Image Size / File Quality Options

The D1H offers a good variety of image size and quality settings; two TIFF (RGB and YCbCr), RAW (uncompressed or losslessly compressed) and three JPEG modes plus B&W. All images are shot at the native image size of 2000 x 1312 (2.6 megapixel).

Standard Test Scene

To give an impression of what some of the combinations of image size and quality produce the table below is a cross reference of some of them:

• 2000 x 1312 TIFF RGB
  
• 2000 x 1312 RAW (converted in Nikon Capture 2)
• 2000 x 1312 JPEG FINE
• 2000 x 1312 JPEG NORMAL
• 2000 x 1312 JPEG BASIC

Crops below are of the same 240 x 120 area of each image nearest neighbour magnified 200%.

Settings: ISO 200 / Sharp.: Normal / Tone: Normal / Colorspace: sRGB

	2000 x 1312
HI TIFF RGB	7,773 KB (Not available for download)
HI RAW - NIKON CAPT2	RAW NEF (Uncompressed) - 3,990 KB / or as JPEG 902 KB
JPEG FINE	2,774 KB
JPEG NORM	1,433 KB
JPEG BASIC	705 KB

As you can see there isn't a huge difference between TIFF and JPEG FINE, and there are certainly no noticeable JPEG artifacts. It's interesting to note the higher contrast and more 'detailed' RAW image, proof that the RAW format and the additional processing power of a desktop computer can provide higher quality images. Although we should assume that at least with the D1H the majority of photographers will be shooting JPEG FINE.

RAW image format

Just like the D1 and D1x the D1H has a RAW mode for shooting lossless high quality 'digital negatives'. The RAW format is essentially the data as it comes straight from the CCD recorded into a file along with camera settings and exposure information. This file can not be viewed on a computer until it has been converted by "Nikon Capture" or one of the third party applications such as Bibble or QImage Pro. I covered the RAW image format in detail in my D1x review and everything written there (apart from image dimensions) stands for the D1H:

• RAW format (page one)
• RAW format (page two)

Sharpening (Custom setting 23)

Via custom setting 23 you can select from four levels of sharpening: Normal, Low, High and None.

Settings: ISO 200 / Tone: Normal / Colorspace: sRGB / FINE JPEG.

CSM 23-0: Normal

CSM 23-1: Low

CSM 23-2: High

CSM 23-3: None

At anything above Low the sharpening algorithm has a tendency to introduce sharpening artifacts such as white halos around black lines and 45 degree 'jaggies'. Generally speaking the Low setting seems to offer the best balance between sharpness and low artifacts, you can always sharpen up the image later (using an unsharpen mask) in Nikon Capture 2 or a third party application such as Photoshop.