Jason- I have been looking at getting the NIK suite myself. Does the RS discount code apply only at the NIK site? There are some discounted prices at naturescapes.net and B&H just recently posted a reduced price set, but it can’t be returned and you have to update silverfox pro. Just doing some comparison shopping. I know Joseph used the trial of SFP 2.0 recently and raved about it.

florian

I purchased the Nik suite about a month ago–after getting A3. I was mostly interested in the HDR and sharpening tools, but the package pricing makes it more attractive to just get the whole set. So far, I’m impressed with the quality of the tools. The integration with Aperture is really nice, and the tools all seem to perform as advertised. The sharpening, noise reduction, and b&w conversion tools are noticeably better and more flexible than the tools in A3, and the other Nik tools allow you to do things you can’t do in A3, like HDR.

There is a learning curve, but the interface is similar across the plugins, and the training videos on their website are pretty good. The biggest challenge is learning control points, which work differently than the brushes in Aperture. They’re both really powerful, but they approach image adjustment from a different perspective.

Since the HDR tool was the thing that got me to buy the set in the first place, I’m happy to report that it’s pretty spectacular. I’m an HDR newbie, but I’m able to create what I consider to be nice image without too much trouble. Just clicking on the 50 or so presets gives you a great idea of the range of effects you can create with this tool.

Definitely check out the discount codes. I think Nik also lets you download trial versions of the individual tools if you want to try before you buy. If you do buy the set make sure you update all the tools individually.