Is NIK software dead? (Silver Efex Pro) {MERGED}

[M11 for me]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

In the meantime we are in 2025 and as we all know Nik software is still here.

Many of us use Lightroom Classic andyou might have SILVER EFEX as a plugin. 

I am interested to hear about your experience with the latest versions of LrC. Is it still a useful tool for your b&w photography or is it rather an overkill as LrC has all the possibilities to work with the 8 color sliders in its separate B&W Module that you find within the development module of LrC.

Does it make sense to buy the Nik package? Is LrC sufficient for b/w development?

I am aware that this is a rather open and unspecific question but you might have a clear view based on your experience.

And a final disclaimer: I am an enthusiastic hobby photographer and I always do a lot in LrC. But I am neither an artist nor a professional. Recently I do more and mire b&w with my M11 and as an enthusiast I like the best possible results. After all I am realistic and would not go through huge trouble for some minor differences in the outcome that nobody would ever notice.

[LocalHero1953]

I still have the Nik software but I don't use it. I'm not entirely sure why - perhaps a matter of habit, or, more likely, I've just found ways of doing the same thing in LR Classic. The preset effects in Nik are good, but the USP used to be the control point technology. There is nothing in LR that corresponds to how they work, but LR's improvements in brushes and masks has brought them close enough that it's more of a faff to use Nik than it's worth.

[pedaes]

58 minutes ago, M11 for me said:

Many of us use Lightroom Classic andyou might have SILVER EFEX as a plugin. 

That's me! NIK have recently released a significant 'upgrade' to Silver Efex which I am still getting used to. I fully process in LrC before exporting to Sil Eff and then back into LrC for any final checks (black and white points) etc. Very happy with resultant prints, which find approval in peer review.

[M11 for me]

vor 27 Minuten schrieb LocalHero1953:

I still have the Nik software but I don't use it. I'm not entirely sure why - perhaps a matter of habit, or, more likely, I've just found ways of doing the same thing in LR Classic. The preset effects in Nik are good, but the USP used to be the control point technology. There is nothing in LR that corresponds to how they work, but LR's improvements in brushes and masks has brought them close enough that it's more of a faff to use Nik than it's worth.

Thank you very much.

[M11 for me]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb pedaes:

That's me! NIK have recently released a significant 'upgrade' to Silver Efex which I am still getting used to. I fully process in LrC before exporting to Sil Eff and then back into LrC for any final checks (black and white points) etc. Very happy with resultant prints, which find approval in peer review.

Thank you very much.

I think that after all I will install a test version. Will see. Need some time to get there.

[250swb]

I still use Silver Efex, all the time really whether its a scanned film image or digital. The latest iteration of the Nik Collection is a big step on from what it used to be, and even in it's early days it was powerful software, especially for B&W processing. I think it's also software where you can jump a generation because updates now are becoming more subtle. Let's face it, everything you can do in Silver Efex you can still do in Photoshop, but only at great length and in a highly complicated manner, so who would want to? I use Nik Collection as a plugin for Photoshop (they call it a 'filter' now) because I still find Photoshop useful after exporting the image from Silver Efex, but now only on rare occasions do I edit in Photoshop with Layers and Masks etc.