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Nikon D3x, D3, D700 & D300S new firmware

tjv

Active member
People are reporting significant improvements during controlled tests in noise control on the D700 f/w v1.02...
 

fultonpics

New member
loaded it and was amazed at the white balance improvement. also the fast focus adjust is great. quite a major improvement for my d3.
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
For D700, the auto white balance is much improved. The images also look 'cleaner' in high ISO. Nikon really did good on this version update.
 

simonclivehughes

Active member
The images also look 'cleaner' in high ISO.
I'd sure like this to be true but it's the first I've seen anything about this firmware release regarding ISO performance. No other forums or Nikon themselves mention an expected high ISO improvement. Can you explain what you're seeing that leads you to this assumption?

Cheers,
 

Corlan F.

Subscriber Member
I'd sure like this to be true but it's the first I've seen anything about this firmware release regarding ISO performance. No other forums or Nikon themselves mention an expected high ISO improvement. Can you explain what you're seeing that leads you to this assumption?

Cheers,
Hi Simon, well not excatly a first, or a single view point ;). Here's my take posted yesterday on the pictures thread:

"At a lesser degree but still noticeable, noise is better too at mid-ISO and up. I'm not technically educated enough but it feels just like it's somehow related to the AWB improvement. Can't explain -and i'm very possibly wrong- but it's how it feels when opening the RAW files... great stuff anyhow"

As said, can't explain. But after playing with a couple of dozen files in the meantime, results are definitely improved. :thumbup:

(not that they were especially bad in the first place... they just look much more natural, and a simple, straightforward WB correction will bring instant, nicer results from the RAW)
 

Ocean

Senior Subscriber Member
I'd sure like this to be true but it's the first I've seen anything about this firmware release regarding ISO performance. No other forums or Nikon themselves mention an expected high ISO improvement. Can you explain what you're seeing that leads you to this assumption?

Cheers,
I had similar experience as Corian described in his above post. I have been using the D700 mostly for available light work at middle school functions, plays and concerts. The ISO range that I use the most is from 2500 to 6400. The new files look a bit cleaner with less noticeable noise in the shadow. This is pretty evident to me when viewing the NEF files in Nikon NX2. I also notice about 1/3 EV boost on the NX2 converted JPEG files compared to the camera body generated JPEG files.

Of course, this could be the result of improvements in auto white balance.

Kind regards,
 

simonclivehughes

Active member
Corlan,

Thanks for the feedback, I missed that thread. I guess my surprise is that if there was a noticeable improvement, I'm amazed that Nikon wouldn't tout it in the release notes as an integral part of the announcement.

Personally, I have yet to do the upgrade.

Cheers,
 

Lars

Active member
I've noticed that ISO 12800 is now more usable albeit grainy. 25600 is still a no-go.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
No firmware upgrade for my D80? I would like one that makes it perform like the 25MP, 204,800 ISO Nikon D700Xs :deadhorse:
 

Corlan F.

Subscriber Member
I see no improvement in high ISO noise characteristics before and after the FW upgrade on my D3.
Sten, that's interesting and your D3 test's apparently not consistent with our experience with the more plebian D700.

OTOH, two things:

1/ D700 FW (at least mine) was 1.00 and is now 1.02. That's possibly a significant difference.

2/ as said above, the improvement was noted with AWB, i see your test is with WB set on Tugsten. Did you conduct the same test with AWB?

Having said that, it would not be too odd whether the improvements were more noticeable on the more recent D700 than on the relatively more venerable D3 which had known previous upgrades...
 

Lars

Active member
Similar test on D700 would be interesting. Is it easy to roll back the firmware? I'm not sure if I saved the previous download.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I see no improvement in high ISO noise characteristics before and after the FW upgrade on my D3.
I can see a very slight improvement in tone & smoothness in the second shot (yellow area more than blue) although it might just be the slight exposure difference or wishful thinking.
 

Corlan F.

Subscriber Member
Similar test on D700 would be interesting. Is it easy to roll back the firmware? I'm not sure if I saved the previous download.
Wanted to try that, did not succeed.
That doesn't change that the improvement on AWB is so obvious that no such test is required. Noise is another matter, but i'm pretty sure of what i see (knowing that i did not expect anything in this area -or any other btw really- in the first place)



I can see a very slight improvement in tone & smoothness in the second shot (yellow area more than blue) although it might just be the slight exposure difference or wishful thinking.
Looking closer after reading you mesage i do find a slight improvement above, but as said it's maybe just different shots.

One other thing i hadn't noticed the first time, the tests shots are jpeg from camera -might be different than RAW.

Finally, it's not in the worst spots that the new FW especially shines. More of a natural feeling overall.
 

stenrasmussen

New member
I got the raw files as well and will post them asap.
Also have shots made with AWB too.

Had a quick look and the same goes for the 12800 and 25600 jpegs...no difference.
There is a slight difference between the shots using AWB but I associate that with the
change in colour temp and not with improved noise handling.
 
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simonclivehughes

Active member
My gut feel is that any high ISO improvement is wishful thinking, I'll reiterate that I'm sure that Nikon would specifically mention it in the release notes as an integral part of the announcement if there was any noticeable improvement. I just can't see a manufacturer giving up an opportunity to crow about their improved performance. They did it with the WB, why would they neglect to mention an improvement in ISO performance?

Ciao,
 
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