Nikon D300 Complete Manual page 151

While TIFF supports various compression techniques, Nikon
chose not to compress TIFFs. This guarantees that a computer
can resurrect exact pixel values from the file (i.e. the
computer gets exactly the same image captured by the
camera, with no artifacts or reduction of resolution due to
compression), but it also means that file sizes are larger than
they could be.
Of course, those pixel values are not the raw image data from
the camera's sensor, but instead represent the camera's
interpolation of the sensor data. While this is a subtle
distinction, it is an important one, as data is eventually
reduced from the original 12 bits to 8 bits per value.
The translation to 8-bit TIFF on a D300 is done only after all
the demosaicing, color manipulation, sharpening, and other
effects are first handled. In other words, the D300 takes the
12-bit raw data, renders that into a 16-bit data set, uses that
16-bit bit data set and camera settings to render a set of 16-bit
pixels, and then reduces those to 8 bits only at the point
where the actual TIFF file is created.
Because no compression is used, TIFF files tend to be quite
large. So why would you want to use this format? Because:
• It doesn't use data-damaging compression; therefore, there
are also no compression-generated artifacts.
• Color fidelity may be a bit better than JPEG, as pixel
values don't need to be converted to equations and back
(as JPEG requires). Rounding errors in the JPEG conversion
process can lead to a slight random color drift.
The question that always comes up is this: "I can't see the
difference between my JPEG and TIFF images, so should I just
shoot in JPEG?" The answer is maybe. Or probably. Or even
yes. If you're shooting for publication and need high-quality
out-of-camera files, TIFF is probably the right answer, as the
art director will appreciate not having to worry about any
potential JPEG artifacts that might pop visually as they post
process the image.
Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
V1.02
Page 151