Nikon camera software for absolute newbs

dissent

I am giving away some of my older dlsr APSC cameras and lenses to relatives since I'm no longer using them. I'm looking for software recommendations for them to use to download the images, do some elementary processing, and output the finished (for them) product. I'm expecting that they will not want to be getting into RAW processing all that soon, so looking for very basic options. I've been using Lightroom for so long I'm not sure what to suggest.

What do you think? I suppose NX Studio if they have a Win 10 or 11 computer. What if they are using a Win 7 or 8 system?

Capt_Spaulding

Personally, I think I’d start them out taking jpegs. Once they get comfortable with the cameras they should be in a better position to know if they want to deal with raw files and what they want from them.

dissent

Yes, definitely starting with jpgs. It's just that I've been doing a raw workflow for so long I don't think I know what a simple jpeg workflow could look like. What would you folks suggest/

Capt_Spaulding

You know, I’m not sure what a jpeg workflow looks like. I suppose that once you sort out the picture controls and find one or two you like you can just fire away and post up to instagram.

If you’re used to running through a half dozen steps with raw files, it gets easy overthink things with jpegs

ggbutcher

I'm a strictly raw photographer too, but I think there's things to be learned in developing the shooting discipline to get consistently good JPEGs out of the camera. You essentially bake the entire processing workflow into the instant of capture, so you need understanding and discipline regarding choosing exposure and white balance prior to pressing the button. You essentially move the majority of 'workflow' forward...

dissent

I'm trying to make the "getting the pics out of the camera" part as simple and painless as possible. Hence looking for the most basic software options possible while permitting some basic cropping and editing functions - maybe some simple video as well.

ggbutcher

It's funny, the precipitating reason I stopped shooting SOOC JPEG and went to a raw workflow was not about IQ or any of the other "regular" reasons, it was that the JPEG size options available in the camera weren't small enough for my taste. I wanted 800x600 "proof" JPEGs, just fine for proofs, web posting and househould use, and they schlep around the dodgy internets just fine. My raw processing journey is convoluted (wrote my own software), but in the toolchain I just add a "resize:800" on the end and poof, right-sized for JPEG export.

I found cropping tools in most regular software to be a royal pain, mainly because the large image display is used both for doing the crop and for displaying the result. In my hack software, I do the cropping operation in a small window with all the other parameters, and the main display only shows the result. Works like a treat.

I shoot a highlight-weighted exposure strategy, so most of my images require post-processing attention to the tone curve. So, my thinking is that if you're not happy using the middle-gray-based exposure tools, SOOC JPEGs will be problematic...

So there, an "everything but the kitchen sink" post...

photobunny

Set it up for JPEG then get them a card reader. Teach them how to drag the files and drop them to their OS's Picture folder. Then it's done. From there they can post the images to Instagram, print them, view them on the disk.

I don't recommend any software for this, just let them enjoy taking pictures and transferring them to their computer. If they want to edit a picture, they'll likely use the filters built to wherever they are posting the images to.

dissent

@photobunny -

yes, that's probably the easiest way to get them started

Capt_Spaulding

I think so. The folks who want more instruction will sort themselves out.

donaldejose

My recent workflow has been this: shoot both jpeg and raw. I have jpeg standard set to my custom preference so I get "good" images straight out of camera and sometimes I just use those. I move the SD card to my computer and look at all the jpegs to select (write down the file numbers on paper) a few compositions which have "potential" for processing the raw version. Then I open NX Studio, import all images and open only the raw version of the file numbers I have written down. After about 5 steps (usually they are move sliders to increase contrast, to slightly protect highlights or shadows if needed, increase or decrease exposure by up to a stop if needed, increase color a bit, sharpen to 2 and then crop slightly if that improves the composition) I am done. Export to a file folder I name for the year and month. It goes fast and usually is much better than the jpeg image SOOC.

mhedges

I like IrfanView for basic things like cropping and resizing.