Camera
Review: Nikon NX Studio answers our plea for a free, all-in-one editing app

Introduction
Nikon NX Studio version 1.0.0’s user interface. |
A few weeks ago, we published an article comparing Nikon’s free ViewNX-i and Capture NX-D utilities with their dominant payware alternative, Adobe Camera Raw, which also underlies the popular Adobe Lightroom Classic. In summary, I found both ViewNX-i and Capture NX-D to offer pretty decent image quality and good performance.
But one of my primary complaints with this duo was that neither app offered a complete feature set. ViewNX-i’s Raw processing capabilities were rather more limited in the interests of approachability, while Capture NX-D lacked features like support for geolocation, keywording, movies, slideshows and more. That left users having to switch back and forth between the pair for a full experience.
The newly released Nikon NX Studio definitively addresses this. It’s essentially a replacement for both applications, offering almost every feature of the pair in a single program. Capture NX-D and ViewNX-i will remain available for download, but are unlikely to be updated to add support for new cameras or compatibility with future operating system updates.
NX Studio replaces ViewNX-i if already installed, but can run alongside Capture NX-D, allowing you to try both in parallel should you want to. It comes bundled with a new version of Nikon Transfer 2 whose sole change is to add support for NX Studio itself. It also works with the same Message Center 2 and Picture Control Utility 2 apps as its predecessors.
It will support all Nikon DSLRs released since the D1 in 1999, as well as all of the company’s Z and 1-series mirrorless cameras, Coolpix compacts and KeyMission action cameras. (Although with that said, AVI-format movies from a couple of dozen Coolpix models released between 2009 and 2011 can’t be played back in the app.)
Key takeaways:
- NX Studio comes with a modern, approachable UI
- Keywording and GPS tagging are now supported
- Allows for movie playback and light editing
- Image quality and performance are broadly similar to predecessors; convenience in a single package is the reason to upgrade
A cleaner, friendlier, more modern user interface
The user interface is aesthetically similar to that of both earlier apps, but it’s now cleaner, friendlier and more standards compliant than before. Icons are monochromatic, with a bolder yellow accent color used to call attention to enabled options, rather than the more muted yellow of the Capture NX-D and ViewNX-i. And unlike both earlier apps, there are no drop shadows or gradient effects, giving NX Studio a cleaner, more modern look.
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Alongside its predecessors, Capture NX-D (bottom left) and ViewNX-i (bottom right), Nikon NX Studio (top) has a cleaner, friendlier user interface that’s nevertheless familiar. |
Compared to NX-D specifically, NX Studio is far more approachable. Adjustment panels are no longer hidden behind toggle buttons, expanding a new one no longer causes a previous one to vanish from the UI, and nor do conflicting variations of a single control appear in multiple places as in the earlier app. If you only use a subset of the controls on offer, you can also create a custom panel containing just those specific controls, which helps made them easier to find.
And unlike in Capture NX-D, Windows conventions are now properly followed, so you can tab or shift-tab to switch back and forth between fields when typing in values directly, saving some wrist strain in having to reach for your mouse or touchpad repeatedly. One slight shortcoming is that while keyboard shortcuts are supported – for example, the F key toggles full-screen mode – there’s no list of shortcuts to be found in the otherwise-excellent user manual, and nor are they listed in the app’s settings. We’ve sent a query over to Nikon about the keyboard shortcuts, and will update this article if and when we receive a response.
Few and minor drawbacks to the new interface
There are relatively few downsides to the new UI. You can no longer undock and float panels to place them wherever you like on the screen, nor can you dock them in different locations to their defaults, other than for the film strip. This defaults to a horizontal bar at the bottom of the screen, but can be switched to a vertical column at screen left instead
The navigation panel, folders and albums controls are all fixed at screen left, while the histogram, adjustments, EXIF information and keywording tools sit at the right of the screen. Both of these side panels can easily be resized, or hidden with a single click on their centrally-located arrow buttons. The film strip lacks a similar button to allow it to be hidden, but you can hide it by dragging downwards when resizing.
