What happened to all D100 softness posts??

[Octopuzz]

If you haven't been on the forum for awhile, you might have missed
this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NIKON IMPROVES D100 EXPERIENCE WITH NEW SOFTWARE PRODUCT

MELVILLE, NY April 1, 2002--Nikon today responded to customer
complaints about soft JPEG images on the recently introduced D100
digital SLR by providing a free software package, Digital Viagra.

"You want hard edges, we'll give you hard edges," said digital
products manager **** LoLima. "Look, when the Canon D30 came out,
everyone oohed and aahed over the detailess images that came out of
that camera; some even thanked Canon for helping them finally get
that diffusion filter off the front of their lens." LoLima went on
to say that since it's generally known that Canon knows exactly
what customers want, Nikon decided that their next digital SLR
needed some serious softening.

Digital Viagra is a free download (www.nikonsatire.com) that works
in conjunction with Nikon View 5.1.0.3.2.11 on your PC to remove
the "soften mask" information that's stored in the EXIF data for
all JPEG images taken with a D100. (A Mac version is promised, but
not yet ready.) By removing the mask, edges are restored to those
seen by the CCD. LoLima cautions, "but if you're a wedding
photographer and the bride complains about her complexion, don't
get mad at us--just stop using Digital Viagra!"

LoLima also noted that Nikon was investigating whether to create
Digital Sunlight, which would remove the "underexposure mask"
information stored with all images taken with the D100. "First
we'll see how Digital Viagra is received," said LoLima.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D100
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com

Thom,

Why didn't Nikon ask you to write their D100 Guide like Fuji did?

 

[Pernel S Thyseldew]

Hey Thom, et. al.,

This reminds me of my days in a USAF photolab somewhere in Texas circa 1966 - We would send any OJT (on the job training) newbies around to one workstation after another looking for the "focusing powder" we needed to add to the film developer....later we would ask him (newbie) to go fetch the "Hyperfocal Ruler" so we could check the depth of field. LoL almost 40 years later. )

Cheers,
Pernel S Thyseldew
--
Pernel Pixel is Pure Digital Now
D-1 - D100 - 60mm f2.8 - 17-35mm f.2.8 - Oly 3030z (pocket pal)
Past Life: lost TWO Nikon SP's !@^@! - F's - Ftn's - Nikormat EL

 

[Negative287]

You think the truth is politically correct? I don't exaclty know what your issue is but you can get decent pictures out of the camera without post processing as I've gotten several of them. Could it be better? Sure it could be but that doesn't bother me...

You're right about one thing, with Canon you don't have to do that so you should probably go and buy a D60 so you won't have to complain anymore. Then when you realize the back focus issues cause you to completely miss the pictures you were trying to get and realize that maybe the D100 wasn't quite so bad then you'll be happy with the Nikon system.

As for me, I've been on both sides of the ball and I'll take the picture I have to clean up a little over not getting the shot at all. Oh and another thing, if you go to the Canon forum, there are complaints of softness and underexposure there also.

--
http://www.pbase.com/elterrible

Gabriele,

Who said anything about idiots?

You didn't, my post was to both of you, according to Joachin the
people didn't know that this camera has 3 modes so according to him
they are clearly idiots.
You on the contrary were the one indicatin that we shouldn't
critique Nikon in this forum. You are the one that I indicated as
the "politically correct" guy.

As for not being sharp, if you set the sharpening to high or auto
when shooting jpeg most shots are usually fairly sharp with the
need for a slight white balance adjustment. If you shoot RAW and
set the sharpening to auto you'll get crisp pictures everytime but
that isn't alway the setting you want to keep your camera at.

yada yada yada. I got this Camera since the 4th of July when they
came out. I know all that and it is what I do. Is that right? No!
It is just a workaround. I need to buy more flash memory, a
portable storage device, NC3, and put extra work on my photos in
order to have crisp pictures.

With Canon all that is not necessary. I applaude people like
Apolinario for their effort with the curves and fortunately
sharpness is not a big issue unless you go after 8x11" or bigger. I
can't say I'm 100% happy though and I'm offended by people that
proclame that only morons can't get great photos out of this camera.

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

 

[Rich Gibson]

You're the one calling it a Toy. I take offense at such an exageration. I wouldn't call the numerous testimonials by professionals on their web sites who use the D100 along with the D1 confirming your allegation that it is a plaything.

