For D70 Owners -- On Image Quality Settings

[Guto]

I'm wondering if I should change any image quality settings on my D70s. I thinking about increasing the sharpness setting and would like to know if there is any drawback on doing that instead of sharpening in Photoshop.

Same thing with color saturation, maybe I'll lose less quality having it more saturated right off the camera than messing with it in PS.

I would also like to know if I can get good results turning the contrast down a bit in exessively harsh lighting conditions.

What setting do you most? Why? Do you like the auto settings?

Appretiate any coments.

[D70FAN]

I'm wondering if I should change any image quality settings on my D70s. I thinking about increasing the sharpness setting and would like to know if there is any drawback on doing that instead of sharpening in Photoshop.

Same thing with color saturation, maybe I'll lose less quality having it more saturated right off the camera than messing with it in PS.

I would also like to know if I can get good results turning the contrast down a bit in exessively harsh lighting conditions.

What setting do you most? Why? Do you like the auto settings?

Appretiate any coments.

I shoot in RAW only, so I leave all of the settings in normal and adjust later in Nikon Capture 4. In many cases sharpening is not necessary (this can also be dependent on the lens) and I would rather have the option. Once you sharpen an image in-camera there is no going back (sharp mask and desharpen are not options). Nikon Captures RAW to JPEG converter does a better job than the camera, retains the original settings for saved NEF's and can be improved on a regular basis. So you always have the best, up-to-date, processor at hand.

If you shoot in JPEG most of the time, then not only are you are loosing considerable image quality, but you are also loosing the ability to truely post process the image. RAW processing is a little more work, but the reward is worth it. If you are shooting the D70s in JPEG you might want to kick up the in-camera sharpening, color, and contrast settings by a notch, and pay more careful attention to white balance settings, especially in mixed lighting.

Learn to handle harsh lighting (blown out highlights) by manipulating the exposure control (this also may require post processing). The D70 makes this very handy by assigning the function to the rear command wheel. Also learn to chimp the histogram between shots, as it is a good quick reference to correct overall exposure problems.

Setting up and taking the image is only the tip of the iceberg. Post processing is the difference between a good picture and a "framer". If I had it to do all over again I would reshoot 90% of my 10,000 D70, pre-RAW, JPEG images in RAW/NEF.

[thesween]

I've yet to shoot a D70 image in RAW that didn't benefit from at least some sharpening. Just my observation...

[Guto]

Thanks to George Riehm for taking your time to write such a detailed explanation, it was very helpfull.

I do shoot mainly RAW. It didn't occur to me that the quality settings wouldn't apply to RAW files (kind of obvious when think of it, that's why it's called RAW, duh). It's my first DSLR (had it for a week) so there are some aspects I haven't grasped completley.

Yes I have also observed that most shots do seem to require a bit of sharpening (that's why I considered increasing the shapness setting).

Again, thank you for your help.

[D70FAN]

Thanks to George Riehm for taking your time to write such a detailed explanation, it was very helpfull.

I do shoot mainly RAW. It didn't occur to me that the quality settings wouldn't apply to RAW files (kind of obvious when think of it, that's why it's called RAW, duh). It's my first DSLR (had it for a week) so there are some aspects I haven't grasped completley.

Yes I have also observed that most shots do seem to require a bit of sharpening (that's why I considered increasing the shapness setting).

Again, thank you for your help.

You're welcome. Actually the quality settings are embeded in the file. If you batch process in NC 4 those are the settings used by default. The nice thing is that you can change the settings when you batch process to JPEG.

[dallas75287]

What is a good color mode to use with D70s? The default is Ia. I'm now shooting in RAW. I wish I did this earlier. I usually take picture of friends and family.

Thanks.