Nikon D300 User Manual page 134

compression levels, all images of that format will be
affected. Also, remember that image compression is
Shooting menu bank specific, which means that you can
control it separately for each of your camera's four
Shooting menu banks. TIFF (RGB) files are not
compressed in the D300(S), which is one reason the file
sizes are so large for the TIFF format.
Final Image Format Ramblings
Which format do I prefer? Why, RAW, of course! But, it does
require a bit of a commitment to shoot in this format. The
camera is simply an image-capturing device, and you are the
image manipulator. You decide the final format, compression
ratios, sizes, color balances, etc. In
have the absolute best image your camera can produce. It is
not modified by the camera's software and is ready for your
personal touch. No camera processing allowed!
If you get nothing else from this chapter section, remember
this—by letting your camera process the images in any way,
it is modifying or throwing away image data. There is only a
finite amount of data for each image that can be stored on
your camera, and later on the computer. With JPEG or TIFF
mode, your camera optimizes the image according to the
assumptions recorded in its memory. Data is being thrown
away permanently, in varying amounts.
If you want to keep all of the image data that was recorded
with your images, you must store your originals in RAW
format. Otherwise, you'll never again be able to access that
original data to change how it looks. A RAW file is the
NEF (RAW)
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mode, you