Moving From Cnx2 To Lightroom.

FWIW, I have both, and Photoshop CS5. I bought CNX2 a long time ago before I had Photoshop. Only bought LR recently. I think each program has it's strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes I'll edit the same image in LR and CNX2 just to see the difference. And sometimes I end up liking the CNX2 version better. My point is, don't throw it away just because it's not supported anymore. It still comes in handy for certain things. :-)

I've used CNX2 for years. All the photos I have on FAA were done with it. Now, I'm starting to use LR5. It has a lot of very useful capabilities, but a couple of crucial weaknesses compared to CNX2. The important things I miss are localized curve adjustments, and color control points. Those hurt. The rest, I can work with although I definitely do not like the set of 'sliders' for the basic curve adjustment ("exposure", "highlights" etc.) as opposed to an actual curve tool. It seems like a dumbing-down to me.

I greatly regret the death of CNX2 and I'm really PO'ed at Nikon about it, but it's a done deal.

Jim, LR5 does indeed have a full curves tool, including seperate RGB channels. I use it regularly. In fact, there was a time LR didn't have this, and I wouldn't touch LR because of it. Its a make or break necessity. While curves currently can't be applied to local adjustments, local exposure adjustments are very easy with brushes. Rumor has it that all 4 exposure sliders are going to be available in local adjustments in LR6.

For those of you looking to get ramped up fast, a good, really cheap ($7) e-book for quickly learning the most important editing features of LR5 can be found here: http://craftandvision.com/products/essential-development-for-lightroom-5. It also includes 100 presets.

Chuck, I did see the "Tone Curve" tool but assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that it was somehow limited as compared to the sliders. However I do understand that all the LR adjustments are working on the full 12/14 bit range of raw data. I'll have to revisit this.

What is missing, though, is the ability to really apply different curves to different regions of a photo. You can get close to that with the LR 'spot adjustment' brush, but you can't really attach a curve to that brush.

It's the color control points that I miss most acutely.

I read somewhere that CNX2 is no longer made by the original company (Nik) but by Silkypix; their software came with a Fuji I bought and it seemed clumsy. LR once you are used to it is very intuitive and seems to do a great job on my Nikon files.

For control points and great B&W conversions check out the NIK plugins once you have familiarized yourself with LR. You can trial them for free for two weeks.

Thanks Dean. Yes Nik was bought out in 2012 and I had a feeling they would abandon their Nikon efforts. I feel the opposite about CNX2 and LR than you do. And I can tell you that I almost have to laugh when I see how LR does some things. Like generating previews. I will miss the control points but I tend to brush on adjustments now. Maybe I will get the Nik plugins. I like the way you can move around out of order and readjust the development stage as you get further on in the processing. I don't really like the mindset of LR and I do not think it is intuitive at all but maybe after the webinar I will change my mind. Going forward I will use LR to transfer off my card and not use Nikon transfer/view. There is just too much work in my old stuff to use just LR in the archives. Not just the edits but the ratings. Luckily I have worked hard in the past year getting everything from the past sorted out and edited for final use.