Free Software, Adorama Deals, and ISO Explained

It’s been a while since I’ve posted and a lot has been going on in the world of photography without me — including free Nik software, tons of Adorama deals from Nikon, and Tony Northrup explains ISO better than I ever would!

Last week, Google announced they were making their Nik photo-editing software plug-ins free for everyone. This is major news, especially if you aren’t aware of the seven powerful Nik plug-ins: Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine. Nik was once an independent photo plug-in company until being purchased years ago by Google, who then sold the Nik software bundle for $150.

Well, the good news is, even if you had spent $150 to buy the Nik plug-ins in the last year or so, Google will refund your money! I’m not sure how far back they will go for refunds, but I have heard from a few friends that they’ve already gotten their money back :). Hey, even if it’s been a few years, if I were you, I’d seek a refund.

The Nik software is a powerful suite of plug-ins, and I have been using them for years. Nik Sharpener Pro and Dfine are valuable for anyone wanting a better algorithm than Photoshop or Lightroom to sharpen photos or decrease digital noise (grain) in images. Another powerful plug-in in the collection is Viveza, which allows photographers to selectively make enhancements to images without layer masks or selections, and sliders that make colors and textures pop without affecting the image globally, i.e., image artifacts and strange color casts. While the other Nik plug-ins are supposedly powerful in their own right, I have not yet tried them all out.

A lot of you may be wondering why Google has made the Nik collection free and trust me, that was my first though as well. It’s troublesome because if you know Google’s history with software, it seems that when software becomes free it is being put out to pasture, i.e., no future updates to the software and they’re phasing it out slowly.

I hope this isn’t the case, but even so, I implore you to download the Nik plug-in software immediately so you can see how it will improve your images and workflow. You can’t really beat free, and the plug-ins can work as a standalone editing program if you don’t want to use them in Photoshop or Lightroom (or if you don’t have either).

Click here to download the Nik collection for free.

Tony Northrup Explains ISO Perfectly

Speaking of digital noise, Tony Northrup, a prolific YouTube vlogger with a photography channel called Chelsea & Tony, released an incredibly helpful video last month called ‘ISO: The Ultimate Guide’.

It is a comprehensive video that explains exactly what ISO is and how it works in different scenarios. So if you ever wanted to dig deep into ISO instead of sticking with auto ISO all the time, watch Tony’s video below to get up to speed and learn everything.

A Brand New Drone, and Tons of Nikon Lens Deals

I recently become a huge supporter of Adorama because of the news that B&H was abusing their warehouse workers by making them work in inhumane conditions.

Adorama is not a close second to B&H, in fact, they are just as good, if not better in my experience. They also offer amazing camera deals and customer service that is equal to, if not better than B&H.

I also print all my images with AdoramaPix and plan to use them in the next few weeks as I set up an Etsy store to sell prints of my work, and possibly any contributors for Precise-Moment.com if there’s interest :).

So if you want to support my site and want to take advantage of any Adorama rebates or discounts, please consider using the links in my article here, and in the future.

The DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter

The DJI Phantom 4 Quadcopter is now available for pre-order at $1,399 with free shipping.

Adorama is expecting to receive delivery within a few days. Orders will be filled on a first come first serve basis.

Adorama Discount on Nikon Lenses

Nikon has instant rebates on several of their lenses. Their promotion is valid through 4/2/16.

All lenses below include: A lens Filter & Corel Digital Organization Creativity Software Kit – Elite Edition: PaintShop Pro X7 (Now includes PaintShop Pro X8), AfterShot Pro 2, Nuance OmniPage 18, FileCenter Standard 7, Printmaster Platinum, and most are bundled with more items as well.

Click here to see all the Nikon lenses Adorama Deals.