bagnon Posted June 24, 2011 Share #1 Posted June 24, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) Dear all, My workflow has been based on Nikon Capture NX2 & CameraBits Photo Mechanic, until the Leica M9 forced me to introduce Lightroom, which I do not like. Having separate workflow & tools is a pain, and you do not expect an old dog to learn new Lightroom tricks. So, I have written a proof of concept M9 to D3x file conversion tool, check here Miguel Bañón - Photography: Leica M9 DNG to Nikon D3x NEF converter I am just leaving for the weekend, I hope to come back with lots of pictures, and I will check if the approach is worth the effort. Comments and suggestions welcomed. Best regards, Miguel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 24, 2011 Posted June 24, 2011 Hi bagnon, Take a look here Announcement: M9 DNG to Nikon D3x NEF converter/injector. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
jaapv Posted June 24, 2011 Share #2 Posted June 24, 2011 I dislike LR as well, but Capture One and CS5 handle NEF and DNG files excellently, and are a joy to use. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wda Posted June 24, 2011 Share #3 Posted June 24, 2011 Miguel, Welcome to the forum! First, Leica does not force you to use Lightroom, though very many users find it worth learning to use. Like many pieces of software it is difficult to accept an alternative after you have invested time in learning another brand. Many like the Lightroom library management facility, quite apart from the versatile development modules. In fact many find that they do not need to use Photoshop (or equivalent) at all once they have mastered the post-processing capabilities of LR. However, if you are finding the switch-over too difficult, you already have a proven fall-back solution so life should simply roll on! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted June 24, 2011 Share #4 Posted June 24, 2011 Miguel, it sounds like a good idea to me, if you've got that kind of programming expertise. Once you've got a workflow that works for you, it seems counterproductive to have to do everything another way just because you use a different camera. I think most of us here have learned Photoshop or Lightroom (or Aperture or Capture One), so it would be a step backward for us to learn CaptureNX2. I say if you can simplify your processing as you're doing, more power to you! Keep us posted how it works out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagnon Posted June 28, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted June 28, 2011 Thank you all, wda, thanks for the welcome. Yes, you are right, Leica does not force me to use Lightroom, it's the other way around, Nikon forces me to use Capture NX, and I have built my workflow around it. One nasty thing about the M9 DNG files is the lack of a proper sized jpg preview, that means that I cannot browse as fast as Photomechanic does to discard and delete files after a session as I'm used to do. Lightroom needs to render this preview for each file, and that makes the process slower. So, the proof of concept conversion tool seems to work well for me, and I have all my files from the weekend into my unified NEF workflow. I'm as happy as a dog with two tails, one DNG for backup and NEF for editing. Now that I'm happy with this early trial, I'll improve the conversion tool, making it faster and with other small features as their need arises. Best regards, Miguel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andybarton Posted June 28, 2011 Share #6 Posted June 28, 2011 Strange. I use a Nikon and don't use NX. I refused to pay for software which should have been included as part of the price of the camera (a D700) The Nikon works just fine with Aperture and Photoshop, so will, no doubt work with Lightroom too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ho_co Posted June 28, 2011 Share #7 Posted June 28, 2011 Advertisement (gone after registration) ... One nasty thing about the M9 DNG files is the lack of a proper sized jpg preview, that means that I cannot browse as fast as Photomechanic does to discard and delete files after a session as I'm used to do.... Miguel, Zlatko offers a suggestion for using Photo Mechanic that might be helpful at http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/188839-does-m9-embed-decent-jpeg.html#post1750732. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagnon Posted June 28, 2011 Author Share #8 Posted June 28, 2011 ho_co, thanks for the hint. Yes, that is the same thing Lightroom does, to render the view from the RAW, but that is slooow. I prefer to have a fast browsing experience, at the cost of expending a batch preview generation, from DNG to DNG with the Adobe DNG converter, or now from DNG to NEF with my script, and there follow as I've always done. I'm not trying to convince anybody to go the NEF route, but if anybody does, there is now one option. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagnon Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted July 20, 2011 Well, version 1 is finished, including transferring of the white balance value from the DNG to the NEF. It's complete and usable from my point of view. Miguel Bañón - Photography: DNG2NEF version 1.0 is out! Regards, Miguel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie Roberts Posted July 20, 2011 Share #10 Posted July 20, 2011 Personally, the newest C1 Pro (v6) handles all this and more, including very fast previews. I typically have 1500 or more shots to go through, and I no longer need PhotoMechanic or BreezeBrowser or even iView to go through them. C1 generates excellent previews in under a minute, and doesn't hold me up at all. I've used Capture NX and while the colour is great, it's not a patch on C1 for flexibility, output quality, customization or, of course, speed of workflow. Sometimes it's worth learning a few new tricks (and C1 now has excellent video tutorials as well!). Oh, and you can get the Express version of C1 for free, evidently! http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-post-processing-forum/191345-capture-one-express-free-licence.html#post1768891 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatkob Posted July 21, 2011 Share #11 Posted July 21, 2011 Oh, and you can get the Express version of C1 for free, evidently! http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-post-processing-forum/191345-capture-one-express-free-licence.html#post1768891 Not any more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Rawcs Posted July 24, 2011 Share #12 Posted July 24, 2011 I dislike LR as well, but Capture One and CS5 handle NEF and DNG files excellently, and are a joy to use. Jaapv, is it the interface, workflow etc. of capture One that you like or is there a difference in picture quality between Capture One and Lightroom? Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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