Nikon is one of the best camera manufacturers in the world. They have been making cameras and camera accessories for more than a century. They started in the days of black and white slide cameras and are still producing high quality cameras in the days of digital cameras with AI powered lenses.
Some models of Nikon cameras allow for creating custom picture controls using which you can instantly apply a set of effects to your captured photos. There are three types of picture controls available in these cameras – NCP, NP2 and NP3 formats. Using a free Nikon software called “Picture Control Utility 2”, we can create these picture controls and use them in the cameras.
The user interface of the Picture Control Utility 2 allows you to choose a Nikon camera model from the drop-down list. The available picture effects depend on the camera model you select because of the limitations of certain camera models. Once you have selected the model, you can pick one of the controls from the list and tweak it. Among various things, we can change the color, contrast, sharpness, brightness and more.
The software shows what the picture control is going to do by making changes to a picture loaded in the software. This helps the user understand how the picture control is going to apply the final effects when used on a camera. You can export the finished picture control to a SD card and then use it on your supported Nikon camera. The SD card must be formatted using the camera and not by the PC.
Picture Control Utility 2 is available for both Windows and Mac computers. It has very minimal system requirements but you should ensure using a high quality LED monitor for viewing the picture effects in true color.
You can download Picture Control Utility 2 from https://downloadcenter.nikonimglib.com/en/products/163/Picture_Control_Utility_2.html.