Keyword your images manually or based on location
Given that ViewNX-i had a rather abbreviated selection of editing controls, I’d wager most users will be migrating from Capture NX-D. In most respects, NX Studio’s editing controls are identical to that app, although it does add the Color Booster control from ViewNX-i alongside NX-D’s saturation tool, giving you access to other method.
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NX Studio now includes support for XMP and IPTC keywording, including automatic address and Wikipedia data tagging based on geolocation info. | |
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But what else do you gain by switching from NX-D? The most significant addition is probably the arrival of both XMP/IPTC keywording, allowing you to manually tag your images post-import, view existing tags and remove those which aren’t applicable.
If your images are geotagged, you can also add location-based tags semi-automatically, choosing from a list of app-selected location name suggestions, or even from place names suggested via Wikipedia. Confusingly, though, this functionality is available only when in map view, even though the ‘Set from location data’ button remains visible – albeit grayed out – in other views. I’d like to see Nikon correct that to be clickable regardless of your chosen view.
View your images and track logs on the map
Speaking of the map view, that’s another new addition, and it allows you to see geotagged images from your currently-selected folder or album on an interactive world map. You have a choice of map, satellite, hybrid or physical views provided by Google Maps.
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The new Map view can pinpoint the location and capture direction of individual photos, show GPS track logs and automatically geotag your images from the tracks. |
Each individual image shows up as a yellow pushpin on the map, with the currently selected image being shown in red. If your camera recorded a compass bearing at capture time, that direction is also indicated on its pushpin when selected as shown in the screenshot above left, but not otherwise.
If you have an NMEA or GPX track log recorded by the camera itself or a compatible device, these can be imported and shown as a red track line. And once imported, they can be used to approximately geotag selected images based on their capture time as compared to the times recorded in the track log.
Play movies and perform basic editing tasks
Another new addition is support for movies, both in terms of playback and basic editing. The editing functionality allows you to quickly trim the start and end of clips, or splice multiple files together.
You can also combine multiple movie clips and images to make a new file complete with titles, captions, and overlaid music. There are, however, only three transition effects, three still image durations (with optional motion effect), and three brief music samples provided. You can also add your own music in .WAV or .M4A formats, and process movie clips to remove autofocus noise.
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You can now view and perform basic editing on movies in-app, but you’ll need a beefy processor and GPU if you want to do so with ultra high-def footage. | |
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Unfortunately, you’ll need quite a beefy processor and GPU for smooth playback if you shoot in 4K, let alone editing. On my 2018 Dell XPS 15 9570 laptop running Windows 10 version 1909, I found 1080p clips from the Nikon Z5, for example, played smoothly but those at 4K resolution stuttered badly.
And that’s not down to the hardware, as VLC Media Player played them perfectly smoothly on the same computer, while Windows’ own Media Player and Photo apps only dropped a handful of frames.
Several smaller tweaks, too
Nikon NX Studio also includes a number of smaller tweaks compared to Capture NX-D. For one thing, you can now upload images and movies directly to Nikon’s Image Space service and YouTube, respectively. You can also view slideshows with optional, user-provided background music, and the new program adds support for more obscure file formats such as 3D Multi Picture Object files or voice notes recorded on older Coolpix cameras.
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Support is included for uploading your creations to both Nikon Image Space and YouTube. |
Really, I can only find a couple of omissions. As mentioned previously, you can no longer undock interface panels, nor can you change whether they appear in the left or right-side palettes. Other than that, I couldn’t find any other missing features this time around.
Image quality is indistinguishable from NX-D
Initially, I planned to compare Nikon NX Studio’s image quality to that of its predecessors and Adobe Camera Raw in detail. However, on testing the program I’ve found its results with identical settings to be visually indistinguishable from those of NX-D, even though precise file sizes do differ fractionally at the same compression level.
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You can also play basic slideshows in-app, but there are only three transition types to choose from, and you’ll need to supply any background music yourself. |
With that being the case, I’ll refer you to the second page of my earlier article, instead, for a more detailed analysis. NX Studio is capable of delivering good image quality with very pleasing color and impressive shadow recovery, but feel Adobe still has a slight edge when it comes to fine detail at low sensitivities, which increases at higher sensitivities thanks to significantly stronger noise reduction from Nikon.
