All Digital Photography

Nikon Capture NX-D Image Processing Software Review

Nikon have introduced some new image processing software, Nikon Capture NX-D, Beta version for comment, prior to the final introduction of the software. This software seems to be a combination of some functionality from Nikon View NX and Nikon Capture NX2 with some functionality deleted. The software no longer has the capability of the NIK software Control Point functions, this lack of the U-point technology from NIK is one aspect I would really miss.

Above is the general screen layout indicating the various menu options and main screen. As I have just started trying out this software I will give a general outline of the functionality and some opinions on how it performs.

Menu and Task Bar

The Menu is at the top in the above screen capture with the Tool Bar just below. The general function available are as follows:

Menu Bar

Options available.

File – Convert files to other formats, run batch processes, and print and rename files
Edit – Select, copy, paste, and delete images
View – Choose a view mode, adjust zoom, and sort and select images
Image – Straighten, rate, and label images or display a grid or the focus point, shadows, or highlights
Adjust – Copy, paste, save, and load image adjustment settings
Tool – Access image adjustment tools
Window – View and hide palettes
Help – View online help or the current software version number.

Toolbar

Print – Print the image currently selected or previewed in the image area
Back/Foward – Select the folder before or after the current folder
Open Folder in Browser – Display a dialog where you can navigate to and open a folder
Thumbnail – View the images in the current folder as thumbnails
Combination – View a preview at the top of the image area with thumbnails listed underneath
Preview – Display the preview only
Full Screen View images full screen
Multi Preview – View images side by side. Choose from “Compare Images” and “Compare Before and After Images”
Compare Images – View selected images side-by-side
Compare Before and After Images – View an image as it appeared before adjustment side by side with the adjusted image
Current – Apply current adjustments to the “before” image for use as a reference when making further modifications
Original – Restore the “before” image to the state it was in before any adjustments were made
Preview Display Mode – Access the fit, combination, zoom, and hand tools or choose a zoom ratio for the image in the preview palette
Gray Point Sample Tool – Click a point in the preview to adjust white balance so that the sampled point takes on a neutral gray color
Straighten Tool – Straighten images
Crop Tool – Crop images
Open with – Open images in other applications
Convert Files- Save images in JPEG or TIFF format. Adjustments are applied before the image is saved
Batch Process Status – View batch process status
Cancel Batch Process – Cancel batch processing
Rating/Label Filtering – Filter images by rating or label
Filtering – Filter images by rating, label, or camera settings
Cancel Filtering – End filtering and view all images.

The following Palettes are also included:

Folder palette

Select a folder to display its contents in the image area.

The folder palette lists the folders in the computer’s storage system. Click a folder to view the images it contains in the image area or preview display.
The folder palette menu gives access to recent folders. Frequently-used folders can be added to and then accessed from this menu.

Image area

View the images in the current folder.

Selected image

Selected images are highlighted in gray. Double click to preview.

Histogram palette

View the tone distribution for the selected image.

The histogram palette provides a constantly-updated histogram for the selected thumbnail or the image in the preview display. The histogram shows the tone distribution for the color channel selected in the channel menu. Choose RGB to view overlapping distributions for the red, green, and blue channels: tone ranges in which the distributions for red and green overlap are shown in yellow, those in which red and blue overlap in magenta, those in which green and blue overlap in cyan, and those in which all three colors overlap in white.

Edit/metadata palettes

Retouch images using the tools in the edit palette or switch to the metadata palette to view image information.

The Edit Palette

Use the tools in the edit palette to adjust the image currently selected or previewed in the image area. The tool list offers Exposure Compensation, White Balance, Picture Control, and Tone/Tone (Detail) tools that can be accessed via pull down menus or by clicking the tool icon and adjusting settings in the adjustments palette. Additional tools can be accessed using the tool buttons at the bottom of the palette. The adjustment manager tool can be used to copy adjustments to other images or save current settings for later use. To reset all tools and restore the image to the state it was in when first opened in Capture NX-D, click the restore button (note that any changes made to JPEG and TIFF images in other applications since they were last opened in Capture NX-D will not be reset).

