[PuxaVida]

[quote name='Reinier' timestamp='1360183195' post='21831']

Sorry for misspelling artificial. What I meant about the Jpeg straight from my current Canon EOS 5D, they are not what I am looking for. In my eyes these images are artificial. I don't know how it is with the D800, because I don't know anybody who has one. And so I cannot compare my EOS 5D Jpeg's with the ones of the D800.



I was just wondering if a higher DR would benefit me, because in a lot of photographs with my good old EOS 5D the shadows are quite dark. Of course I can PP that in LR4(which i own), but like I said I have a back problem and cannot sit very long. So, the least I have to PP, the easier it will be for me. Nothing to that I don't like PP like Brightcolors suggested. Just trying to find a way to reduce "pp-time".

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Regarding the option to set output to jpeg in Nikon DSLRs, I would suggest you turn on ADL (normal or low), because it is meant to be used with jpeg outputs incase of (arguable) higher DR needs. And also the IQ should be set to "fine". Because "jpeg basic" uses quite higher compression ratios. What you call artificial might be because of the high compression ratio of the jpeg output.



Coming back to raw outputs: I believe before focusing on DR characteristics, achieving correct metering is essential. In case of D800, two options (maybe also two of them at the same time) can be considered:



1) Using UniWB in the camera's WB setting. There a few UniWB files for the D800 on the net. I assume there will be more in the near future. The UniWB setting basicly cancels the in camera tweak of the RGB channel settings. Consequently, if you know what you're doing, based on the scene you get more leeway during PP in terms of tonal range and DR. So if you are meticulous about exposure, DR and TR, UniWB is something that can be considered. But of course in your case, I wouldn't suggest it easily, because time needed for PP is considerably longer (change WB and tint to match with the natural colors for instance). And also if you use UniWB, the image you see on your camera's LCD would be greenish (you have to check the histogramm to evaluate the photograph, which Nikon can make you do it in a quite easy way).



2) In case of D800 (at least mine is so />), underexposure of 0.7EV in average can be applied. Especially when used with manual focus lenses & matrix metering, my D800 (also my old D700) tend to overexpose. And lost highlights are simply lost, and there's no recovery. Until I got used to check histogramm instead of checking the image itself on LCD, I shot a lot of overexposed images with my camera. It's so simple with nikon to check the luminance histogramm and check the histogramms for all 3 channels, and it is simply useful and effective. Because the image itself on LCD (which is a jpeg format by the way) does not tell a lot.



So, if the aim is to decrease PP time, I would suggest (with D800):



- use the correct metering option based on the scene. Matrix metering works quite well on D800 but on some specific cases you have to be careful and not count on the very intelligent matrix algorithms.



- underexpose a bit (based on the scene DR)



- check histogramm right after the shot and avoid hightlights (especially red channel)



You see if you want to do less during PP, you have to do more before the shot />...







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