DSC0116 – D300, originally uploaded by jjvornov.
This kind of writing on a “professional” website really bothers me.: Nikon D300 NEF image files – Lightroom 1.3 vs. Capture NX 1.3 – O’Reilly Digital Media Blog.
Expecting some kind of thoughtful analysis, instead I find someone who ran an image or two through two programs with a new camera and found differences in rendering. I expect this sort of writing on the DP Review boards, but not on the O’Reilly digital sites.To be more specific, Capture NX is using the camera settings to render the image as the user intended. ACR (Lightroom) and Aperture don’t, but instead use their own standard recipe. One of the clear advantages in a manufacturer’s product is that it works systematically with camera controls. For example, I can use one set of shooting parameters for events and family images and another set optimized for landscape. I believe it’s necessary to presharpen at the RAW conversion stage to critically evaluate images, so I set that in camera or in the RAW conversion program.To develop craft is is to have intent and control over one’s tools. Evaluate results and use the feedback to refine the process for the desired results. Pushing buttons and seeing what you get can only lead to happy accident