Image parameters

The D2H provides for adjustment of three image parameters; Sharpening, Tone and Hue. Just like previous Nikon digital SLR's the D2H provides an Auto option for Sharpening and Tone, when set to Auto the camera decides how much sharpening / what tone curve to use based on camera settings and captured data.

Sharpening adjustment

With the D2H Nikon has chosen to expand the range of sharpening available, inserting two new levels of 'medium low' and 'medium high' between high, normal and low. This makes a total of six sharpening settings from none to high. In the example below the camera chose Normal in its Auto mode. I quite like 'Medium High', although only at lower sensitivities (less noise).

Settings: Tone: Normal, sRGB (I), ISO 200, 28-70 mm F2.8 @ 60 mm, F13 (Studio Strobe)

	Sharpness (100% crop)
Auto
Normal
Low
Medium Low
Medium High
High
None

Tone adjustment

Adjusting the contrast setting alters the shape of the 'S curve' used to map the linear image data captured by the sensor into the selected gamma (sRGB / Adobe RGB). A lower contrast setting maintains more of the original data's dynamic range but leads to a flatter looking image. A higher contrast setting stretches the grayscale (dark to light) of the image and could lead to clipping of both shadow detail and highlights.

Settings: Sharpening: Auto, sRGB (I), ISO 200, 28-70 mm F2.8 @ 60 mm, F13 (Studio Strobe)

	Contrast	Luminosity histogram
Auto
Normal
Less contrast
More Contrast

Hue adjustment

The hue adjustment setting allows you to make some subtle changes to the hue output of the image, it is useful for compensation of hue shifts caused by certain artificial light. The D2H manual describes Hue adjustment in this way:

If red is taken as the starting color, raising hue above 0° (the default setting) would introduce a yellow cast, making colors that would be red at a setting of 0° appear increasingly orange. Lowering hue be low 0 ° would introduce a blue cast, making colors that would be red at a setting of 0° appear increasingly purple.

Settings: Sharpening: Auto, Tone: Normal, sRGB (I), ISO 200, 28-70 mm F2.8 @ 60 mm, F13 (Studio Strobe)

Hue -9°	Hue +0°	Hue +9°