用甚麼軟件轉原始檔？Which raw converter? Aperture 3, Lightroom 3 or Capture NX2?

The choice of software is closely related to workflow, which will be discussed in another article. Here, we just talk about raw converter. As I'm a Nikon DSLRs and Mac user, I have the following choices:

• Aperture 3
• Lightroom 3 or Adobe Raw Converter
• Capture NX2
• BibblePro
• CaptureOne
• RPP
• Silkpix

I have been using Nikon's own converter for several years. Back in the time of Nikon D70, it was the only choice that could really give you the highest quality of conversion. But now other converters are getting better, and the gap has been bridged. As I'm building up a new digital darkroom, I need to start afresh.

Thom Hogan recently posted a detailed analysis. At the moment, I won't consider BibblePro, CaptureOne, RPP or Silkpix due to my intended workflow. But still I have three choices. After I've read Thom's opinion, I still the following relevant factors that affect my choice:

• Capture NX2. It doesn't support 64-bit or reliable multicore support. It's slow. It's helpful for tweaking up an NEF to its full capacity, except white balance. It doesn't fit into the Aperture or Lightroom workflow. Only Photo Mechanic works well with Capture NX2.
• Lightroom and Adobe Raw Converter. They are fast. Adobe provides custom lens profiles. But they come up with some odd white balance values on their own. They are a bit "orange" on the reds.
• Aperture 3. It's fastest among the three.

I'll use either Aperture 3 or Lightroom 3 most of the time, and Capture NX2 only in tough images. But still I have to choose between the two, Aperture or Lightroom? As either one as a raw converter is good enough, my choice will mainly depend on my workflow.