NX Studio update 2/15/2022 V1.1.2

Found a new version of NX Studio on the Nikon site released February 15, looks like some minor fixes.

Below are the notes on changes from 1.1.0 to 1.1.2:

• • Fixed an issue that resulted in the NX Studio White Balance tool not producing the expected results with RAW pictures taken with the Z 9 if applied while Highlight Protection was in effect or a negative value was selected for Exposure Comp.
• • Fixed an issue that affected playback of 3840 × 2160 60p and 3840 × 2160 50p video recorded using a Z 7II or Z 6II.

How good is the NX Studio software? My Adobe Photoshop CS6 is getting a little long in the tooth and I refuse to RENT their software!

Hi Brent - I really like NX Studio, it being free is a positive. For some background as I review; I use NX and/or Affinity photo its been ages since using an Adobe editor but at one time I had an old edition of elements I used for a while. Also I am windows based currently running the latest version of Win 10.

So what I like a lot about it, the navigation bar remembers and takes you to whatever photo you were last viewing when you reopen the software. All of your computer drives and folders are in logical windows based "tree" like in windows explorer. This is nice to me as I like to organize photo files so I could "swap" a program and know where everything is if the other works differently. I use a card reader for from the camera import and I just use NX to copy, paste and create new folders.

Totally non-destructive - not unique when working with RAW files but the way they work it is slick. A sidecar file is created automatically when you apply any edit, you can play around with one or several photos and your edits "save" to the sidecar file. Say you are doing 100 vacation photos you just want to make Jpegs for a slide show or display or printing. You can just click though the group doing individual edits, you can take a break and come back as many times as you want. When done ctrl click the photos you wish to export chose your folder and size and let the magic happen (batch style). Also of note - the sidecar in no way affects the RAW file if you open with any other program.

Color control points - I have not used Nik-tools but this looks similar to the way that group works. You can edit a spot or color very easily and intuitively.

All camera settings are at hand - Being a Nikon product, changing picture control is easy as seeing what it would look like

Easy way back - In each section of editing you can return to "as shot" -- also of value if you just want to start over, right click the thumbnail and "revert to original state" is easy.

Linking another program to open a photo you are working with -- There is a tool bar button you can configure to "open in" if I need something in Affinity for example while running NX I can open the file in Affinity and continue. Noting - if working in RAW your changes in NX will not be there, this is most valuable in TIF or JPEG from the "last saved" point.

Plays nice to the PC -- I can have NX and Affinity running and working at the same time without issues (I have a modest PC as photo PC's go but do have 16gig memory 6 core FX processor, far from the latest)

Whats not there and negatives;

No layers - not that I am any good working with them but there is no layering

No Stacking

No watermarking - (such as easy signatures)

Sluggish when changing things -- This may be dependent on computer resources, but I have read about this in reviews also. Some patience is required when changing things, the most annoying is when you zoom in it takes some moments to "show" the photo. (the price of free I call it)

Exporting - It remembers what you last did, not necessarily "bad" but you have to re-assign a different folder for your export (just adds to my workflow, could be personal preference)

Summing up - Anyone curious should give it a test run. I like my combo of NX with Affinity. Affinity being extremely economical one time purchase, good updates, can use PS plugins. Affinity has a free trial option and still very economical at 55 dollars US outright (not a subscription) if you wish to take a look at that program.

Hope this helps

My question about NX studio is what size enlargement equates to a photo 4' tall by 3' wide. I ask as there is a photo enlargement that size at my local VA dermatology clinic, of water lilies and some of the plants are very sharp and clear.

Rotties,

I don't have any experience with digital printing of that size print. What I can relay in looking at the "export" dialog in NX Studio my APS-C sensor delivers a 6000x4000 pixel print. I tried typing in a larger number than 6000 and that seems not possible (turns red, and goes back to 6000). If I do a full size RAW file to TIFF 16 bit it results in a 144mb file, not sure what you could do with that size.

I hope a member familiar with the size print you seek can help here. I think you would need to do up scaling to print that big. There are printing facilities that do the sizes you ask about, maybe a better question for a printer would be if they could print the size you wish from the file your equipment can generate.

Hope this helps

Bikerbrent said:

How good is the NX Studio software? My Adobe Photoshop CS6 is getting a little long in the tooth and I refuse to RENT their software!

Click to expand...

Personally I will use NX Studio to import photos from my SD cards, and I may do some organizing and light editing with it too. But I go to RawTherapee once I get serious with an image, and export that to GIMP for anything that will require layers or add-in filters since RawTherapee does not do that. I also have my watermark saved as a GIMP file and just copy/paste that into my images as a new layer.

But I admit that I have invested far more time into exploring the features of RawTherapee and GIMP than I have NX Studio. Until 2015/2016 I used to use Google Picasa for importing and organizing images.

Rotties said:

My question about NX studio is what size enlargement equates to a photo 4' tall by 3' wide. I ask as there is a photo enlargement that size at my local VA dermatology clinic, of water lilies and some of the plants are very sharp and clear.

Click to expand...

I think it is a matter of rendering with fewer dots-per-inch. For a printed poster 72dpi or even less is not unusual. It sounds insanely low compared to 300 or 600dpi of a typical monochrome laser printer, but printing presses actually do work that low. When those pixels get spread out that wide, the image x-y dimensions really balloons in size.

My NX Studio keeps quitting on me after 4 -5 seconds. I have latest updates and plenty of space on my HD. OS Monterey 12.6.9.

Hi Dave,
Im hopeful a MAC user will have something for you. The windows version seems to be uneffected.

I just took a quick look and "is" there a mac version? I saw the os requirements were windows 10/11

All the best - Bill

Welcome aboard Dave, enjoy the ride. We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

You might also want to consider introducing yourself on New Member Introductions.

Dave Ryan said:

My NX Studio keeps quitting on me after 4 -5 seconds. I have latest updates and plenty of space on my HD. OS Monterey 12.6.9.

Click to expand...

Dave, -- In follow up, I looked into the download page more carefully (at home) and see the MAC link and you surly meet the requirements.

I searched a bit and see threads indicating the behavior you are experiencing as far back as version 1.1.1. We have many MAC users here on Nikonites (some really good PC troubleshooters also).

I might suggest you start a new thread with the title indicating your issue, this may give you better exposure. My first comment was while at lunch and may have been a bit hasty (sorry). Also a hearty welcome to you, hope you enjoy the site - Bill