Nik Collection

[Thrash]

Does anyone really use the Nik Collection? I see a few people talk about Silver Efex but thats about it really, ive just got the whole lot on trial but I cant really see how it can do anything differently to Lightroom, even though you have to use them together (or Photoshop or Aperture). Some of the black & white filters in Silver Efex give a nice look but it seems like theyre really restricting in that you cant change much or fine tune it.
Ive used Color Efex a few times and its worked quite well on some things. I used Define once too but it didnt seem particularly good, whilst it got rid of noise to some extent it looked as though vaseline had been smeared on the lens.

Do people use it much?

 

[gramps]

Used with care the suite is very good, I often use Silver Efex, Define and Viveza ... HDR Efex works well if you are into HDR and Color Efex has some very useful profiles such as graduated filters ... the option of using it in 'Brush' mode is also quite useful.
Well worth the new price IMO

 

[russellsnr]

Hi, I have the suit and for the money it is worth every penny or dime depending where you live.
One place to see NIK products in action is here http://education.niksoftware.com/training/index.php/webinars/archives/

Russ

 

[Thrash]

I had a very old version of the HDR plugin and it was miles better than the latest one, I cant remember what version it was but everything was done using sliders instead of the radio buttons with the labels which dont seem to mean much or correspond to the effect.
I think this was the version I liked:

I used to get great HDR images from it but the new version seems to just give the really over the top HDR effect but I havent used it much.

 

[gramps]

The screenshot is of the current version and it is great, much better than the previous ... of course you have to adjust to get the best results.

 

[Thrash]

The screenshot is of the current version and it is great, much better than the previous ... of course you have to adjust to get the best results.

Yes youre right, this was the version I tried before and much preferred. I will try and figure my way around the new one though

 

[fred2511]

I use silver effex all the time and really like it.

 

[MIKEROPHONICS]

Relight your shot in vivezza, then add darken lighten centre preset in colour Effex - instant portrait satisfaction....

Back to original posters question, best creative fun per pound in post I think Silver Effex pro 2 is worth the price of the whole suite alone!

Get your monitor calibrated though....