D1 claims 15 mg file size.

D1 claims 15 mg file size. I was looking at the D1 product page and this sentence caught my attention.

"Optional Nikon Capture Software provides access to unprocessed image files and can produce RGB TIFF files up to about 15 Megabytes with 16-bit/color depth."

Could this possibly be true and, if so, what does it infer about the quality and size of the final images?

Ken Fox said:

D1 claims 15 mg file size. I was looking at the D1 product page and this
sentence caught my attention.
"Optional Nikon Capture Software provides access to unprocessed image
files and can produce RGB TIFF files up to about 15 Megabytes with
16-bit/color depth."
Could this possibly be true and, if so, what does it infer about the
quality and size of the final images?

Click to expand...

This issue reflects two things: the nikon capture software allows you to feed raw data from the CCD via firewire to the host computer. This

functionality is useful primarily in tabletop shooting or scientific applications. The image is not compressed in any way, but otherwise is the same

size and resolution as any of the other capture option (tiff or jpeg, 2000x1312 pixels @72 DPI) THe additional file sixe relates to the fact that the raw

image is a 48 bit file. Photoshop can open and process 48 bit files, but you eventually have to downsample to 24 bit to use most of its functionality,

and to print and do other things with the file. The advantage of a larger color space is that you have more data to work with, in the event you are

altering colors, etc. In terms of the resolution of the final image, you don't gain much except the lack of compression artifacts. In respect to color

space, you have quite a bit more to play with, although, if you are working in a tethered setup, there's a good chance you'll be able to optimize color

during the capture anyway, so big moves in the color space wouldn't be neccesary. I've been having excellent results with my D1 useing the standard

fine jpeg setting. The images sharpen up well, have good color range, and the artifacts are only a minor problem at sizes over 8x10, and can easily

be eliminate with a little careful sharpening and selective despeckling and/or dust/noise filtering.
Hope this help

[email protected] said:

Ken Fox said:

D1 claims 15 mg file size. I was looking at the D1 product page and this
sentence caught my attention.
"Optional Nikon Capture Software provides access to unprocessed image
files and can produce RGB TIFF files up to about 15 Megabytes with
16-bit/color depth."
Could this possibly be true and, if so, what does it infer about the
quality and size of the final images?

Click to expand...

This issue reflects two things: the nikon capture software allows you to
feed raw data from the CCD via firewire to the host computer. This
functionality is useful primarily in tabletop shooting or scientific
applications. The image is not compressed in any way, but otherwise is
the same
size and resolution as any of the other capture option (tiff or jpeg,
2000x1312 pixels @72 DPI) THe additional file sixe relates to the fact
that the raw
image is a 48 bit file. Photoshop can open and process 48 bit files, but
you eventually have to downsample to 24 bit to use most of its
functionality,
and to print and do other things with the file. The advantage of a larger
color space is that you have more data to work with, in the event you are
altering colors, etc. In terms of the resolution of the final image, you
don't gain much except the lack of compression artifacts. In respect to
color
space, you have quite a bit more to play with, although, if you are
working in a tethered setup, there's a good chance you'll be able to
optimize color
during the capture anyway, so big moves in the color space wouldn't be
neccesary. I've been having excellent results with my D1 useing the
standard
fine jpeg setting. The images sharpen up well, have good color range, and
the artifacts are only a minor problem at sizes over 8x10, and can easily
be eliminate with a little careful sharpening and selective despeckling
and/or dust/noise filtering.
Hope this help

Click to expand...

All quite true. But Nikon Capture software also allows you to work with RAW files captured in the camera without being tethered to a computer. You just plug the CF memory into your laptop or use a firewire to copy it from the camera to your computer.

So, yes, you need a computer to use Nikon Capture and 48 bit files, but you don't need a tethered setup.

This ability is very useful if you have shots in obnoxiously mixed available light with less than perfect exposure. Using RAW mode and 16-bit white balance and contrast correction in Nikon Capture can do a much better rescue job than is possible from 8-bit files, especially jpegs.

...Dan

Thanks for the explaination.

I've been trying to get a good idea of the image quality of the D1. What you can expect from the jpegs and the raw files? I would expect the camera to do very well with a single subject, but how does it do with a group of 4 to 6 people.

What is the largest print of very good quality that you can do of this type of subject matter?
Ken

Dan Massey said:

[email protected] said:

Ken Fox said:

D1 claims 15 mg file size. I was looking at the D1 product page and this
sentence caught my attention.
"Optional Nikon Capture Software provides access to unprocessed image
files and can produce RGB TIFF files up to about 15 Megabytes with
16-bit/color depth."
Could this possibly be true and, if so, what does it infer about the
quality and size of the final images?

Click to expand...

