D-Lighting and Picture Controls when shooting in Raw (NEF)?

(D700) Do the image controls such as Active D-Lighting and the Picture Controls (Standard, Vivid, etc) have any effect on the recorded image when shooting in raw-only (NEF) mode or do they only effect the recorded image when shooting JPG? I think the answer is that raw images are unaffected but I haven't actually been able to locate a definitive, documented, yeah or nay anywhere. Anyone know for sure?

that the others don't.

Chas B said:

that the others don't.

Click to expand...

You are correct. Active D-Lighting affects base exposure (i.e., underexposes by up to a stop). Picture Controls do not affect the underlying raw data, but do affect the preview that shows up on the LCD, which is actually the JPEG derived from the PC settings. Also, the histograms shown on the LCD are based on the JPEG, so the choice of PC may cause misleading readings on the histogram (e.g., if you choose Vivid, you may think some channels are clipped when the underlying raw data is actually within range, etc.).

FWIW, I leave my PC and Active D-Lighting settings close to what my final product will be (Portrait with some tweaks, Active D-Lighting "Normal" on my D3 or "Auto" on my D5000). I'm not really a nut about controlling exposure so don't mind the D-Lighting changes and really like the flexibility it can give me in post.

--
John Walker
http://jhwalker.smugmug.com/

Active D is only saved in the RAW and only usable if you use Nikon's Capture NX RAW converter as your first step. You can always save the processed file as a 16-bit TIFF and then continue to work with it in PS or whatever you choose.

As far as I know it, there is Active D Lighting (camera setting) and D Lighting.

With Active D lighting the camera adjust the exposure to prevent highlight clipping, and then uses a curve adjustment to brighten up the shadows and mid-tones. If you shot RAW and don't use NX2, you would have to manually add the curve adjustment if you used another RAW converter such as Adobe Camera Raw.

D Lighting is a feature of NX2, it does not require Active D Lighting to be set at the time of exposure, all it does is automate a curve adjustment to brighten the shadows and darken the highlights, you could achieve the same thing in ACR using the tone curve and Fill Light/Recovery sliders.

When you shot RAW a JPEG is embedded in the RAW file and the appearance of this jpeg depends on the picture style setting, Active D lighting setting and color space setting. If you use NX2 it will see these setting and apply those setting to the RAW file so that the RAW file will look like the embedded jpeg. Also if you use Photomechanic it is this embedded jpeg that is used for browsing. If you open a group of NEF files in Bridge or Lightroom, initially you will see the embedded jpeg as the thumbnail, but then as the ACR renders the NEF it will take on the appearance of how ACR renders the file.

If you shoot raw and want to use the expose to the right ETTR technique for exposure, then you should use the neutral picture with no sharpening, brightness or contrast.

If yo use NX2 and like the use of picture styles in this converter then use them away.

John

jahern said:

If you shoot raw and want to use the expose to the right ETTR technique for exposure, then you should use the neutral picture with no sharpening, brightness or contrast.

Click to expand...

But, you still have the WB (potentially) affecting the histogram, i.e., as already said, the histogram is based on the Jpeg and you may find later (with the NEF) that your ETTR could have been more (or less) to the right...

--
Paulo Goulart
( http://goulart.zenfolio.com )

If I apply too many settings in camera I am afraid I loose touch of optimal exposure. I prefer to see an unaltered (as much as possible) jpg preview on camera monitor so I can react to what I see (both image and histogram).

If I use many different settings for different conditions I tend to loose touch of what the RAW file will look like.

But everybody prefers different techniques. I rather change the files in post processing starting from a well exposed "neutral" image captured in raw.