Custom Curves; Color Profiles And Color Spaces - Nikon D300 Complete Manual

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than from the highlights. (Someone once tried to explain

the math to me, which, since it involved complex Fourier

transforms, went a bit over my head. But the essence of

the message was this: because of the way JPEG transforms

individual pixel data into formulas, you're slightly more

able to "recover" useful information in dark areas than

bright. Yes, I know Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom have a

Recovery slider that sometimes works, but you're

limiting what can be done when you overexpose.)

Use any Sharpening setting at ISO LO 1.0 and 200.

Amazingly, the D300 manages to not produce sharpening

artifacts, even in JPEG images. Whatever rendering Nikon

is using (remember, it's prior to reduction to 8-bit), the

edges are generally clean and free from mosquito artifacts,

at least at the lower ISOs. Indeed, most D300 images that

are sharpened in camera can be sharpened again in post

processing without much worry, something that wasn't

true on most previous Nikon bodies. I tend to set my

D300 to 4 or higher sharpening in camera, as it helps me

evaluate focus when zooming in on the preview image on

the color LCD. Note, however, that as you go up the ISO

ladder, you almost certainly will want to begin reducing

your sharpening value.

Custom Curves

You'll need Nikon Camera Control Pro 2.0 and a USB cable

between your computer and your D300 to set and use

Custom Curves, which replace the Contrast setting in your

Picture Control. However, if you shoot primarily JPEG images,

you may find this ability useful.

I describe this fully in the appropriate section of Introduction

to Nikon Software.

Color management is a topic worthy of its own book (indeed,

Real World Color Management

Chris Murphy, and Fred Bunting). But if you want to get the

Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300

by Bruce Fraser,