You drop a troll remark you have to expect the flack. If it's so bad, why not sell it and buy the Canon or the Fuji. After all, their images are clearly better out of the camera. (Incidentally, using NEF with low noise and no sharpening with NIK post processing gives me essentially noise free, razor-sharp images...but I guess that doesn't coun't 'cause it's a "work around."

Sheesh!

Cheers!

Rich

NIKON IMPROVES D100 EXPERIENCE WITH NEW SOFTWARE PRODUCT

LoLima also noted that Nikon was investigating whether to create
Digital Sunlight, which would remove the "underexposure mask"
information stored with all images taken with the D100. "First
we'll see how Digital Viagra is received," said LoLima.

By a professional like you Tom.

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

 

[Pernel S Thyseldew]

The secret is that the D100 is TWO cameras in one - a point and shoot in jpeg mode, that can make a 8x10, 5x7 or 4x6 print or put pix on the http://www . Or a fantastic 6mp device that produces SWEET NEF FILES for $2000.

Why fight that?

Pernel
--
Pernel Pixel is Pure Digital Now
D-1 - D100 - 60mm f2.8 - 17-35mm f.2.8 - Oly 3030z (pocket pal)
Past Life: lost TWO Nikon SP's !@^@! - F's - Ftn's - Nikormat EL

 

[Negative287]

Have you gone to the Fuji forum? Everytime I read them there are several posts about track noise... I realize this may not be every camera but I'm not going to play roullette until Fuji has fixed that issue.

--
http://www.pbase.com/elterrible

If you haven't been on the forum for awhile, you might have missed
this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NIKON IMPROVES D100 EXPERIENCE WITH NEW SOFTWARE PRODUCT

MELVILLE, NY April 1, 2002--Nikon today responded to customer
complaints about soft JPEG images on the recently introduced D100
digital SLR by providing a free software package, Digital Viagra.

"You want hard edges, we'll give you hard edges," said digital
products manager **** LoLima. "Look, when the Canon D30 came out,
everyone oohed and aahed over the detailess images that came out of
that camera; some even thanked Canon for helping them finally get
that diffusion filter off the front of their lens." LoLima went on
to say that since it's generally known that Canon knows exactly
what customers want, Nikon decided that their next digital SLR
needed some serious softening.

Digital Viagra is a free download (www.nikonsatire.com) that works
in conjunction with Nikon View 5.1.0.3.2.11 on your PC to remove
the "soften mask" information that's stored in the EXIF data for
all JPEG images taken with a D100. (A Mac version is promised, but
not yet ready.) By removing the mask, edges are restored to those
seen by the CCD. LoLima cautions, "but if you're a wedding
photographer and the bride complains about her complexion, don't
get mad at us--just stop using Digital Viagra!"

LoLima also noted that Nikon was investigating whether to create
Digital Sunlight, which would remove the "underexposure mask"
information stored with all images taken with the D100. "First
we'll see how Digital Viagra is received," said LoLima.

--
Thom Hogan
author, Nikon Field Guide
author, Nikon Flash Guide
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D100
author, Complete Guide to the Nikon D1, D1h, & D1x
http://www.bythom.com

Thom,

Why didn't Nikon ask you to write their D100 Guide like Fuji did?

 

[Negative287]

Judge for yourself...

This is the D100 page...

http://www.photosig.com/photos.php?cameraId=2358

This is the D1x page

http://www.photosig.com/photos.php?cameraId=311

I realize that these guys may not be pro's and the size isn't really ideal for a test but I don't feel the D100 is any worse after post processing. Sure the D1x has a lot features that are implemented better but the D100 is no slouch.

--
http://www.pbase.com/elterrible

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a complete amateur and I
bought D100 as a toy camera to play around and perhaps learn
something about photography. I don't think I would consider it at
all for professional work...

 

[Casey Cheung]

All right! Now this forum looks the same as it did a few months ago! Back to the silly bickering, backstabbing, name callings, finger pointing, and "I told you so!" posts.

Hyuck, hyuck! It's all rather entertaining...for a short while at least. Months ago, it was also amusing to read posts like: Look at my soft D100 images. Followed up by, that's nothing, MY D100 images are softer than yours!! Further followed by, check out these MOTHER of all soft D100 images!!! Ad nauseum... Of course, there were also some (smart) contrarian folks who said their D100 images looked just fine, and only needed some minor tweaking for best results. The contrarians had helped to add balance to the soft versus sharp issue...sort of like the yin and the yang!

