Nikon caves. D600 shutter repairs to be offered

On 26/02/2014 10:26 p.m., RichA wrote:
But that doesn't mean they acknowledge the problem

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/02...&ref=title_0_1

It took them about a year and a half.
Meanwhile they released the D610, the most significant improvement over
the D600 being that the sensor didn't clog up with oil spots.
IMO, not a huge PR success, nor the way they addressed the issues with
some D800/D800E cameras with misaligned focus sensors.
I'm also not happy with the fact they sold Nik software to Google, and
are now dumping u-point in the new version of Capture NX (afaik there's
no way to use the Nik plugins in the new Capture NX). I suppose
software isn't their core business, NX was always a slow pig to use with
a clunky interface, but u-point technology was innovative, worked
extremely well, and was once a Nikon only specialty for raw image
processing. So - they sold it.
IMO the Nikon Df is a frankencamera, they seem to have abandoned Dx
format for pro/semi pro lines (despite the fact that u4/3 are eating in
to their consumer dx dslr market).
There's still no Dx format (or larger) mirrorless camera from them -
despite the fact that they produced the one series with hybrid AF which
(despite flaws) worked better than anything else in the market when it
was released, and could have been scaled in to a larger format.
I'm trying to think of something they've really nailed lately - I was
thinking the 70-200 f4 VR, but it's damned expensive - and Canon was
making one 10 years ago, so it's hardly innovative.
The D800/E was innovative for the sensor technology, which mainly comes
from Sony - but otherwise is much the same as an ancient D700.
Rant finished (though I'll probably think of other things after posting
this).
I'm a Nikon user since the '80s - Nikon has their ups and downs, and I
get the feeling that they're heading for, if not already in a "down"
now. My Nikon stuff still works, I still use it, but they haven't come
up with anything lately that I want to buy.

On Wed, 26 Feb 2014 23:26:49 +1300, Me wrote:

On 26/02/2014 10:26 p.m., RichA wrote:
But that doesn't mean they acknowledge the problem

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/02...&ref=title_0_1

It took them about a year and a half.
Meanwhile they released the D610, the most significant improvement over
the D600 being that the sensor didn't clog up with oil spots.
IMO, not a huge PR success, nor the way they addressed the issues with
some D800/D800E cameras with misaligned focus sensors.
I'm also not happy with the fact they sold Nik software to Google,

Did they ever own Nik software? I've always understood that Nik was an
independent organisation who wrote NX which they then licensed to
Nikon. With the purchase by Google of the independent Nik, Nikon's
source of software has dried up.

and are now dumping u-point in the new version of Capture NX (afaik
there's no way to use the Nik plugins in the new Capture NX).

Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.

If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

I suppose
software isn't their core business, NX was always a slow pig to use with
a clunky interface, but u-point technology was innovative, worked
extremely well, and was once a Nikon only specialty for raw image
processing. So - they sold it.
IMO the Nikon Df is a frankencamera, they seem to have abandoned Dx
format for pro/semi pro lines (despite the fact that u4/3 are eating in
to their consumer dx dslr market).
There's still no Dx format (or larger) mirrorless camera from them -
despite the fact that they produced the one series with hybrid AF which
(despite flaws) worked better than anything else in the market when it
was released, and could have been scaled in to a larger format.
I'm trying to think of something they've really nailed lately - I was
thinking the 70-200 f4 VR, but it's damned expensive - and Canon was
making one 10 years ago, so it's hardly innovative.
The D800/E was innovative for the sensor technology, which mainly comes
from Sony - but otherwise is much the same as an ancient D700.
Rant finished (though I'll probably think of other things after posting
this).
I'm a Nikon user since the '80s - Nikon has their ups and downs, and I
get the feeling that they're heading for, if not already in a "down"
now. My Nikon stuff still works, I still use it, but they haven't come
up with anything lately that I want to buy.

--

Regards,

Eric Stevens

On 2014-02-27 19:34:01 +0000, Eric Stevens said:


Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.

If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

....or Nikon makes a deal with NIK/Google.


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 28/02/2014 10:45 a.m., Savageduck wrote:
On 2014-02-27 19:34:01 +0000, Eric Stevens said:


Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.

If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

...or Nikon makes a deal with NIK/Google.


I'd have hoped so...
....if the new CaptureNX allowed Nik plugins.

I'm not sure how much of Nik Software Nikon owned - they definitely made
a capital investment in Nik, the Nikon exclusive (for raw) Capture NX
long preceded release of Nik plugins for other image editing programs.

I liked CaptureNX too. But it copped a lot of flak in forums etc, due
to unstable performance and what were demanding hardware requirements.
It was also a major paradigm shift for people used to using layers etc
in Photoshop.
When I first started using it on a single core AthlonXP generation
machine - which was a typical/average setup at the time - it was
practically unusable. Updating to a more state of the art Core2
machine, it was usable - but some processing functions were still
extremely laggy and inconvenient. It actually works perfectly fine
these days even on 36mp raw files, using a modestly priced and hardly
high-end Corei7 machine. But despite CPU grunt catching up so that the
program works fine - the horse has bolted.

