current.

From here you can download either version.

https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/564/NX_Studio.html