there is some history here that has to be understood to fully appreciate my gripe.
way back when.... sept 2004, adobe developed the digital negative standard, "the dng file." this was an open source file format that all the camera manufacturers could adopt so that 3rd party software companies (such as adobe) could write software to edit raw files from all manufacturers. and so it came to be that all the major manufacturers could concentrate their r&d efforts on their hardware and let the software companies write the applications to edit the raw data. except nikon! when early in 2005 nikon said NO. and they took the unusual step of encrypting their nef code and claimed proprietary rights to it.
I know of only a couple camera companies that output DNG, Leica being one of them (correct me if I'm wrong). But I don't believe Canon does. If you look around now, there are some very, very good raw processors for Nikon files:
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, Aperture, Bibble, Capture One Pro, RPP, Silkypix etc... there are plenty and some of them rival NX2 for NEF conversions. The only thing I heard that Nikon encrypted initially was White Balance, but that seems to have been solved by other vendors anyway.
DNG is great in theory, I guess, but it just hasn't panned out. And major manufacturers aren't "hardware" only by any means, Nikon writes great software that runs the camera internally (converts the raw sensor data, generates JPGs if you want them, removes noise in camera, autofocuses the camera, calculates WB, all at 5 to 10 frames per second). Heck, I'd go so far to say, given the success of the D3, D700, D3s and D3x among other Nikon cameras, that Nikon is one of the best manufacturers in terms of software. But back to DNG, a lot of what DNG is trying to do NEF already does (e.g. let you keep edits stored within the file).
what this meant was that nikon users could only edit their raw files with nikon software. this move created much dissension amongst the nikon camp. long time nikon users were openly talking about switching to canon over this issue. also, lets not forget that canon was starting to implement full frame sensors which was another compelling reason to jump ship. as I see it that was the beginning of an exodus of nikon users to the canon camp.
several months passed before nikon realized that they were being bitten by their own snake. they partially backed off and announced that software companies could be "licensed" to have access to their "SDK" (software development kit). this kit provided LIMITED access to the nef code so that 3rd party software companies could properly edit things like white balance.
Honestly, this is ancient history now. You're talking D1 and D70 timeframe, when JPG output was the norm and RAW converters were just becoming "the thing". It's D3s, D3x and D700 time now.
this is the reason that nikon capture, capture nx/nx2 do the best job of editing nef files. its not because nikon writes great software. its because they are the only ones with full access to the nef code. all other manufacturers have released their code and let the 3rd party software developers do what they do best. ie, write software.
I'm not sure that's true by any means, but in the end, Adobe and Phase One (Capture One Pro software), Bibble, and the rest are doing an excellent job with NEF conversions.
capture nx2 is a powerful application and I have used it faithfully for years. but right now it is not fully functional with SL. until they fix it nikon photographers are somewhat crippled. to date I have avoided purchasing adobe's photoshop (expensive right?) but I now find myself taking a serious look at opening my wallet and purchasing it.
Nikon photographers are only partially crippled if they upgraded to SL, if they had patience, and waited it out, the are fine with 10.5.8 and Nx2. I use NX2 with SL and it's working pretty well, but I knew the risk and didn't upgrade to SL until I'd read a lot of posts in this forum of users who got it to work. Yeah, Nikon is too slow to upgrade, it's true, it bugs me a lot. I've also spent time with the Bibble 5 and the Capture One Pro trials, and they are quite nice, but Nx2 keeps being my "go to" software for some reason.
I hope you've enjoyed my rant, sorry for the long post.
Ian
Nice rant.
I'd say that Nikon is in a catch-22. The sales of NX2 don't justify investing in it more heavily, but without more investment, they won't improve the product to the point that sales increase significantly. Plus they have the Lightroom's of the world out there which are very powerful and fast and will convert RAW from any camera.
to me thats not much of an excuse. by exercising their proprietary rights to the nef code I think they have an obligation to fix their software in a timely manner, otherwise they should release their code so that other legitimate software companies can provide excellent support for nikon as they do for canon, pentax, sony, etc.
I was talking about investing in improving NX2, not just upgrading to run on new OSes. But again, other "legitimate software companies" already do provide excellent support for Nikon/NEF (I listed a few above). Most of them have free trials.
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P. Guyton
http://www.pbase.com/corsairvelo 
and attempt to do some selective edits. the following is a quote from my previous post that explains what I'm experiencing.