On 2014-02-27 23:13:25 +0000, Me said:

On 28/02/2014 10:45 a.m., Savageduck wrote:
On 2014-02-27 19:34:01 +0000, Eric Stevens said:


Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.

If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

...or Nikon makes a deal with NIK/Google.


I'd have hoped so...
...if the new CaptureNX allowed Nik plugins.

Did Capture NX ever have the capability to use the NIK collection plug-ins?

I'm not sure how much of Nik Software Nikon owned - they definitely
made a capital investment in Nik, the Nikon exclusive (for raw) Capture
NX long preceded release of Nik plugins for other image editing
programs.

I liked CaptureNX too. But it copped a lot of flak in forums etc, due
to unstable performance and what were demanding hardware requirements.
It was also a major paradigm shift for people used to using layers etc
in Photoshop.
When I first started using it on a single core AthlonXP generation
machine - which was a typical/average setup at the time - it was
practically unusable. Updating to a more state of the art Core2
machine, it was usable - but some processing functions were still
extremely laggy and inconvenient. It actually works perfectly fine
these days even on 36mp raw files, using a modestly priced and hardly
high-end Corei7 machine. But despite CPU grunt catching up so that the
program works fine - the horse has bolted.

I used the NX trial when I got my D70, and a later version when I got
my D300. I liked the ideas which were shown in the demo videos, but I
was never comfortable using it and stayed on the Photoshop treadmill.
It was a few more years before I got the NIK collection because of a
discount promotion via NAPP, and found that it was easy to work into my
Photoshop workflow. Needless to say I was quite please when Google
didn't cut it off at the knees when they bought NIK.
I suspect that one of these days we will hear that Google has added NIK
features to Picasa.



--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 28/02/2014 12:51 p.m., Savageduck wrote:
On 2014-02-27 23:13:25 +0000, Me said:

On 28/02/2014 10:45 a.m., Savageduck wrote:
On 2014-02-27 19:34:01 +0000, Eric Stevens
said:


Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.

If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

...or Nikon makes a deal with NIK/Google.


I'd have hoped so...
...if the new CaptureNX allowed Nik plugins.

Did Capture NX ever have the capability to use the NIK collection plug-ins?
No - but NX came with "u-points".

I'm not sure how much of Nik Software Nikon owned - they definitely
made a capital investment in Nik, the Nikon exclusive (for raw)
Capture NX long preceded release of Nik plugins for other image
editing programs.

I liked CaptureNX too. But it copped a lot of flak in forums etc, due
to unstable performance and what were demanding hardware requirements.
It was also a major paradigm shift for people used to using layers etc
in Photoshop.
When I first started using it on a single core AthlonXP generation
machine - which was a typical/average setup at the time - it was
practically unusable. Updating to a more state of the art Core2
machine, it was usable - but some processing functions were still
extremely laggy and inconvenient. It actually works perfectly fine
these days even on 36mp raw files, using a modestly priced and hardly
high-end Corei7 machine. But despite CPU grunt catching up so that
the program works fine - the horse has bolted.

I used the NX trial when I got my D70, and a later version when I got my
D300. I liked the ideas which were shown in the demo videos, but I was
never comfortable using it and stayed on the Photoshop treadmill.
It was a few more years before I got the NIK collection because of a
discount promotion via NAPP, and found that it was easy to work into my
Photoshop workflow. Needless to say I was quite please when Google
didn't cut it off at the knees when they bought NIK.
I suspect that one of these days we will hear that Google has added NIK
features to Picasa.

Only if it suits their profit-driven agenda - which would mean that they
found there was more to gain by giving it away to everybody, than by
selling it to a few.
It's be nice even if they sold a set of plugins compatible with OS
software. Closest to "free" software it works with (most of the suite)
is with Elements - often given away free with assorted gadgets.

Le 27/02/14 20:34, Eric Stevens a écrit :

I'm also not happy with the fact they sold Nik software to Google,

Did they ever own Nik software? I've always understood that Nik was an
independent organisation who wrote NX which they then licensed to
Nikon. With the purchase by Google of the independent Nik, Nikon's
source of software has dried up.

Exactly.
Nikon licenced U-point technology from Nik-software, that despite 3
letters was another firm.
Nik-software is now owned by Google.

and are now dumping u-point in the new version of Capture NX (afaik
there's no way to use the Nik plugins in the new Capture NX).

Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.
They just downgrade NX, and you'd better convert all your files into
tiff files with the old version.


If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

I am mad about that, too !
I like NX2 ; I was expecting Nikon to add the full serie of Nik plug-ins
into NX, not the other way around.
And I am still waiting for an answer about Nik plug-ins upgrade since I
had the former version, that is hosted only by Aperture.
My understanding is that the new version price is for every host you
happen to have on your machine (Aperture, LR, Photoshop CS or Photoshop
element).

Well, keeping the actual version forever (forever being as long as I can
keep a system with it and a machine with this system and a camera that
exist today...) is the way to go for me.

