Since I own the complete suite of each company, I'm not in a position where I'd have to defend the one or the other. Practically, I do most of my stuff with Topaz now, because it works with iPhoto, which hosts my image library. However, if NIK worked with iPhoto, I'd probably do more with their suite, as I actually like their way of selecting image parts.
It's certainly nice to own both, since Topaz tends to have a certain "look" that I find quite attractive in combination with the cheap micro-sensor cameras I often use. Here are some examples I shot yesterday:
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As you can see, I'm using Topaz BW Effects for my color(!) work, as I found it can do more for me in that respect than Topaz Adjust. Here's more from yesterday:
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Again, I like the control the software gives me over COLOR. Ironic, but who cares, right?
Here's more examples from the day before, with a slightly different look:
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Finally, yet another take on color, this time for some pics I intend to use for the finale of my
HS20 trip report:
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So for me, it's all about the "
color timing" (hey, I have lived and worked in Hollywood for 7 years), and BW Effects is quickly becoming my favorite software to accomplish this. It's simple, it's intuitive, it's available and accessible, even in iPhoto, which small-sensor compact shooters like me tend to use quite often. I don't know wether the makers of this app even thought about what I am using it for. At least with NIK SEP 2,
I never really thought about doing anything like that.
For comparison, here's some of my NIK SEP 2 stuff, which looks completely different. Different camera (X100), different workflow (mostly RAW), different software (Aperture and everything NIK has to offer):
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So, if not the subject, at least the software and workflow are quite different beasts.
And so are the results. I love to try new stuff and to have options, that's why I followed the recommendation here and bought into Topaz. Hadn't even heard of that company before this thread.