3 replies to this topic

[Nikon Shooter]

                adjective  — denoting or relating to software that has been
               superseded but is difficult to replace because of its wide use.

At the beginning of my operation conversion to digital (2011), everything 
was Adobe, I then bought the Creative Suite Master Collection (CS6).

Then came the maker's other marketing strategy: the subscription mo-
del, for a time, both model coexisted. But this was meant as THE new 
marketing strategy of Adobe. Owners like me of "getting old" versions
could no longer hope to update any components of their Creative Suite
because from now on it was rent and no longer buy.

Already then — and though Macs were getting better suited for the new
challenges of these constantly evolving software — the said softwares
had learned new tricks and got waaaaay heavier and slower… because
of legacy. For my needs, CS6, even when it could not be updated, was
enough as photographer and layout artist.

Ps, InD, and Lr to name just a few, generated tons of MB of documents
that were my bread and butter but I was getting behind — many clients 
were sending me files that could be opened but only with many limita-
tions. This is when I decided to give it all up, desperately hoping to find
somewhere else other tools for my trade.

I didn't have to wait too long as progressive programmers teamed up
to give alternative solutions a new start, a fresh look, a better approach
and all that without the weight of legacy.

I first explored and adopted Capture One v. 6. Ok, it was far from what it
is today — v. 13.1.4.15 — but it was all worth it. Sure CO got in the ever
more expensive subscription model at a given point but it is still possible
to own the software for ever… every major update came at a cost. Over
the years, CO generated quite a few GBs of sidecar files and all the work
to produce them is now compromised because the new v. 14 is taking
a new direction that does not justifies the hefty price of the update. 

Then, came Sérif with the Affinity Suite: Design, Photo, and Publisher…
all I needed. The recent v. 1.9 was quite some learning curve but the sui-
te is a splendid solution in every way… and still cheap, growing, and im-
proving though it offers no dedicated RAW converter yet — to eventually
replace Capture One v. 13.1.4.15, if the company is going on that way.

Now, three days ago, I learn that Nikon has just released NX Studio v.1
and it is FREE!    Ok, it will only recognise Nikon's RAW files but I ha-
ve still CO for my Q80 system and I don't care much for other makers.

So, if NX Studio is going in the right direction — and I trust Nikon that it
will — in addition to the Affinity Suite, I'll be covered.

LAGACY will have me keeping safe all those files from Ps, InD, and Lr,
plus those generated by CO (that I still own) and all the new ones from
the Affinity Suite and the new Nikon's NX Studio — if adopted.

[Ron]

The problem, of course, is what will happen going forward.

 

Adobe has become the software vendor we love to hate. They regularly release updates that push users to keep up. I have the latest version of Photoshop on my (severely limited) laptop where it happily runs simply because that machine uses Windows 10. My actual work station (which is much more powerful), however, is currently running last year's version simply because it's operating system is Windows 7. Ditto for Lightroom and the rest of the suite. And, while I might be able to upgrade my work station to Windows 10, it will be a chore... and lately, I just haven't had the time or inclination to tackle it.

 

The trouble is that other vendors see all the cash that Adobe is rolling in and get all giddy. "We can do that too!" Going forward I see more and more vendors giving the Adobe subscription model a try.

 

I look forward to giving Nikon's new software a tryout. It's never going to match Capture One or the Adobe suite, but then, my needs are less these days.

 

--Ron

[Nikon Shooter]

I look forward to giving Nikon's new software a tryout. It's never going to match Capture One or the Adobe suite, but then, my needs are less these days.

The Adobe suite is not in the scope of Nikon anyway… I think.

As far as the v. 1 of NX Studio, everything is possible… fingers crossed, they
should address the performance — take it to real time regeneration on screen
for the prosumers — and interface customisation issues if possible.

[Brian]

The nice thing about using a camera that stores raw images in DNG format: software written years before the camera was made can process the files.

 

When the Df was introduced, LR4.4 supported the D4 but not the Df. The difference? One ASCII Byte in the NEF header identifying the file as a Nikon Df, and LR4.4 refused to process it. So I wrote a program and changed the 'f' to an '4'. That was all that was required. I stopped at LR6 and CS2. The latter- only because Adobe took the file server off the network for PS7 and made CS2 available as a free download. Still works under Win10. I like LR6, but will not subscribe to Adobe.