Photo Editing Software advice

GoonjoshGoon · Feb 4, 2011

Hey guys, Im sure there is a thread on here somewhere but I did not see it. Well ive been shooting for a while as just a hobby and I want to start getting a little more serious now. I recently started shooting in RAW, and before then i was just shooting jpegs and uploading them straight to iPhoto with no editing what so ever. However I downloaded a trial version of Nx2 the other day and though I might not know how to use it very well, I know that photo editing software is a must if I want to get professional looking images.

So here's where it gets confusing. Should i go with Nikon's Capture Nx2, or Photoshop? What about Lightroom? I have read countless reviews comparing Nx2 and Photoshop and some say they can do everything they can do on Photoshop on Nx2. While some others say that Nx2 will never come close to Photoshop.

I honestly have done my research before just posting another thread but this software thing is a little confusing, especially since im not exactly a computer expert. I should note, that I am a mac user so the software must be compatible, and i dont want to spend a whole lot of money on software, i would like something that will give me great results for <$200 hopefully. I also plan on getting a laptop soon, so hopefully I would be able to upload the software on my Imac and also a laptop and not have to buy 2 copies

fsquare · Feb 4, 2011

If you are a student then you could get photoshop for much cheaper. I would say Photoshop would be my first choice with Lightroom coming in 2nd. If you are using a Mac look into Aperture as well. Adobe and Mac both offer 30 day free trials.

Trever1t · Feb 4, 2011

I have

View NX2
Lightroom 3
CS5
Portrait Pro
Photomatix 4
and a couple others

You can do just fine with the free Nikon software, View Nx2 but nothing compares to the real power of Photoshop so it's nice to have it on hand and learn, it is the standard.

I just started using Lightroom 3 and i'm having fun with it. It seems to work very well with the RAW images and the program is very logical. Lately I've been using Lightroom for my basic editing and converting to 16-bit tiff and tweaking that in PS.

Shiva_42 · Feb 4, 2011

Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is the same between current versions of Photoshop and Lightroom. Beyond the initial "development" phase of processing your raw file(s), Photoshop still has the advantage, and should, given the price difference. Will Lightroom do everything you'd need? Don't know, check out the comparisons on Adobe's site.

I personally get slightly different results using NX2 versus ACR, and tend to use ACR since I'm normally transitioning over to PS for further manipulation anyway, but if NX2 was already what I had, I could easily adjust and get used to it. Remember, we're still just talking about the "development" process itself, not further manipulation or image processing.

All told, if I didn't want to lay out the price for full PS, I'd be happier with Lightroom than NX2 alone. Good Luck!

KmH · Feb 4, 2011

Adobe offers student pricing at up to 80% off.

There are 3 versions of Adobe Photoshop:

A truncated consumer version called Elements
The full on Raster graphics capable CS
And the CS compliment Lightroom.

All 3 have a version of Adobe's Raw converter ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). The version pf ACR in Elements is heavily de-featured, while the versions of ACR in CS and Lightroom are virtually identical.

CS includes a browser called Bridge. Bridge is designed to work with most of Adob'es software applications.

Lightroom's main function is image database management, which is why it is intended as a compliment to Photoshop CS. Lightroom lacks most of Photoshops most powerful features like Layers, the selection tools and full masking capabilities.

Nikon's Capture NX2 comes nowhere close to having the overall capablities that Photoshop has. However, Capture NX2 has some features that can only be done to images made with a Nikon camera.

dupek · Feb 6, 2011

There are few other good programs and cheaper that photoshop. If you want to "stick" with adobe, get the elements. I am using Stepok software and are as good as photoshop for $30 (among others). I would start with simple, photo editing software. If I have to "adjust" RAW, then I use software that come with Canon. Your camera should come with software to work with RAW.

DVC Mike · Feb 6, 2011

For a Nikon shooter, I'd recommend either Nikon Capture NX2 or Adobe Lightroom 3. I prefer the Lightroom user interface and asset management capabilities, but prefer the RAW processing of Capture NX2.

I personally think Adobe Photoshop CS5 is overkill for many photographers. I find I can do 99% of the things I need to do in LR or NX2.

table1349 · Feb 6, 2011

KmH said:
Adobe offers student pricing at up to 80% off.

There are 3 versions of Adobe Photoshop:

A truncated consumer version called Elements

The full on Raster graphics capable CS

And the CS compliment Lightroom.

All 3 have a version of Adobe's Raw converter ACR (Adobe Camera Raw). The version pf ACR in Elements is heavily de-featured, while the versions of ACR in CS and Lightroom are virtually identical.

CS includes a browser called Bridge. Bridge is designed to work with most of Adob'es software applications.

Lightroom's main function is image database management, which is why it is intended as a compliment to Photoshop CS. Lightroom lacks most of Photoshops most powerful features like Layers, the selection tools and full masking capabilities.

Nikon's Capture NX2 comes nowhere close to having the overall capablities that Photoshop has. However, Capture NX2 has some features that can only be done to images made with a Nikon camera.

Keith, I have to disagree with you here on Lightroom's main intent being a image database management software. Lightroom's main intent is to be a digital darkroom or digital image processing software along with it's database management functions. It will do everything that was the norm in the days of processing film and printing in a darkroom. It is not image editing software however it does satisfy about 90% of the needs of most photographers that use it.

Elements to a limited extent and Photoshop are true editing software with photoshop being the industry standard. There is a difference between processing and editing images.

It would be helpful if posters of questions of this sort understood the difference and asked for suggestions for what they are really looking to do, process their images or make true edits to them.