Noëlle Adam

On 2014-03-01 17:50:11 +0000, YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle
said:

Le 27/02/14 20:34, Eric Stevens a écrit :

I'm also not happy with the fact they sold Nik software to Google,

Did they ever own Nik software? I've always understood that Nik was an
independent organisation who wrote NX which they then licensed to
Nikon. With the purchase by Google of the independent Nik, Nikon's
source of software has dried up.

Exactly.
Nikon licenced U-point technology from Nik-software, that despite 3
letters was another firm.
Nik-software is now owned by Google.

and are now dumping u-point in the new version of Capture NX (afaik
there's no way to use the Nik plugins in the new Capture NX).

Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.
They just downgrade NX, and you'd better convert all your files into
tiff files with the old version.


If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

I am mad about that, too !
I like NX2 ; I was expecting Nikon to add the full serie of Nik
plug-ins into NX, not the other way around.
And I am still waiting for an answer about Nik plug-ins upgrade since I
had the former version, that is hosted only by Aperture.
My understanding is that the new version price is for every host you
happen to have on your machine (Aperture, LR, Photoshop CS or Photoshop
element).

If you registered your original NIK software, you should have received
an email from NIK (Google) around March 2013, which would have looked
like this.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...enshot_597.jpg

If you didn't get that email, I would contact NIK customer support and
explain your situation.


Well, keeping the actual version forever (forever being as long as I
can keep a system with it and a machine with this system and a camera
that exist today...) is the way to go for me.

Noëlle Adam


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 2/03/2014 6:50 a.m., YouDontNeedToKnowButItsNoëlle wrote:
Le 27/02/14 20:34, Eric Stevens a écrit :

I'm also not happy with the fact they sold Nik software to Google,

Did they ever own Nik software? I've always understood that Nik was an
independent organisation who wrote NX which they then licensed to
Nikon. With the purchase by Google of the independent Nik, Nikon's
source of software has dried up.

Exactly.
Nikon licenced U-point technology from Nik-software, that despite 3
letters was another firm.
Nik-software is now owned by Google.

and are now dumping u-point in the new version of Capture NX (afaik
there's no way to use the Nik plugins in the new Capture NX).

Nikon now has to develop their own software - which must not infringe
Nik's copyright or patents.
They just downgrade NX, and you'd better convert all your files into
tiff files with the old version.


If that's what is happening, it's a great pity. I very much liked
NX/NX2.

I am mad about that, too !
I like NX2 ; I was expecting Nikon to add the full serie of Nik plug-ins
into NX, not the other way around.
And I am still waiting for an answer about Nik plug-ins upgrade since I
had the former version, that is hosted only by Aperture.
My understanding is that the new version price is for every host you
happen to have on your machine (Aperture, LR, Photoshop CS or Photoshop
element).

Well, keeping the actual version forever (forever being as long as I can
keep a system with it and a machine with this system and a camera that
exist today...) is the way to go for me.

Noëlle Adam

The next bad news about the "new" NX, is that it doesn't keep edit data
in the *.nef file as metadata, but uses sidecar files.
Sidecar files are of course the "standard" way of doing things, but the
Nikon way with metadata included in the file (but not changing the raw
data) has certain advantages.
Edits made to *.nef files with "old" CaptureNX aren't shown by the "new"
captureNX, so if you want to further tweak any existing edits to an
image you've made - you're going to have to use "old" NX - or start
again from scratch (why the hell you'd want to do this with a new and
crippled NX is another question).
As for cameras, there are ways to change headers on *.nef files from
"unsupported" camera models so that some can be opened in an "out of
date" NX.

Le 02/03/14 02:09, Me a écrit :

Well, keeping the actual version forever (forever being as long as I can
keep a system with it and a machine with this system and a camera that
exist today...) is the way to go for me.

Noëlle Adam

The next bad news about the "new" NX, is that it doesn't keep edit data
in the *.nef file as metadata, but uses sidecar files.
And I have a strong dislike of sidecar files...
Sidecar files are of course the "standard" way of doing things, but the
Nikon way with metadata included in the file (but not changing the raw
data) has certain advantages.
I totally support that.
Edits made to *.nef files with "old" CaptureNX aren't shown by the "new"
captureNX, so if you want to further tweak any existing edits to an
image you've made - you're going to have to use "old" NX - or start
again from scratch (why the hell you'd want to do this with a new and
crippled NX is another question).
Marketing has always been a total and profound mystery to me.
May be they are just renaming ViewNX, that was the basic (free) raw
opener for Nikon ?
As for cameras, there are ways to change headers on *.nef files from
"unsupported" camera models so that some can be opened in an "out of
date" NX.

Anyway, I am not about to change my camera as long as it works.
And when my D700 will be totally off, I hope technofreaks will be
dumping D800 on second hand market to get D810, or D900, whatever.
Technofreaks are so happy to sell a camera with 5478 clics if it is not
the last model on shelves.
But I am interested to know about the way to import new nef files into
old (read: actual) software.

Noëlle Adam