Having a senior moment...

[TRSmith]

I'm stuck in a thought rut. Working with my new D810 and processing in C1 Pro 10. I have always used "Linear Response" as a setting in the base characteristics when importing files. I'm noticing that when I do that, in spite of the levels showing on the camera at the time of exposure being correct (by that I mean fairly centered without clipping on either end), the curve in C1 is smashed against the left side. I have to add as much as one or two stops in the Exposure setting of C1 to spread the values across the entire spectrum where they belong.

I don't ever remember having to do that in the past with the D700. Okay, maybe a little, but not this much. What am I missing? Should I be adjusting the camera to override the meter and expose more? Or is it that the DR is so different that maybe Linear Response is not such a good idea.

I might be able to figure this out, but I'm being lazy and asking you who have gone before. By the way, I salute you!

Thanks!
Tim

p.s. apropos of nothing, a window display

 

[Steen]

Having a senior moment ...


As far as I have understood the camera is reading the histogram data from a jpeg file that is automatically extracted from the RAW file.
Therefore the histogram in the camera is not quite accurate.
While RAW converters are reading the histogram directly from the RAW file itself and therefore these RAW converter histogram data are accurate.

But the difference shouldn't be so big that it would be a problem when shooting.
So to me it sounds like your camera has either a metering problem or a histogram reading problem.

Is it a new camera or did you buy it used ?
If used, you could check if the Custom Setting Menu: b7 Fine-Tune Optimal Exposure is neutral (p. 318 in the manual) ?
Though I cannot really imagine it has anything to do with a tweaked setting here, because logically the histogram should still be reliable even if the Exposure had been fine-tuned.
And while you are at it, maybe also check the Exposure Bracketing settings on the camera if you are not the first user of the camera (p. 134 in the manual) .

Basically you should start asking yourself if the camera is in general underexposing all the captures, do they all come out too dark ?
Because in that case there seems to be something wrong with the metering system of the camera, unless the Exposure Compensation is dialed heavily into minus.
If on the other hand the captures are in general well balanced with regards to exposure, then there seems to be some sort of setting in Capture One that needs some adjustment.

So how do the captures look, are they heavily dark and underexposed ?
You could make some captures with both jpeg and RAW output to check the exposure balance in the jpeg files without any influence by a RAW converter.

And besides you could check how the RAW files and their histograms look when opened in Nikon's own Capture NX-D NEF converter.
It's free.

(Capture NX-D is actually the converter I use most frequently because I personally think it has the best color rendering of any NEF file converter I have tried, but that's just me).

 

[TRSmith]

Thanks for your response.

The camera is new, fresh out of the box. None of the bracketing modifiers have been touched and should be at the default. I do occasionally dial in some negative EV, but it's rarely more than -.7.

But your comments have made me think about the metering itself. I will experiment with the various modes and see if that makes a difference.

I think it's possible that I have fallen into a habit based on my history with the D700. I always preferred the Linear Response curve since it was very flat and allowed me to adjust shadows and highlights to my liking. But just now I tried the "Auto" curve setting in C1 on the same image and the resulting levels looked just fine without any adjustment to the "Exposure" slider. Maybe what I'm seeing is the D810 sensor's differences. My first reaction is that it manages to include a ton of detail in the shadows that I'm just not used to.

Probably a combination of pilot error and learning curve. I'll try the Capture NX again as you suggest. However, I had a lot of difficulty with its user interface back in the early days. Worth checking though.

Regards,
Tim

 

[Vivek]

Tim, i use the C1 10 and it does exactly what you describe in linear settings to a Sony file as well.

I can confidently say:

1. No issues with your camera.

2. No issues with the metering.

3. Does not depend on the DR of the sensor.

It is a "feature" of the C1.10.

 

[TRSmith]

Well that's a relief.

So do you end up making adjustments with the Exposure slider?

 

[Vivek]

Yes!

C1 (linear mode) "stretches" a RAW in a different way.

 

[Jack]

Tim,

Linear is a true flat conversion curve, which means with a properly exposed file you will see most all of the available 12 or so stops of DR, and in most cases that will be a boringly flat rendering! :ROTFL:

"Film Standard" is my standard goto curve for all cams including the D810. Only if the file is problematic or I intend some special processing will I use linear, and then tweak the entire file as required -- but that tweak is fairly involved and takes a bunch more time than using the base Film Standard. Note too that with film standard, you'll have lots of available headroom in the highlight and shadow recovery tools --- HINT HINT!

 

[TRSmith]

Thanks Jack. Old habits die hard, and the linear response is so ingrained, I had a hard time letting go of it. But I will embrace this alternative since it does in fact seem to work. I continue to be a fan of C1 in spite of my own barriers of ignorance and sloth.