Nikon Capture NX

I do not know what all the hype is about with this software. The Nikon Capture NX software is sold separately from the camera (except for the new D3 and D300) for about $150, and for that price, I do not see why anyone would buy it to process RAW-format NEF files. I downloaded the 30-day eval and perhaps there is something wrong with my notebook or some settings I use but the software is draggingly slow.

Feature-wise, the software is ok. It has the typical features needed to manipulate photos. I can do the same with a NEF plug-in for the Gimp.

Speed-wise, the software is slow. It takes 15 seconds to load up on my 2GHz P4. It also loads in a NEF image slow. The software is so slow it took a few hours to batch process my 300 NEF files. Nothing seems snappy. It does not feel like a normal Windows software.

I have little good to say about this software, a software I think that should have come with the camera in the first place -- why sell a feature on a camera for which you need to pay extra to make full use of? Frankly, I do not like this sales tactic. Nikon makes enough money on the camera and lenses they can give away Capture NX for free.