Capture NX software

• Shark

  Member

  May 14, 2008 at 1:02 pm

  Hello there.
  I’m new to dSLR (in fact, I haven’t bought the camera yet), but I’m about to get a Nikon D40 and Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. From reviews I’ve read on the ‘net, it seems as though this lens suffers from some optical distortion.

  My question: Should I be worried about it, and if so, what software would you recommend to correct it?

  I’m torn between Capture NX and PS Elements (or nothing at all). Capture NX seems to be easy to use and good for other stuff like brightening underexposed areas of an image, but I don’t know how sophisticated it is when it comes to sorting out lens distortion. I don’t know much about PS Elements, but the limited experience I’ve had with older versions of Photoshop suggests that it’ll be difficult to use.

  I’ll probably be photographing landscapes, buildings and people.

  Thanks in advance

  Shark
  guthrij

  Participant

  May 14, 2008 at 2:57 pm

  I don’t know much about the lens but I would be suprised if the distortion you mentioned was a fatal flaw. After all it is a pretty wide range zoom for not a lot of money. With regard to software, PS Elements 6.0 is pretty good and only costs about €100. It has a Correct Camera Distortion Filter.

  John
  gregor

  Participant

  May 14, 2008 at 6:42 pm

  I think you should try both software you can download trial versionsand see which one works better for you and decide. Instead of spending money try them first. I use Capture NX as well as Lightroom both are great.
  Cheers,
  Gregor
  Expresbro

  Participant

  May 16, 2008 at 10:41 am

  Just a quick note.

  From my limited experience of Capture NX (downloaded a trial version)..you will need lots..and I mean LOTS of available RAM.

  It seems to be a memory hogger extraordinaire.

  I tried demos of Elements too and it didn’t seem as bad.
  Shark

  Member

  May 20, 2008 at 2:37 pm

  Thanks for the feedback guys.
  I think I’ll probably follow your advice Gregor and try out trial versions of both. I’ll wait for a while first, though, and see what kind of results I get from the camera-lens combination without post-processing

  Thanks again

  Shark
  Tiny

  Member

  June 18, 2008 at 2:42 pm

  Hi,

  Did you go for that lens? the 18-200 VR?I have that lens and its brilliant. No distortion visible to me at all.
  Shark

  Member

  June 25, 2008 at 8:47 pm

  Yeah – got the lens, but I haven’t really had the chance to use it yet. Just had a few shots out the window late in the evening in poor light at passing traffic travelling at 50-60kph. I’m impressed with the autofocus speed and the VR performance – quite a few of the registration plates were legible (at a distance of about 80-100m).

  I’m off to Italy in a couple of weeks on holiday, so I expect to try it out properly then.