The good news is that with no noticeable change in image quality, and with all the same controls on offer as in both predecessors, NX Studio will read and apply all the same tweaks as did either earlier application, meaning you can upgrade without fear of having to rework all of your adjustments.
Performance is similar to both predecessors
As for performance, which was already a strong point of Nikon’s software compared to that provided by most manufacturers, things are also pretty similar to before. Adobe still has a small but noticeable edge in the speed of final output processing, and a more substantial advantage in terms of preview performance.
NX Studio is a little faster than Capture NX-D, however. Using the same six comparison images as for my previous article, it took 28 seconds to complete the batch. That’s about two seconds faster than with NX-D, and two seconds slower than NX-i. By way of comparison, performance leader Adobe still holds the crown with a time of 19.5 seconds.
A few bugs, but that’s to be expected in a brand-new app
In my time with Nikon NX Studio, I’ve found it to be very stable, but that’s not to say it’s perfect, nor would I expect a brand-new app to be. I’ve run across a couple of bugs, although only one strikes me as particularly significant. (And both are related to issues I found with the previous apps, as well.)
Firstly, there’s still an issue with detecting dragging of the right-panel scroll bar, regardless of whether the program is running maximized or not. But where this only happened with my Dell Active Pen, it now also happens with both the touch screen and even when dragging with the mouse. Simply using the scroll wheel or a two-fingered touchpad swipe works around this, however.
The program also ignores Windows’ scaling settings entirely in mixed-resolution monitor setups when running on an ultra high-def screen. That makes it extremely difficult to use on a 4K display unless you either lower the resolution or disable your lower-res screen(s).
The good news is that Nikon is aware of this problem and working on a fix. In the meantime, desktop users with mixed-resolution displays can work around it using a scaling setting built into NX Studio, but notebook users will find that they constantly have to change this setting – which also requires an app restart – every time they disconnect or reconnect a display of differing resolution.
NX Studio is a big step in the right direction
So what do I think of Nikon NX Studio? I have to say that it’s a big step in the right direction, giving photographers that Nikon cameras a powerful editing application where they can perform most of the edits they’d want to.
The most important thing here is that the new program provides basically everything of any significance from its two predecessors, allowing you to ditch one of them altogether. Its new interface is noticeably better and easier on the eye, and its performance and image quality are just as good as before.
I think this first iteration of NX Studio is a great replacement for Nikon’s earlier apps. If you’re using either ViewNX-i or Capture NX-D currently, I highly recommend you upgrade to the newer app, because I’m confident that you’ll agree.
What we like:
- Available free with your Nikon camera
- Includes almost every feature of Capture NX-D and ViewNX-i in a single app
- Recognizes and retains edits made with Capture NX-D or ViewNX-i
- Significantly friendlier interface than its predecessors, though with familiar controls
- Realistic color with minimal effort
- Impressive shadow recovery from Active D-Lighting and D-Lighting HS
- Slightly faster than Capture NX-D, albeit still a fair bit slower than Adobe
- A very generous editing feature-set
What we don’t:
- No overall one-click auto control, although many individual controls have an auto setting
- Noise reduction robs fine detail and, depending on your camera, there may not be much scope to fine-tune it
- Interactions between controls can prove challenging
- 4K video playback requires beefy hardware
- Similar touch/pen issues to earlier apps, but they’re easily worked around
Camera
Tips for taking epic shots of tonight’s ‘blood moon’ total lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse, captured by Jamie Malcolm-Brown in November 2021. Used with permission. |
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2022. We have updated it with information about the current eclipse as a service to readers.
Starting tonight, March 13, through the early hours of tomorrow, March 14th, skywatchers in the Americas will be able to view the first total lunar eclipse of the year. The moon will turn a ‘blood red’ hue for a brief period as it passes entirely into the Earth’s shadow when lined up with the sun. Depending on where you are located, there is a specific time you can witness this phenomenon.
