D70s Contrast (tone) - hardware or software?

[demianov]

This is an interesting feature, you can change the contrast of the

original, sort of decide where to clip the white and black.

In the menu you go to "Optimize image" -> "Custom" -> "Tone comp."

There we are given 7 options. Auto, Normal, -2 Low contrast -1

Medium low, +1 Medium high, +2 High Contrast and Custom. I think

that Custom is for use with the Nikon Capture sofware but I can't

tell because I don't have it yet.

This is a neat thing since it used to be a real pain to try and

control the contrast of your neg/slide in the film realm. My

question is: Is it done by the hardware or software? I mean does the

CCD sort of go into different contrast mode when I increase the

contrast setting? Because if the contrast is modified with the

software it's not worthwile even bothering with this option when

you're shooting NEF's (and I always do). Just shoot everthing in the

Normal contrast mode and then select whatever contrast you want with

the Nikon Capture. Is it so? I don't have Nikon Capture so I can't

check this thing out.

If the CCD really goes into a different state when you want to

adjust the contrast to the scene then this is great! You get full

rich data of your scene and throw away the garbage you don't want to

be seen in the shadows and highlights.

 

So.. Hardware or software?

 

Thanks

[alan_olander1664878205]

I'm not an expert on this, but I believe when shooting NEF the tone comp setting doesn't change anything. You change it to whatever you want to in the raw converter, e.g. Nikon Capture. With "Custom" you can create your own tone curve to download into the camera, but I still don't think it would change anything unless you're shooting JPEG's. It's a software thing.

[vinh]

The Tone comp determines the contrast curve, and yes the Custom option is for custom tone curves--which you load with Nikon Capture.

 

If you shoot RAW, i.e. NEF, all settings are NOT permanent. They are however recorded. So if you shot a photo with a low contrast curve, and the next with a high contrast curve, these settings will automatically be set when you open the file in Nikon Capture. However, you will have the option to change them! The only benefit is the possibility of saving you a little bit of time during processing.

 

But yes, I agree. I set all the in-camera options to "average" settings, e.g. normal for everything, and make all my changes in post-processing.

 

Nikon Capture is highly recommended.

[craig_bridge]

It is a setting that directs the firmware (in camera software) conversion from the raw 12 bit channels to the 8bit JPEG or TIFF output format channels. This setting also is saved in some of the NEF formats (not sure on the D70) for use by Nikon Capture.