Nikon NX Studio

Free Nikon’s free editing software is well worth it

Nikon NX Studio is the latest version of Nikon’s free image browsing, Raw processing and editing software. Many Nikon owners might not even know it exists, and you do have to go looking for it in the Support section of Nikon’s website.

Judged against rival software, NX Studio looks limited. It does offer image browsing, and you can also filter images by their properties, but it’s not really an image cataloguing tool.

However, it is an effective Raw processing tool, not least because it matches the Picture Controls of Nikon cameras and the white balance presets too – third party software only approximates the camera settings.

It also offers local adjustments using the same kind of Control Points found in the latest DXO software. This harks back to when Nik Software, the company behind the Nik Collection, also contributed towards the old Nikon Capture NX software.

NX Studio lacks the finesse of third-party photo editors, but it is free, it does a great job with Nikon Raws and can be used for image enhancement and local adjustments.