Time and Date, a top-ranking site for times and timezones, created a useful tool that allows you to make a plan by entering your viewing location. From there, it gives you pertinent information, including the total duration, what time each phase of the eclipse starts and the direction it’ll travel, plus altitude during these phases. A helpful animation gives you a visual of how it will appear, minute by minute, once it starts.
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Time and Date created a free tool to help you plan your total lunar eclipse viewing, depending on your location. This is the data for Seattle, WA, where DPReview’s headquarters is located. |
If you plan on bringing your camera out for the ‘blood moon’, photographer Jamie Malcolm-Brown has some helpful tips for camera settings. Describing his process for capturing a lunar eclipse in 2021, he tells DPReview that ‘it was taken with [a] 200-600mm lens at 600mm, ISO 800, F6.3, at 1/3 sec. I bracketed the shots at 5 shots with an EV (exposure value) change of 1. Next time I would probably bracket 5 shots but with only an EV change of .3. The final image was cropped fairly significantly to fill the frame with the moon.’
While useful for capturing more detail on the moon’s surface, you don’t necessarily need a long lens that extends to 600mm to photograph the blood moon. John Weatherby released a quick, helpful tutorial on Instagram outlining his process for getting the best images possible. For one, you can shoot at a focal length between 100–200mm if you want to include a foreground.
View this post on Instagram
Weatherby also explains that having a sturdy tripod and ball head is an absolute necessity. Ensuring that the lens is locked in securely will yield clearer images of the moon. Using the camera’s shutter delay or self-timer, or an external remote, will also help prevent blurry shots as the camera is likely to shake a bit once you press the shutter. PhotoPills, an app that helps you identify where the moon will travel in accordance with your specific location, is recommended as well.
It’s important to check the weather in your area as cloud coverage can potentially conceal the moon completely. Windy.com is a free app available on desktop, iOS and Android that, in my opinion, does a decent job of forecasting weather patterns. It’ll give you a visual of where clouds will appear at specific dates and times so you can determine the best place to set up in your state or country.
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Windy.com, a free app, is an effective tool for forecasting weather elements, including cloud coverage. |
The next total lunar eclipse will take place on September 7, and will be visible in parts of Asia, Africa and Australia. If skywatching interests you, you’re in or near one of the locations where the eclipse is visible and weather permits, I recommend getting out for a few hours and witnessing this wonderful event first-hand.
Camera
Fast and fun: Photographer captures the thrill of Formula 1 with Lego

Photo: Benedek Lampert |
This weekend marks the start of the 2025 Formula 1 season, and one photographer is kicking things off with a series of photographs to celebrate. With a fine focus on detail and many hours of work, toy photographer Benedek Lampert has recreated F1 moments using Lego. This project is just the latest for Lampert, who has previously created life-like scenes of Lego versions of the Eiffel Tower and Shackleton’s Endurance.
In September 2024, Lego and F1 announced a partnership that included releasing numerous F1 Lego sets, some of which featured more realistic-looking models of F1 team cars. Lampert managed to get his hands on the entire starting grid and set to work on creating highly detailed, life-like photographs of the Lego F1 cars.
As with all of Lampert’s work, nearly everything was done in camera. “It’s extremely important to me that these are actual photos and not AI-generated graphics,” he explained. That meant lots of hands-on time to build sets and problem-solve special effects. He built the track scenery and crafted unique sets that allowed him to get motion blur, spinning wheels, smoke and water vapor without any editing work. Lampert explained that the only thing he added while editing was the cloud texture in the sky and rear lights in one image.
All said and done, Lampert says the project took 70 hours for the 10 final images. The photo shoot portion of the project took five days, with ten to twelve-hour days at times. You can see how he meticulously created each image in the behind-the-scenes video below, as well as the photos in the gallery above.
Camera
Inspiringly simple: Sigma BF review-in-progress

The Sigma BF is a minimalist 24MP full-frame mirrorless camera that offers distinctive design and an unconventional user interface.
