# A Couple of Questions Re: Nikon View NX2



## Rescue9 (Sep 27, 2012)

VERY new D3100 user here and new to photography in general.
I'm wondering if any of you seasoned Nikon users could/would suggest an alternative to using the freebie View NX2 software which came with my D3100 kit?

Through a whole LOT of trial and error, I've taught myself how to use this software for the most part, and finally how to use it in connection with "My Picturetown"...but it just seems exceptionally slow and "clunky" to me (but then again, I'm VERY much of a newbie), and I'm wondering if there's something better out there, that's not going to cost hundreds of dollars.

Is it correct that if I'm going to be shooting in RAW (NEF) mode that this software (or the paid version Capture NX2?) is the only game in town for proper conversion to JPEG, etc.? 
Also, should I "ALWAYS" be shooting in RAW (NEF) mode for the most part, and only switch to JPEG when I know that all I'm going to do with a certain batch of photos is e-mail them out or Facebook them?

One final question: The 1st couple of hundred pictures I've taken with this new 3100 were shot in JPEG mode.  I noticed that once in View NX2, I needed to greatly increase or just max out the "Sharpness" control on almost EVERY picture, in order to get good, clear, crisp focus.  Would I have avoided this by having shot all of these in NEF mode in the 1st place?

Thanks in advance for answering a total Newbie's questions!  :hail:


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## SCraig (Sep 27, 2012)

NX2 is a "Free" basic editor.  You get what you pay for.

Virtually ANY decent editor can read Nikon NEF files.  Capture NX2 is my favorite, however I Also have Corel Paintshop Pro X4, DxO Optics Pro 7, Corel Aftershot (Formerly Bibble 5), Adobe PHotoshop CS6.  They all read NEF files very well.  Adobe Lightroom will as well but I don't use it.  Gimp is free, pretty well-featured, however there is an add-on necessary to import NEF files and I don't recall what it is.

There are many advantages to using RAW As opposed to JPEG.  They have been discussed here many, many, many, many times.  Search a bit and you'll find some of the latest.

There are also many reasons for not having "Sharp" photographs.  Using straight JPEG format could be the cause, since a lot of in-camera corrections are being made that are not done to RAW files, however there are many others that are more likely such as insufficient depth of field, too slow shutter speed, camera movement, subject movement, etc.


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## Alan92RTTT (Sep 27, 2012)

I love Adobe lightroom. 

I could never get raw's looking good with either view NX or photoshop but lightroom does a great job presenting and letting you work with the images.


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## nmoody (Sep 27, 2012)

Lightroom 4 is an excellent replacement for ViewNX2.


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## coastalconn (Sep 27, 2012)

I agree with with SCraig.  Before blaming the software you might want to upload a picture for us to check out(with exif) There are many reasons why a picture is not sharp.  If your basic settings are not right, no software will give you a sharp picture..  Just my humble opinion...


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## Heitz (Sep 27, 2012)

SCraig said:
			
		

> NX2 is a "Free" basic editor.  You get what you pay for.
> 
> Virtually ANY decent editor can read Nikon NEF files.  Capture NX2 is my favorite, however I Also have Corel Paintshop Pro X4, DxO Optics Pro 7, Corel Aftershot (Formerly Bibble 5), Adobe PHotoshop CS6.  They all read NEF files very well.  Adobe Lightroom will as well but I don't use it.  Gimp is free, pretty well-featured, however there is an add-on necessary to import NEF files and I don't recall what it is.
> 
> ...



Holy sh*t!  Corel still exists!?!


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## SCraig (Sep 27, 2012)

Heitz said:


> Holy sh*t!  Corel still exists!?!



Yes, they do.  They bought up Bibble Labs last year, took over Bibble 5, then fired the entire development team.  At least they used the code to make their RAW converter better in Paintshop Pro.  Paintshop Pro is on version 15 now (they call it X5) after they bought up JASC a number of years ago.


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## 480sparky (Sep 27, 2012)

Heitz said:


> Holy sh*t!  Corel still exists!?!




Yes.  The pattern I collect is called _Abundance_.


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