Is Nikon ViewNX 2 any good?

Stillsnaps

G'day Moose - I just bought the Nikon D5100 and read that the included ViewNX 2 software is not worth putting on my computer, is there any truth to this?

Moose

Howdy @Stillsnaps - In regards to the Nikon supplied software (ViewNX 2)...there's nothing "wrong" with it, however, you have to think about the time invested in learning how to use the program.

Generally speaking, it's safer to invest your time learning how to use a third party program, rather than relying on Nikon's included software. My fear would be that they stop upgrading the software package, because there just so many other available options on the market. In that situation, you'd eventually have to abandon it and start your learning process from scratch.

In regards to the photo tools out there today, I would group them as follows...

Basic photo editing, batch processing and management
1. iPhoto by Apple
2. Picasa by Google

Advanced photo editing, batch processing and management
1. Lightroom by Adobe
2. Aperture by Apple

Intermediate photo manipulation
1. Photoshop Elements

Advanced photo manipulation
1. Photoshop

Ultimately, it comes down to how much control you're after and the amount of time you're willing to devote in order to learn the program. Hope that helps and happy shooting! :)

Stillsnaps

Thanks for your reply Moose, that helped! - Mick