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Make em shine! Custom Curves for D70..

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davexl

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Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase. Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls, look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve: 99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100 as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70. http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs, but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression, than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
 
thank you for the help and acceptance. If you load curves from the capture; and it expires, are the curves still good (I guess you still need Capture to do the nefs, but will the curve still work on the jpegs)? Was thinking of Adobe CS and wondering if I need Capture.
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten
the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve:
99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100
as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded
from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of
Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use
a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it
to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70.
http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go
to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up
the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what
it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF
correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise
Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you
take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs,
but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you
shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW
dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve
applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the
curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression,
than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
Click to expand...
--
formerly '69er' (nowhereatoll-dot-com)......[ O]..clic
 
No worries.

I cannot say for sure - as I am waiting on delivery of my Capture 4.1 (from the US - much cheaper), but I can't imagine it would disable the curve in the cameras memory upon expiry.

You would lose the ability to change your curve after 30 days, unless you found a fresh computer to install the trial from. So is that worth the $ for Capture 4.1? probably not. Up to you. I am getting it because I will be shooting NEF everyday.

If after 30 days you decided you hate your curve, you can always select "normal" rather than custom in the camera at any time.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
nowhereatoll said:
thank you for the help and acceptance. If you load curves from the
capture; and it expires, are the curves still good (I guess you
still need Capture to do the nefs, but will the curve still work on
the jpegs)? Was thinking of Adobe CS and wondering if I need
Capture.
Click to expand...
 
Since it's D70 forum, I should just ask if the curve work for D70.
nowhereatoll said:
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten
the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve:
99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100
as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded
from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of
Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use
a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it
to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70.
http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go
to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up
the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what
it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF
correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise
Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you
take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs,
but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you
shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW
dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve
applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the
curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression,
than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
Click to expand...
--
formerly '69er' (nowhereatoll-dot-com)......[ O]..clic
Click to expand...
 
I take your point about things getting very ugly very quickly if you try to define absolute, perfect and exact... I won't be getting into a discussion on what 18% is or is not.

My curve is based on making things look better on a calibrated monitor - that is why I encourage folks to try a few to see what works for them. There are few absolutes in photography...

People seem to like my curves though ;)

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
Iliah Borg said:
Iliah Borg said:
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html
Click to expand...
18% gray is not the value to which meters are calibrated. They are
much closer to 12.5% (14% for Minolta).

If measurement is taken from the gray card, it would be 1/2 eV
underexposed.

--
no text
Click to expand...
 
Woosa said:
Since it's D70 forum, I should just ask if the curve work for D70.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I thought I made that clear - my curve is made and tested on a D70.

The others were made and tested on a D100. You be the judge of what works for you. I would say that the simpler the curve, the less likely it will cause issues due to the difference between the D70 and D100.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
 
I have nothing against the curves you suggested. I simply disagree with some reasoning on one of the links.
davexl said:
I take your point about things getting very ugly very quickly if
you try to define absolute, perfect and exact... I won't be getting
into a discussion on what 18% is or is not.
Click to expand...
My point is that people trying to use metering through ExpoDisk or off the gray card should dial +1/2eV normally (see, for example, the leaflet attached to recent editions of Kodak Gray Card). Having histogram spike shifted to the left when metering from the gray card and taking an image of the same card is normal.
davexl said:
My curve is based on making things look better on a calibrated
monitor - that is why I encourage folks to try a few to see what
works for them. There are few absolutes in photography...
Click to expand...
I have my reservations about the calibrated monitors. For me the proof is how the image looks on a normal, uncalibrated monitor, on which most of people are viewing pictures. Well-balanced image would withstand. The other important thing (and most important for me) is how the image prints on well-calibrated printer.

--
no text
 
davexl said:
I cannot say for sure - as I am waiting on delivery of my Capture
4.1 (from the US - much cheaper), but I can't imagine it would
disable the curve in the cameras memory upon expiry.

You would lose the ability to change your curve after 30 days,
unless you found a fresh computer to install the trial from. So is
that worth the $ for Capture 4.1? probably not. Up to you. I am
getting it because I will be shooting NEF everyday.

If after 30 days you decided you hate your curve, you can always
select "normal" rather than custom in the camera at any time.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
nowhereatoll said:
thank you for the help and acceptance. If you load curves from the
capture; and it expires, are the curves still good (I guess you
still need Capture to do the nefs, but will the curve still work on
the jpegs)? Was thinking of Adobe CS and wondering if I need
Capture.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
So what is the price of the capture 4.1?
 
$99 USD from B+H

$312 AUD from Vanbar in Australia. (the Aussie dollar is about 75 US cents, so you can see why 2.5 times the price might make us look overseas)

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
cookie0001 said:
So what is the price of the capture 4.1?
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for taking the time Dave. I will hopefully get my D70 tomorrow and I'm pretty exited about playing with it.

