I am slowly discovering the joys of the TIF file format…

You see, I have tried many times to use Nikon’s Capture NX software, but it just doesn’t jive well with my brain, bottom line. For my limited faculties, the best thing to date is Bridge CS3 which is basically the stripped down ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) version of the incredibly popular Adobe Lightroom.

The problem with using Bridge (or Lightroom) instead of Nikon Capture is that you lose all your in-camera parameters when shooting RAW. Only Nikon Capture can properly read your .NEF files and retain your contrast / saturation / sharpness etc. settings, not to mention the finer subtleties of color and tone that go with the “Picture Styles” (to borrow Canon’s name for it) such as neutral, vivid, or my favorite, D2X simulation mode.

Until I got the D300, I never owned a DSLR that could shoot TIF files, only RAW and / or JPG. But when I got the TIF-capable D300, its 12 megapixel resolution put a pretty hefty dent in my compact flash supply whenever I shot RAW. 14-bit, lossless-compressed or even un-compressed files just don’t fit on a 4 gig CF card like they used to with my first DSLR, a D70.

So I was inclined to not only completely overlook the 35 megabyte TIF files at my disposal, but to actually go in the OTHER direction and re-master JPG capture.

To my delight, I found that the D300 was a VERY capable JPG processor, outputting fantastic images that hardly needed to be touched in post-processing. This was great for event photography and misc. events where 4×6 – 8×12 prints were the norm.

To my dismay, I said goodbye to a whole lot of dynamic range and fine detail, when shooting landscapes…

Then I started contemplating the TIF format. completely loss-less image quality, but with all the in-camera settings retained… So far, it’s been quite a pleasure. Enough dynamic range that I don’t have to bracket nearly as often as I used to, and amazing detail retention, especially when sharpening is set to zero in-camera and taken care of later on the computer…

I can only really shoot TIF when I’m shooting SLOW and methodical, though. With less than 200 images per card, I can’t blaze away in TIF format for an entire wedding, that’s for sure! I’m only really shooting TIF for landscapes and other things that might get printed HUGE.

I do realize that if I was desperate I could shoot RAW and then ONLY use Nikon capture to simply output RAW files as TIFs or JPGs with the in-camera settings, and I’ll keep an on-going record of how this whole thing plays out.

One thing is for sure… Serious, big-print landscape shooters- don’t shoot JPG!!!

=Matt=