At the bottom of the Edit Palette there are the Tool Buttons and the Restore Button as follows;

Tool Buttons

Note that some of these tools can be used only with RAW (NEF/NRW) images.

Noise Reduction
Lens Correction
LCH – The LCH color space models color using values for lightness (a property similar but not identical to brightness or luminance), chroma (color saturation), and hue. These parameters can be accessed via the channel menu in the image adjustment palette when the LCH tool is selected.
Straighten
Unsharp Mask
Levels & Curves.

These tools are accessed by clicking the buttons and adjusting settings in the adjustment palette. The buttons for tools that have been modified from default values are highlighted in yellow.

The Restore Button

Click the restore button to reset all tools and restore the image to the state it was in when first opened in Capture NX-D (note that any changes made to JPEG and TIFF images in other applications since they were last opened in Capture NX-D will not be reset).

The Metadata Palette

The metadata palette lists information on the image currently selected or previewed in the image area, including exposure, the model of camera used to record the picture, and the date and time of recording. The metadata palette can be displayed in the position normally occupied by the folder palette by selecting Dock to Left in the palette menu.

Status bar

At the bottom of the screen view information on the selected image.

View information on the image selected or previewed in the image area.

File name – The file name
Zoom ratio – The zoom ratio at which the preview is currently displayed
Color space – The color space of the image in the preview display
Image size – The size (in pixels) of the image in the preview display
Color value – The color of the pixel under the cursor in the preview and combined displays
Position in folder – The position of the current image and the total number of images in the folder.

Summary

It can be noted that most of the edit tools included in Capture NX-D are very much the same as in Capture NX2. Bear in mind the this outline only covers the Beta version of Nikon Capture NX-D and changes will occur in the finally released version.

by Geoff 26 Feb 0 Comments

Peacock Calling For a Mate and Performing a Dance

For anyone that follows my Blog, it should be very evident that I really love photographing birds. One of the main secrets to good bird photography is generally long lens technique, but in the case of these peacocks, long lens technique was not quite so important as the peacocks were very quiet and I was able to approach them very closely.

Peacock Calling For His Mate

For the first image above, of the male bird was calling for his female mate and I used a Nikon 200mm, f/4, D, Micro lens and my Nikon D700 camera was used for both images. To capture the male bird calling, I wanted to get quite close to feature the head of the peacock and that was the reason for selecting the 200 Micro lens.

With this photo sequence I really wanted to tell a story of the male peacock calling for his mate and then capture the two peacocks in a dance together, with both the male and female birds in the frame together. It is very interesting to watch the behaviour of birds such as these two peacocks, how the male bird displays and fans out his tail and then vibrates all his tail feathers so that he attracts the attention of the female bird.

Dancing Peacock

For the second image of this sequence with the pair of birds together, I used the Nikon 105mm, f/2.8, VR, Micro lens. For much of my photography I am really quite keen on both of these lenses as they form a great combination for general nature photography. Both lenses have excellent image quality and are very good at both close up and also at distance.

For this series of images I also used my Gitzo GM5560T Monopod. Monopods are always great to help stabilise you camera to achieve much sharper images.

The equipment I currently use for my photography is as follows:

by Geoff 31 Jan 0 Comments

Nikon D3300 Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera

The new D3300 camera has now been released and some details are as follows:

Nikon D3300 DSLR Camera

This camera is aimed more at the new photographer just getting into digital SLR photography. It has a high resolution 24.2 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor with the optical low-pass filter removed to give high resolution and includes the latest EXPEED 4 image processing system.

It is really the next step up from point and shoot photography. It features a 5 frames-per-second (fps) high speed continuous shooting mode and an ISO range of 100 to 12800.

Film makers can also take advantage of the smooth Full HD movie recording with 1080/60p support.