Key specifications
- 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor
- Phase detection AF with human and animal detection
- No mechanical shutter
- 3.2″ 2.1M dot rear touchscreen
- Pressure-sensitive buttons with haptic feedback
- 6K video up to 30p, 4K up to 30p
- 1080 up to 120p
- Leica L-Log profile
- Zebras and False Color exposure displays
- 230GB of internal memory
- 10Gbps USB-C port, external mic compatible
The Sigma BF is available in Black or Silver at a cost of $2000. Sigma has also made versions of all its i-series primes to match the silver version of the camera.
Index:
What is it?
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The Sigma BF is explicitly not trying to be a do-everything, Swiss Army Knife of a camera. Sony’s a7C II already exists, bringing an EVF, multiple dials, a mechanical second-curtain shutter mechanism and in-body image stabilization, for a list price just 10% higher than the BF’s.
But if Sigma was trying to go head-to-head with Sony in the mass market, it probably wouldn’t be spending seven hours milling each camera out of blocks of aluminium, nor doing so in Japan: neither of which is the approach you take if you’re primarily driven to hit a specific price point.
Similarly, just looking at the specs, the BF might be mistaken for an unstabilized Panasonic S9 in a fancier body, but despite sharing a sensor, the two cameras couldn’t be more different.
Instead Sigma explicitly says the BF is designed for ‘everyday’ photography. An elegant object designed to be carried with you, rather than a utilitarian device you take when you’re taking photos. It’s absolutely not optimized for rapid operation, it’s not teeming with clever features. Instead it includes only the bare essentials for photography (or, arguably, slightly less than that, given its lack of mechanical shutter).
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Think of it like a Moleskine notebook: in many respects it’s not as practical for taking notes and recording ideas as the smartphone you’re already carrying, but the very process of carrying it with you acts as a prompt to look at the world and capture the thoughts you were having. The BF is trying to do the same.
It’s the difference between a camera that you’d grab when you want to go and take photos of something, vs a tool that encourages you to look for things to photograph.
Body and controls
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User interface
The best way to understand the BF is to note the dedicated settings display towards the top right-hand corner on the back of the camera. This displays one of ten parameters:
Drive mode | File format | Aspect ratio | Focus mode | White balance |
Shutter speed | Aperture value | Exp comp. | ISO | Color mode |
These are also the ten parameters that appear on the main screen if you press the center button on the back of the camera, in the pattern shown in the table above.
You can navigate between them by pressing the cardinal points on the rear dial, then scroll the dial to change the current setting.
But you don’t have to press the center button and bring them up on the main screen: once you’ve learned their relative positions (and chances are it’s the ones in the bottom row you’ll change regularly), you can navigate around them just using the settings display. And, for me, that’s the key to understanding the BF: it’s designed so that the core settings can be adjusted without looking at the main screen. You can set the camera to show all the settings on the main screen,
In keeping with this idea, the touchscreen is almost solely used for positioning the AF point or selecting a subject to track: even if you summon-up the settings on the main screen, you can’t tap to change settings, just choose what to focus on.
Exposure modes
The BF has no mode dial, so exposure mode is set by selecting which parameters you want to be controlled by the camera. This is done via the main screen. Press the center button to bring up the settings then press it again to edit them, and the ISO, aperture value and shutter speed indicators show ‘Auto’ options above them, letting you engage and disengage automated control of each parameter.
Any of the exposure parameters that can’t be changed by spinning the dial, either because they’re set to Auto or because aperture value is being set by an aperture ring, is rendered in darker grey, both in the settings display and on the main screen display.
Other settings
Another ten settings, six of which relate to how much detail appears on the main screen (exposure parameters, guides, virtual horizon, etc), can be accessed by pressing the ‘three dots’ settings button. At the bottom of this settings menu is the word ‘System’ which gives you access to a ten-option-long list of fundamental camera settings, including firmware information, copyright information, menu language and date/time.
That’s the extent of the BF’s interface: ten top-level parameters, ten settings and ten menu options. But what this doesn’t fully convey is the degree to which it’s a camera in which Shutter speed, Aperture value, Exposure compensation and ISO can all be set using just the settings display, leaving the monitor solely for focus and composition.
Handling
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The BF is a very solid-feeling camera, as you might expect from something hewn from a solid block of metal. The body itself is relatively light but the weight adds up as soon as you mount a lens of any appreciable size on it.