Michael
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten
the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve:
99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100
as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded
from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of
Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use
a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it
to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70.
http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go
to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up
the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what
it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF
correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise
Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you
take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs,
but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you
shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW
dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve
applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the
curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression,
than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
Click to expand...
--

'Good judgement comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgement'
 
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten
the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve:
99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100
as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded
from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of
Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use
a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it
to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70.
http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go
to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up
the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what
it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF
correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise
Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you
take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs,
but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you
shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW
dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve
applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the
curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression,
than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
Click to expand...
 
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.
Click to expand...
Thanks for posting the custom curve info, Dave. It's greatly appreciated.

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
 
No problem guys,

give us feedback on how it works or how you feel it could be improved.

Kerry - great gallery - not so so at all. I love the moon shots and the infra-reds landscapes, takes me way back to photography school - carrying 4x5 sheet film up a mountain in a esky (cooler to you non Aussies) Digital seems almost too convenient to believe. I love it when people ***** about the pain of post processing digital. They have obviously never developed infrared, or tried to process Kodak Tech Pan without streaking.

I am glad I started in an age where there was 0 levels of undo ;)

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
Kerry Pierce said:
Thanks for posting the custom curve info, Dave. It's greatly
appreciated.

--
my gallery of so-so photos
http://www.pbase.com/kerrypierce/root
Click to expand...
 
This is exactly what I was looking for: A very good explanation to start working with curves.

Thanks !

Gabor
davexl said:
Hi all,

I have had a great response to my gallery of D70 pics at pbase.
Thank you everyone for your kind words, like many here, I am very
enthusiastic about photography again, and the D70 looks like a real
winner and a great tool. Don't worry about the FUD and the trolls,
look at the results and make up your own mind.

I have had many requests for my custom curve that I use to brighten
the conservative (slightly dark in mid-tones) exposure of the D70.

You can make it by adding in the following two points to the curve:
99-120 and 141-171 or by downloading it from:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~dfx/DavidFmidtoneBoostA.ntc

For a great explanation of what a custom curve is, try this site:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/custom_tone_curves.html

Also search the forum for his recent posts:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/postersprofile.asp?poster=hjimixixhzie

I recommend you also try Neils and Fotogenetics curves for the D100
as well, to see what works best for you. They can be downloaded
from:

http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/downloads.html
http://www.planetneil.com/nikon/d100-customcurves.html

Ok, now you have the curves… You will need the 30 day trial of
Nikon Capture 4.1 if you do not already have it, to install and use
a custom curve. That means getting the 4.0 trial, and updating it
to 4.1 so it will recognise the D70.
http://www.nikon-asia.com/downloads.php

Once installed, plug in your camera, run Nikon Capture Control, go
to the Menu called Camera, and select Edit Camera Curves. Load up
the curve there. The sample image box is not a good guide to what
it will make the image look like – it does not display a sample NEF
correctly.

The curve, when selected in the camera menu – Green – Optimise
Image – Custom – Tone Comp – Custom – will affect every picture you
take in P, A, S and M modes. It will be a permanent change to JPGs,
but if you are shooting NEF/RAW you can turn it off after you
shoot. Playing in Nikon Capture Editor later, in the advanced RAW
dialog, will show you the difference with and without the curve
applied. If you are shooting JPEG, it is much better to apply the
curve in the camera before conversion to 8 bit and compression,
than afterwards in Photoshop etc.

Have fun, and shoot great pictures.

Regards,

David F.
Melbourne, Australia.
http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_images
Click to expand...
 
I have just followed your instructions and have my D70 set up with your Custom Curves, I can't wait to try it out after looking at your photo's. I am heading to the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island this weekend and I have been looking forward to trying my camera out at the races, hopefully I will have some nice photo's to show on my return. I gave my camera a good run on Sunday when I was asked to photograph for a friends christening, I took almost 250 shots mostly using flash indoors (using Med/Fine on a 1 meg SanDisc II, I had plenty of space left on the card), gave the photo's to them just today and they were astounded at the quality and number of pictures taken on the day, both hubby & wife decided to now purchase a digital SLR after seeing the results of the d70 as they have many photo's to take of their baby girl growing up. The inexpensive digi point & shoot which they have been using to date suddenly looked very unpleasant.

Oops I'm starting to ramble on, nice to see another Melbourne D70 user and your photo's are inspiring, keep up the great work David I will surely be keeping an eye on your posts for any future tinkering of the D70.

Andy Z
 
Prior to loading the custom curve you MUST 1st select "PTP" in place of the default "Mass Storage Device" in the "USB section of you camera's menu. Capture Control failed to launch several times until the finally dawned on me. Was same way for D2H, so I should've known better. Got it loaded, and it was a simple as pie...once I found a WORKING USB port on my puter! Have had time to test it to any degree, but it looks promising. Also I want to add, that your Custom Curve selection can be done right within Capture Control, you needn't go into the actual camera's menus afterwords. Actually about every single menu selection can be changed while in Capture Control. Thanks David, can't wait to give it a proper workout!
--
Steve S
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone
 
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