The D3300 also features 13 special effect modes and various retouch menu options to extend the enjoyment of your photographic expression. Beginner photographers will also appreciate the camera’s Guide Mode which provides step by step instructions for capturing great images.

This camera is probably the ideal camera for photographers who wish to stay with the smaller DX format which is considerably cheaper that the larger Nikon FX format.

Specifications

Single lens reflex digital camera
Nikon F mount (with AF contacts)
Effective angle of view 1.5x that of lenses with FX format angle of view
Effective pixels 24.2 million
Image sensor 23.5 x 15.6 mm CMOS sensor
Total pixels 24.78 million
Dust reduction System Image sensor cleaning, Image Dust Off reference data (optional Capture NX 2 software required)
Image size (pixels) Easy panorama mode: 4800 x 1080 (normal, horizontal pan) 1632 x 4800 (normal, vertical pan) 9600 x 1080 (wide, horizontal pan) 1632 x 9600 (wide, vertical pan) Other modes: 6000 x 4000 (Large) 4496 x 3000 (Medium) 2992 x 2000 (Small)
File format, NEF (RAW), 12 bit, compressed JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1 : 4), normal (approx. 1 : 8), or basic (approx. 1 : 16) compression NEF (RAW)+JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
Picture Control System Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape; selected Picture Control can be modified
Media SD (Secure Digital) and UHS-I compliant SDHC and SDXC memory cards
Viewfinder Eye level pentamirror single-lens reflex viewfinder
Frame coverage, 95% horizontal and 95% vertical
Eyepoint 18 mm (-1.0 m-1; from center surface of viewfinder eyepiece lens)
Diopter adjustment -1.7 – +0.5 m-1
Focusing screen Type B BriteView Clear Matte Mark VII screen
Shutter type, Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter
Shutter speed 1/4000 – 30 s in steps of 1/3 EV; Bulb; Time
Shutter flash sync speed X=1/200 s; synchronizes with shutter at 1/200 s or slower
Release mode, Single frame, continuous, quiet shutter release, self-timer, delayed remote
Frame advance rate Up to 5 fps
Self-timer, 2 s, 5 s, 10 s, 20 s; 1-9 exposures
Nikon Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, 11 focus points (including one cross-type sensor), and AF-assist illuminator (range approx. 0.5-3 m/1 ft 8 in.-9 ft 10 in.)
Detection range -1 – +19 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
Built in flash Auto, portrait, child, close up, night portrait, super vivid, pop, photo illustration, color sketch, toy camera effect: Auto flash with auto pop-up P, S, A, M: Manual pop-up with button release
Guide Number, 12/39, 13/43 with manual flash (m/ft, ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS)
Video – Frame size (pixels) and frame rate 1920 x 1080, 60p (progressive)/50p/30p/25p/24p, high/normal 1280 x 720, 60p/50p, high/normal 640 x 424, 30p/25p, high/normal Frame rates of 30p (actual frame rate 29.97 fps) and 60p (actual frame rate 59.94 fps) are available when NTSC is selected for video mode. 25p and 50p are available when PAL is selected for video mode. Actual frame rate when 24p is selected is 23.976 fps.
File format MOV
Video compression H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
Monitor 7.5-cm (3-in.), approx. 921k-dot (VGA) TFT LCD with 170 ° viewing angle, 100% frame coverage, and brightness adjustment
USB Hi-Speed USB
Video output NTSC, PAL
HDMI output Type C mini-pin HDMI connector
Battery, rechargeable Li-ion EN-EL14a battery
AC adapter EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5A power connector (available separately)
Tripod socket 1/4 in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D), 124 x 98 x 75.5 mm (4.9 x 3.9 x 3 in.)
Weight, 460 g (1 lb 0.2 oz) with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 410 g/14.5 oz (camera body only)
Temperature 0 – 40°C (+32 – 104°F)
Humidity Less than 85% (no condensation)