Despite it’s minimalist appearance, it’s quite easy to hold. The textured front-plate and raised thumb rest at the back mean you can get a pretty solid grip on the camera, and you can cradle the weight of the lens in your left hand if you’re working with anything larger than one of the compact primes offered by Sigma or Panasonic.
However, we found that it was common for our ring finger to wrap around to the base of the camera as we held it, which quickly makes apparent how sharply angled the edge of the BF is. It’s not hard to imagine users adding a little tape to the lower edge of the camera or being tempted to chamfer the edge with a fine file, once they come to live with the camera.
I’ve primarily used it with the Sigma 35mm F2 prime and the Panasonic 20-60mm F3.5-5.6 lenses, both of which are small and light enough that it’s been comfortable to use.
Battery
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The BF uses a new 11.88Wh BP-81 battery. This will power the camera to a CIPA rating of 260 shots per charge. As always, the CIPA figure will tend to under-represent how many shots you’re likely to get, and we found it’s the camera’s propensity to show its charge percentage on its settings display that caused us to worry a little disproportionately.
Still, a rating of 260 is pretty low and means you may want to consider carrying a power bank if you plan to do more than occasional shots each day. Putting it on to charge overnight, just as you might do with your phone will probably be sufficient for everyday casual use, though.
A gentle press of the power button puts the camera into standby mode, but the battery will continue to drain at an appreciable rate. The BF starts up from cold quickly enough that this is usually a better approach.
Initial impressions
By Richard Butler
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Even the body cap is an over-engineered delight. |
The Sigma BF is one of the most unusual cameras we’ve ever encountered. On paper it looks like an under-specced rival to the Panasonic DC-S9 or even the Sony a7C II. Or, perhaps even a slightly re-purposed Sigma fp. But, even though it shares components and a small rectangular body, the BF is quite unlike any of these cameras.
Sigma’s CEO, Kazuto Yamaki talked about completely re-thinking the camera’s interface to pare it back to the fundamental things a camera needs to offer, in an attempt to make it simple to use, with the aim of making a camera for everyday use. And the more I use the BF, the more I think I understand this intent.
The idea of a dedicated settings display, leaving the main screen as a means of composing your image and positioning the focus point is a refreshingly simple one, undermined only by the challenge of viewing a fixed LCD in bright light. The decision to display only one setting, rather than a full array of settings and icons makes it very quick to interpret and I did find it made me consider what changes I wanted to make, shot-to-shot, in a way I don’t on a more conventional twin-dial camera.
This really hit home when I realized I prefer to set aperture from the camera, rather than using an aperture ring; I think the camera works best with everything controlled from the settings display, rather than trying to increase the number of control points.
Another surprise was how good the BF’s autofocus appears to be. Its subject tracking is very simple to use and impressively tenacious, while its eye detection works well and can be left turned on without minimal risk of the camera prioritizing nearby faces ahead of a different subject you’ve selected.
There are distinct downsides, though. The lack of mechanical shutter not only means there’s a risk of rolling shutter and that the camera can’t be used with flash, it also means it’s quite prone to banding caused by the inherent flicker of artificial lights. This can be fairly subtle at longer shutter speeds but becomes increasingly apparent in short exposures, limiting its use as an indoor camera, despite a sensor that works well in low light.
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Sigma 35mm F2.0 | F4.0 | 1/500 sec | ISO 400
Photo: Richard Butler |
Sigma’s sometimes quite dramatic color modes may not be to everyone’s tastes, and I’m not wholly convinced by the ‘Light Source Priority’ auto white balance mode, that tries to maintain some of the character of the detected light source. But even when the results are unexpected, they’re often interesting.
The BF’s battery life is also quite short. An external charger is available, if you want to keep a second battery topped-up, but mainly it’s a case of remembering to put the camera on to charge regularly, just as you might for your smartphone.
Other than a slight concern about the sharp lower front edge, I’m really looking forward to spending more time with the BF. It’s not a camera that lets you respond quickly to the unexpected; instead it’s one that makes you slow down and look for the photos you might otherwise not notice.
Sigma BF sample gallery
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