This issue reflects two things: the nikon capture software allows you to
feed raw data from the CCD via firewire to the host computer. This
functionality is useful primarily in tabletop shooting or scientific
applications. The image is not compressed in any way, but otherwise is
the same
size and resolution as any of the other capture option (tiff or jpeg,
2000x1312 pixels @72 DPI) THe additional file sixe relates to the fact
that the raw
image is a 48 bit file. Photoshop can open and process 48 bit files, but
you eventually have to downsample to 24 bit to use most of its
functionality,
and to print and do other things with the file. The advantage of a larger
color space is that you have more data to work with, in the event you are
altering colors, etc. In terms of the resolution of the final image, you
don't gain much except the lack of compression artifacts. In respect to
color
space, you have quite a bit more to play with, although, if you are
working in a tethered setup, there's a good chance you'll be able to
optimize color
during the capture anyway, so big moves in the color space wouldn't be
neccesary. I've been having excellent results with my D1 useing the
standard
fine jpeg setting. The images sharpen up well, have good color range, and
the artifacts are only a minor problem at sizes over 8x10, and can easily
be eliminate with a little careful sharpening and selective despeckling
and/or dust/noise filtering.
Hope this help

Click to expand...

All quite true. But Nikon Capture software also allows you to work with
RAW files captured in the camera without being tethered to a computer.
You just plug the CF memory into your laptop or use a firewire to copy it
from the camera to your computer.

So, yes, you need a computer to use Nikon Capture and 48 bit files, but
you don't need a tethered setup.

This ability is very useful if you have shots in obnoxiously mixed
available light with less than perfect exposure. Using RAW mode and
16-bit white balance and contrast correction in Nikon Capture can do a
much better rescue job than is possible from 8-bit files, especially
jpegs.

...Dan

Click to expand...

[email protected] said:

This issue reflects two things: the nikon capture software allows you to
feed raw data from the CCD via firewire to the host computer. This
functionality is useful primarily in tabletop shooting or scientific
applications. The image is not compressed in any way, but otherwise is
the same
size and resolution as any of the other capture option (tiff or jpeg,
2000x1312 pixels @72 DPI) THe additional file sixe relates to the fact

Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^

I don't understand the DPI part. I thought DPI refers only to the printer
setting, not to the camera setting.

The question of image quality is a little problematic. I have been comparing my shots with the D1 against my F5 shots onto ES100 scanned with a

LS-2000 Nikon scanner. THe general impression is that the D1 shots are basically "better" when viewed on screen at full size and up to 300%, when

the pixels start to become apparent. The images are better in that they are cleaner, free of most color noise (shot under good conditions(daylight)at

iso 200). There is actually less fringing in the saturated areas than I see in the slides, and the camera does an excellent job of handling colors and

unlike the film shots it does not bleed and overexpose in the saturated and bright areas as much. The images also require significantly less

sharpening to achieve a similar level of detail in the finer areas like hair. The images are smaller than the scans I normally work with, and to be

enlarged past 5x7 or 8x10 they have to be sharp and well focused. I find interpolating the image size up by a factor of 2 or 2.5 (bumping up the

resolution from 72dpi at size to 144 or 350) enables me to enlarge the images up to 36x24 or my poster printer with excellent results. The images
print as detailed as my slide scans if I handle them with care...

In terms of group photos, I think that you would be fooling yourself if you thought the D1 could replace your 6x7 medium format or 4x5. But the images

I have taken of groups, reproduced as inkjet prints, compare favorably with my enlargments (both film prints and scans from film) from 35mm.....If you

are looking to replace a high-end portrait studio setup, this is not enough camera. If you need to use a camera to handle covering events and doing

reproductions as a matter of course that are 5x7 or 8x10, this camera can handle the task. It's an ideal tool for corporate newslettes, allumni

magazines, that kind of thing. But I wouldn't want to replace my Mamiay RB67 quite

In the image file, data is recorded that specifies the DPI. In most cases in viewing, and from the standpoint of image data captured, the set DPI value in the file is pretty much meaningless. When it comes time to print the image, the DPI value becomes very important. I have adjusted this number to control the level of enlargement or reduction without actually changing the image data. There are limitations to the methodology I am using. On one end, there is the maximum resolution limitation of the printing device. On the other end, there comes a point where it starts looking like a digital image due to pixilation effect. To get an entire D1 images un-cropped to fit on an 8.5 by 11 page, I have set the DPI to 200. If I were going to enlarge the image enough (and I have not done testing to determine that "enough" is yet), I would want to scale the image up in something like Photoshop before printing instead of letting the printer driver or the printer do it for me.

Don Parsons
-------

Nat Han said:

[email protected] said:

This issue reflects two things: the nikon capture software allows you to
feed raw data from the CCD via firewire to the host computer. This
functionality is useful primarily in tabletop shooting or scientific
applications. The image is not compressed in any way, but otherwise is
the same
size and resolution as any of the other capture option (tiff or jpeg,
2000x1312 pixels @72 DPI) THe additional file sixe relates to the fact

Click to expand...

^^^^^^^^^

I don't understand the DPI part. I thought DPI refers only to the printer
setting, not to the camera setting.

Click to expand...