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I've already looked at raw ability in Photoshop CS2, together with image editing features for post-processing. The question is should I upgrade to CS2 (from Photoshop 7 and Elements 3) when my Nikon D70 arrives, or spend similar money on Nikon Capture instead. How do they broadly compare in terms of features? At this point I'm not interested in technical subtleties, just a broad feature run-down for Joe Average.

Photoshop CS2

The full Photoshop CS2 package costs a whopping £523 from the European Adobe online store; to upgrade from Photoshop 7 costs £140 (including VAT) or £144 if you download it (yes, more , but missing media, printed manual, and Stock Art!). The same upgrade costs $US150 in the States—about £80. It looks like Adobe set their own exchange rate: remember to smile as you get ripped off... but honestly, a rather perplexing approach to pricing for a company concerned about software piracy. I sent a polite letter to Adobe (then an e-mail) asking them to explain the price difference, but they didn't even have the decency to reply to either.

However, non-US upgrade price aside, CS2 has some great features for digital photographers:

• More options in the raw converter (compared to PSE3; see here);
• Filter for lens correction. As well as removing barrel distortion, there are controls for fixing chromatic aberration and vignetting (also for non-raw files), and perspective;
• Filter for noise reduction (also reduced JPEG artifacts; also in PSE3);
• Filter for smart sharpening, apparently more advanced than unsharp mask and can be selectively applied to highlights or shadows and set to remove lens blur;
• Spot healing brush (you don't have to option-click to select a source; also in PSE3 where it doesn't work in 16-bit mode);
• An image browser and management tool called Bridge which may be useful in deciding what to process via image ratings (stars and/or colours). Has a "Metadata Focus" workspace view for viewing, editing, and searching EXIF and other metadata;
• A red eye reduction tool (also in PSE3 where it doesn't work in 16-bit mode);
• HDR (high dynamic range) images, a merge function that combines 2 or more images exposed a stop apart (e.g. at 1/250 and 1/500), maximising highlight and shadow detail;
• CS2 also has PSE3's handy Photomerge feature for creating panoramas (works in 16-bit mode);
• The ability to highlight menu options that make up your personal workflow.

The option to change the pixel aspect ratio is useful if you edit widescreen DV with iMovie HD or Final Cut Express. Other features, such as vanishing point, smart objects, and image warping are likely to be of more interest to those in graphic design.

Nikon Capture 4.2

Nikon Capture 4.2 (30-day free trial) contains 2 applications, sold for $US99 in the States or £120+ in the UK (nearly $US230!):

• Editor, which "can be used to adjust raw images in ways not supported by other software";
• Control, which allows direct recording of photos to a computer and some remote camera control operations.

The following descriptions are taken from Nikon Caputre 4 Help.

Tool Palette 1 and Colour Balance Palette

Curves + Color Balance: Adjust tone, color balance, and contrast. There are two distinct tools for this task: the Curves palette, which provides precise control over tone, and the Color Balance palette, which features simpler controls.

Unsharp Mask: If the image lacks definition, you can sharpen outlines using the controls in the Unsharp Mask palette. Unsharp mask only be applied at the last step, after all other adjustments have been made.

D-Lighting: Increase detail in shadows or highlights.

Color Booster: Adjust color automatically according to the subject.

Size/Resolution: Adjust the size and resolution of the image for output on a particular device.

Photo Effects: Convert images to black and white, sepia, or to other tints or adjust the brightness of the cyan/red, magenta/green, or yellow/blue channels.

Tool Palette 2

Advanced raw: Choose new settings for exposure compensation, image sharpening, tone compensation, color mode, and hue adjustment.

White Balance: Adjust white balance.

Noise Reduction: Reduce the noise common to pictures taken with digital cameras. Nikon Capture supports color noise reduction, edge noise reduction, and moiré reduction (raw images only).

Image Dust Off: Reduce effects of dust on the low-pass filter protecting the camera image sensor.

Vignette Control: Compensate for drop in marginal lumination caused by characteristics of camera lens.

Fisheye Lens: Process pictures taken with an AF DX 10.5mm f2.8G fisheye Nikkor lens to reduce distortion at the edges of the frame, making them look like images taken with a wide-angle lens.

LCH Editor: Adjust luminosity (master lightness), color brightness, chroma (color saturation, or vividness), and hue.

Tool Palette 3

Bird's Eye: Shows the position of the portion of the image visible in the active image window.

Information: Shows the position and color of the pixel under the mouse pointer.

Histogram: Shows the level distribution for the image in the active window or, if a crop is selected, for the current crop.

Markers: Changes to pictures can be recorded using the "Markers" palette.

Conclusion

With the exception of the very specialist fisheye correction for a lens you probably don't own and moiré reduction, I can't see anything in the Nikon Capture feature list that Photoshop CS2 doesn't have covered. As CS2 does all this and more (e.g. use of layers for highlight recovery) and I get a lot of use out of ImageReady for web development it would have to be my choice—not least because I can upgrade for a similar cost to buying Capture. The Photoshop interface is already familiar to me, and IMHO feels more "professional" than Capture's. Importantly, CS2 doesn't tie raw processing to Nikon and NEF (there is also a raw-capable and ACR-friendly Olympus C-70Z in the family). Using one application from start (raw conversion) to finish (e.g. saving as 8-bit JPEG) will surely make for a less convoluted workflow (as opposed to doing conversion +/- editing with Capture then tidying up in CS2). If you want to load custom curves onto your D70 (they have a .ntc extension), you'll need Nikon Capture to do it (apply to JPEGs only; not relevant if you shoot raw). Similar factors may of course influence your own choice of tool.

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