I guess all the past whinings are still fresh in people's minds, judged by some of these posts! Maybe Phil should start a D100 Whiner's Forum, since there's certainly enough interest and passion on the subject!

Okay, okay, maybe I should have never resurrected the dead and left things alone...I'll say my apologies in advance!

Casey

--
D1x and D100 owner

 

[photo-op]

Lighten up Gab......sounds as if you are overdue for your enema again!

--
Dan

Oh my God .. That is soo funny!

I like you both!!

 

[Casey Cheung]

I agree. I have both the D1x and the D100, so I can speak from experience. The D100 is certainly a capable performer in its own right.

As a matter of fact, my D100 will continue shooting with its loooooooong battery life, long after all 3 of my D1x batteries have pooped out on a long assignment!!

Just my experience,

--Casey

This is the D100 page...

http://www.photosig.com/photos.php?cameraId=2358

This is the D1x page

http://www.photosig.com/photos.php?cameraId=311

I realize that these guys may not be pro's and the size isn't
really ideal for a test but I don't feel the D100 is any worse
after post processing. Sure the D1x has a lot features that are
implemented better but the D100 is no slouch.

--
http://www.pbase.com/elterrible

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a complete amateur and I
bought D100 as a toy camera to play around and perhaps learn
something about photography. I don't think I would consider it at
all for professional work...

 

[PhotoQuests]

I have an Oly E-20 and am ready to invest in some glass and whatever current digital body might give me the best results. I have no problem using digital tools to extract the best possible images, that is expected and learned if you are using the E-XX series. I have been looking at the Canon and Nikon (and future Kodak) offerings and am leaning toward the Nikon primarily because the Canon images seem a little over-processed to me.

In looking at tons of samples and reading all of the reviews I have 2 concerns:

1. Chromatic abberations (CA) and
2. The soft focus issue (thus the post here)

It looks like the NEF and post sharpening approach will yield the sharpest images but I do notice a lot of CA on the samples I am seeing. The Oly has plenty of CA so that is one issue that I would like to avoid, I can deal with the post-processing.

Any comments/observations would be welcome.

 

[Casey Cheung]

What! A real message with a real question of concern?! I think you must have stumbled upon this thread by mistake!

Couldn't resist!
Casey

I have an Oly E-20 and am ready to invest in some glass and
whatever current digital body might give me the best results. I
have no problem using digital tools to extract the best possible
images, that is expected and learned if you are using the E-XX
series. I have been looking at the Canon and Nikon (and future
Kodak) offerings and am leaning toward the Nikon primarily because
the Canon images seem a little over-processed to me.

In looking at tons of samples and reading all of the reviews I have
2 concerns:

1. Chromatic abberations (CA) and
2. The soft focus issue (thus the post here)

It looks like the NEF and post sharpening approach will yield the
sharpest images but I do notice a lot of CA on the samples I am
seeing. The Oly has plenty of CA so that is one issue that I would
like to avoid, I can deal with the post-processing.

Any comments/observations would be welcome.

 

[Ken Mai]

1. Chromatic abberations (CA) and

With what lenses are you seeing the CA? This may be a function of the lens more than the CCD. Athough, the CCDs can introduce some CA problems as well (see Rob Galbraith's 1Ds article).

2. The soft focus issue (thus the post here)

Uh, I don't think it's a soft focus issue. I haven't seen anyone complain about the autofocus module (those complaints are in the Fuji S2 forum ). The problem is that the in-camera JPEG engine generates somewhat soft images when set to normal sharpening and too sharp images when set to high sharpening. So the solution is to shoot in NEF and deal with the sharpening in post processing. I'm coming around to the conclusion that shooting in NEF all the time is basically the right way to

 

[Gabriele Sartori]

Lighten up Gab......sounds as if you are overdue for your enema again!

I know you wish to give me an enema but sorry, I'm not planning to be your boyfriend, I still prefer women

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

 

[Gabriele Sartori]

You're the one calling it a Toy. I take offense at such an
exageration.

here what I wrote:

"I have the same situation. Nothing that is not fixable with PS but clearly is also bothering me. I don't think that this camera is a toy but if you consider the cost they should have done a better job. "

Can you read english? Now go to lenscraft they may have a special offer for you!

