When ever I get around to finalizing my page for the D7 reviews you
will see samples. Still I doubt it will silence anyone who believes
otherwise.
Posts that claim they see no difference between raw-tiff-fine
actually are not doing the D7 any justice as they are pointing out
yet another weakness. This implies that the over all image quality
of the D7 is about the same as the E10 in it's middle qaulity
setting. I am inclined to agree that the difference is not that
dramatic, however there are other benefits involved in shooting
tiff and raw, keep reading.
One might rightfully ask, "why should I shoot in raw or tiff if I
can't see any difference". In which case then shoot in Fine, I
never said not too. Understand that the D7 is compressing the Fine
setting more then the E10, and about the same amount as the E10's
middle quality setting. So you will be getting a smaller file size
for your larger reslolution. This makes getting larger prints more
challenging. Also understand that you will be loosing quality
faster through generation loss.
You may say, so what, I don't print large images, then fine your
all set.
All you needed was a 2MP camera then.
Also if there is no difference in raw-tif-fine, wonder why Minolta
made them? There certainly is a difference in raw, tif, and
highest jpg settings in other cameras. Just visit the other forums
and ask. Most will say they shoot in raw. They reserve the highest
jpg setting for caual shooting or when card space is limited.
I have found shooting in raw and tif with the D7 gave me the best
results. I exaimed full size images and printed them out on my
1270. I also use raw and tiff to avoid generation loss. For most
uses I agree that Fine would be ok, but so would a 2MP camera.
We just spend $1500 for the D7, and I'm hearing even from it's best
fans that they are seeing no difference between raw-tif-fine. This
is suppose to improve the status of the D7?
I found shooting sunsets looked almost fake and verry noisy in
Fine. I got the best results from raw, then tiff. I found shooting
IR in fine to be similar, much too noisy. Raw was the best again.
Since I prefer to shoot in the best quality setting because I never
know what I'll want to print large or small, I like to shoot in raw
or tif. To do so with the D7 means you can't shoot continuous
because you have to wait 30 to 40 seconds for the file to be
written. [p.44 end of first paragraph minolta manual]
Some may ask "why should raw or tiff be better quality?" The reason
is because in raw mode the D7 records in 12bit and is converted to
48bit with the DVU. NO camera processing is done to the file. All
the information is saved. Everything else is recorded in 24bit for
color or 8bit for B&W. Tif however is completely uncompressed. When
ever any compression is used some information is always discarded
in the compression. Obviously the more compression used the more
degrading occurs. Also if you record in jpg in your camera, and
save it on your computer, open it up and make another copy, further
degration occurs. You loose quality from generation to generation.
If for no other reason, this alone is good enough reason to use raw
or tif!!!! But theres more.
The D7 is only capable of a max of 1.1 continuous frames per
minute, which just happens to because it uses a small buffer. Other
camera's can shoot continuous in raw or tif. The D7 uses 10mb
buffer, the e10 uses 16mb. May not sound like a lot of difference
but it is because the e10 can not only shoot continous in all
modes, but can even magnify the tif files in review mode.
So we have a $1500 camera that most can not see the difference in
raw-tif and fine. Can not shoot continous in raw-tif because it has
a small buffer.
Begining to get the picture?
If you want to utilize the D7 to it's fullest, you should be
shooting in raw or tiff, even if you can't see the difference, just
to avoid generation loss due to jpg, and it's high compression
ratio to boot! Think of raw and tif as the "negative", and jpg as
a polaroid copy from the negative. Does no one want to archive
their work?? But then you have to wait 30-40 seconds in between
shots (minolta manual and my timing as well), which is simply
unacceptable.
If minolta can improve the buffering which permits continous
shooting in tif or raw, then you would be getting more for your
money.
I will let you know when my page is complete.
Take Care!
Jim K
Are you implying that compression ratio has no effect on quality?
Noise? Jpeg artifacts? It most certainly does. I admit in Raw and
Tif the D7 puts out excellent quality, but not being able to shoot
continuous in these settings limits it's usefulness verry
seriously. You would have to wait 40 seconds in between shots. This
from a $1500 camera??
Jim, care to post some evidence of the difference in image quality
between JPEG Fine and RAW? I can only achieve a difference if I
deliberately under-expose by 3 stops. The noise in the JPEG
version has a different
colour to the RAW noise and it suffers
from a kind of left-to-right blurring which the RAW image doesn't.
I have tried very hard to see a difference between RAW, TIFF and
Fine with carefully controlled shots. At first I was expecting to
find such a difference, and actually re-shot my test three times
when I could not. RAW does look different, but I don't think that
it is better. This may all change if anyone finally supports the
Minolta RAW format, look at the incredible job that Qimage and
Bibble did with the D1. That is just my opinion, and I'd like to be
proven wrong.
Overall I can't think why anyone would use RAW mode. I would love
to see a reason why I am wrong because I'd prefer to use RAW in
situations that it would show an advantage, providing I know what
those situations are (I can't experiment with every situation
pre-emptively!)
Also, where do you get a 30-40s write time for a RAW file? It is
22-23s for everyone. Why would anyone create a TIFF file instead
of a RAW file.
Some slower cards do that that long, and I have one of them
unfortunately. See:
http://webpages.charter.net/bbiggers/DCExperiments/html/dimage_flash_card_speeds.html
Bryan
Oh, I know, because some peeps want to avoid using DIVU. Fair enough.
Joo with all due respect, I'm not pertending to speak for any group
of people but comparing cameras. The D7 lacks many very basic
features on high end consumer camera's and prosumer cameras. It's
BIGGEST weakness is it's small buffer size, not being able to shoot
continuous in Tiff or Raw. It's not for you or me to say what most
people will do. I am only reviewing the D7 in comparrisions with
other cameras.
Just what features do you mean ("many very basic features on high
end consumer cameras")? Jim you are guilty of generalising to the
point of meaninglessness.
Maybe you should hold off being so generalistic until you've
finished your write-up and posted it on your webby. Maybe you
have, sorry I didn't realise you've finished your review.
Jawed
