Real World Nikon Capture NX 2,   ISBN:9780321553591

Customer Rating: 

This book was very informative on how to use Nikon's Capture NX2 along with various videos on U Tube as well as Scott Kelby's training site. It won't replace Photo Shop, but does an excellent job on both RAW photos as well as JPG's and TIFF's. If you need help remembering how to go about post processing on NX2 I recommend the book.

Sue

Customer Rating: 

As is typical of today's software, Nikon's Capture NX2 provides many, many functions. Some of these overlap -- there are multiple ways to achieve many results. And, as is also typical, the manual is not a good "How To" guide.

I have found "Real World Capture NX2" to be most helpful in my learning to use the software in post-processing numerous photos. And that seems to be the author's goal. But the old Confucius saying applies here, "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." Reading this or any book, will not make you a capable photo editor. Practice on photos you took will. And with Capture NX2 all edits are reversible so there is no reason not to experiment. After I reading the book, I find that I continue to use it as a reference.

The author goes beyond just explaining the functions of Capture NX2; he bridges into the photo editing process. Recommendations that I've found especially helpful include:

- Establish a work flow based on your needs -- and tune it over time as you see fit.
- Use the batch capabilities of NX2 in the above to improve efficiency.
- Use the histograms provided by Nikon (and presumably other)digital cameras in your editing.
- Explore shooting JPEG and NEF (RAW). I now normally shoot NEF -- memory is cheap. JPEG limits what can be done in NX2.

Yes, there are a few editing errors, but most are obvious from the context. Otherwise, the book is well written and, for me, the level of technical background provided is about right.

I recommend "Real World Capture NX2" to anyone wishing to develop photo editing skills using Capture NX2.

My thanks to the earlier reviewers whose comments drove me to buy this book.

Customer Rating: 

Nikon Capture NX 2's weird menu structure, workflow, control points, and other features threw me for a loop. This program is not as easy to learn to use as Adobe Photoshop (which is saying something), nor as intuitive as Lightroom. So, I was extremely pleased to find that Ben Long has, at Long Last, given us a coherent explanation of how to use this program. Long provides lots of examples, good, logical organization, and step-by-step instructions that demystify an especially mysterious program. If you've given up on understanding Capture NX 2, give this book a try.

Customer Rating: 

This is the manual that should come with the program that should come with the camera! Well written, easy to understand, and nice illustrations. Perhaps my first statement is too tongue-in-cheek, as some people don't read instructions anyway, and wouldn't want to pay for something they won't use. But anyone who springs for the Nikon Capture NX2 program is probably at least semi computer-literate and would appreciate this book. It has made using the software much more enjoyable, and am very glad I bought it. Highly recommended!

Customer Rating: 

I think the author did a great job of trying to explain the in's and out's of a program that is not very intutive to use and to learn. He really doesn't give an opinion on what are the best settings to use for different images, or even say what he does on his own images, but (like a reference book) he does a good job of explaining the differedt tools and what they do, & how to operate them. After that it is up to you to practice using the tools and see how they work with your images.

For the last year, I have been using Lightroom 2 and Adobe Camera Raw on all my NEF files, & I have always felt that my images were lacking something. After using NX2 (after reading this book) and comparing my raw conversions to the best I could do with LR2, I have found that there is a night & day difference in image quality using NX2. I just wish that NX2 would operate as easy as Lightroom, but for the sake of IQ, I will continue to use NX2 from now on.