--
Regards
Gabriele Sartori

 

[rome]

2. The soft focus issue (thus the post here)

The problem is that the in-camera JPEG engine
generates somewhat soft images when set to normal sharpening and
too sharp images when set to high sharpening. So the solution is to
shoot in NEF and deal with the sharpening in post processing. I'm
coming around to the conclusion that shooting in NEF all the time
is basically the right way to

Indeed, much of users note variations of sharpness or of exposure according to the moment, or the lens used (or brand of lens used) and do not seem to understand that these variations are due to the default setting of the tone compensation . This settings "dialogues" with the various parameters of the camera AND IN PARTICULAR THE LENS. It is for what it is advised by Nikon to use "D" or "G" lenses .

 

[alfred_schiele]

Hi

I agree. I have both the D1x and the D100, so I can speak from
experience. The D100 is certainly a capable performer in its own
right.

I didn't say the D100 can not take good pictures but I am dissapointed by the metering and exposure.

One big point of an D-SLR is exchanging lenses but at this price point I don't expect variations of one stop. In addition using values from a handheld meter set to ISO 200 does not work as well...

Experience is ok but not if a system does not behave as expected. Then it gets at least uncomfortable. The only thing I can do is check each lens and put a sticker on it, reminding me on the needed basic EV compensation...

As a matter of fact, my D100 will continue shooting with its
loooooooong battery life, long after all 3 of my D1x batteries have
pooped out on a long assignment!!

Might be, but it doesn't solve this basic flaw...

I belive we will never find out the real reason for it and Nikon won't tell us what is going on there...

Just my experience,

Regards, A. Schiele

 

[alfred_schiele]

Hi

I don't know about you guys, but I'm a complete amateur and I
bought D100 as a toy camera to play around and perhaps learn
something about photography. I don't think I would consider it at
all for professional work...

The D100 is an expensive camera. I own some but it is the most expensive body I ever had... It is ridiculous that changing lenses affect exposre that dramatic. Especially as a beginner you will have much more difficulties to understand exposure than me and to find out how things shlud be and what are flaws of D100 exposure...

Telling the D100 a toy is a bit hard, I know, but I feel like Nikon wants to fool me here.

Regards, A. Schiele

 

[alfred_schiele]

Hi

Some days ago I thought I had made peace with the exposure topic
unless I changed to a different lens to proove my settings...
and... 8)= Nothing more to say here... Today I tried some more
lrnses in brief and all I did before seemed to be pretty usless,
another lens and nothing works as evaluated before...

I have the same situation. Nothing that is not fixable with PS but
clearly is also bothering me. I don't think that this camera is a
toy but if you consider the cost they should have done a better
job. The major inconsistency is using different brand of lens. It
is funny but while Nikons underexpose a little Sigma overexpose a
little. I had a curve in the camera and it was working very well
with my 24-120 but when I put my 15-30 it is too bright. The
default curve is not exciting but is a sort of compromise and both
lenses kind of work OK.

In first I thank you for personal confirmation of the issue.

I tried curves as well and experienced the same when changing to certain lenses. I think I will go back to +EV compensation and using normal or less tone compensation. It is impossible to optimize curves for most shooting situations and an allover lens behaviour... The curves tend to push shadow noise as well and auto or high sharpening for JPG is uncomfortable enough. For NEF it is not absolutely necessary to use a custom curve also it would make things more comfortable.

I am very shure that if I an ever going to buy another D-SLR I will go to a dealer and try this model for some time. I don't want something like the D100 exposure behaviour again. It is simply lost time to struggle around with these things instead of going out shooting and getting the results I want.

Regards, A. Schiele

 

[DavidMillier]

Does this exposure variation occur with the centre weighted mode? Is it possible it is caused by the matrix system? I've not used modern nikon cameras before the D100 so I'm not that familiar with matrix systems. One thing I have noticed is that my old E10 was more consistent...

I agree. I have both the D1x and the D100, so I can speak from
experience. The D100 is certainly a capable performer in its own
right.

I didn't say the D100 can not take good pictures but I am
dissapointed by the metering and exposure.

One big point of an D-SLR is exchanging lenses but at this price
point I don't expect variations of one stop. In addition using
values from a handheld meter set to ISO 200 does not work as well...

Experience is ok but not if a system does not behave as expected.
Then it gets at least uncomfortable. The only thing I can do is
check each lens and put a sticker on it, reminding me on the needed
basic EV compensation...

As a matter of fact, my D100 will continue shooting with its
loooooooong battery life, long after all 3 of my D1x batteries have
pooped out on a long assignment!!

Might be, but it doesn't solve this basic flaw...

I belive we will never find out the real reason for it and Nikon
won't tell us what is going on there...

Just my experience,

Regards, A. Schiele