Roger Rowlett
These test shots were made to evaluate various image capture modes of the new Nikon D100 digital SLR. All images were taken on a tripod with a Nikkor 28-105D f/3.5-4.5 lens at 105 mm, ISO 200, f/11 aperture priority (1/2 second at ISO 200), matrix metering at 3008x2000 pixels unless otherwise noted. For this test, automatic sharpening and tone curves were utilized. These may not be optimal but are at least consistent for this series of identical images. The images were not further manipulated in any way. Here is a resized view of the basic test shot:
Image format
Images are crops of the original image at 100% (one pixel of image = one pixel on screen):
 TIFF |
 JPEG fine |
 JPEG normal |
 JPEG basic |
Comment: Both the TIFF and JPEG fine (1:6 compression) modes are quite detailed. The JPEG normal (1:12 compression) and basic (1:18 compression) modes have lost some detail, but are surprisingly good.
ISO setting
Images are crops of the original image (JPEG fine) at 100% (one pixel of image = one pixel on screen):
ISO 200 |
 ISO 400 |
 ISO 800 |
 ISO 1600 |
 HI-1 (3200) |
 HI-2 (6400) |
Comment: Images are remarkably noise free and quite good up to ISO 800. ISO 1600 is adequate but has noticeable noise. The "boost" modes (HI-1 and HI-2) are quite crunchy and only useful in desperation. Color saturation drops noticeably above ISO 200, especially beyond ISO 400:
 ISO 200 |
 ISO 800 |
 ISO 1600 |
Color Mode
Images are full frames (JPEG fine) resized from the original. The Adobe 1998 image cannot be properly judged unless downloaded into an editing program that recognizes this color profile. It is subjectively somewhere between mode I and mode III in color saturation.
 sRGB (I) |
 Adobe 1998 (II) |
 enhanced sRGB (III) |
Comment: The Adobe 1998 mode is much richer in color than sRGB mode. The enhanced sRGB mode is a kind of "digital Velvia" with more saturated tones, especially reds and yellows. The colors are quite faithful to the original subject. (In contrast, with an Olympus C3040Z and the same subject, very noticeable and reproducible color inconsistencies are observed, especially in the blue tones.)
Noise Reduction
The test images (full frame shown in the center panel below) were taken at f/16 and 6 seconds, ISO 200, JPEG fine, using a Nikkor 28-105 f/3.5-4.5D. Crops are at 100% (one pixel of image = one pixel on screen):
 No noise reduction |
 Test image |
 With noise reduction |
Comment: Even without noise reduction enabled, the image is remarkably free of dark noise at ISO 200. A few hot pixels are evident in the image without noise reduction, as exemplified by the crop at left. With noise reduction on, the hot pixels are completely eliminated, as shown by the crop on the right. When noise reduction is enabled, the camera makes an exposure, then with the shutter closed it takes another "exposure" of equal length while flashing "Job NR" in the viewfinder. The two frames are presumably subtracted to generate the corrected image. While this may not be noticeable for short exposures, it will significantly extend time between exposures when shooting at night.
The white balance settings on the D100 are selected from various icons ("sun", "cloudy", "shade" etc.) and can be adjusted in approximately 83 mired steps (+3 to -3) from the basic setting. ("Plus" settings are lower color temperature, resulting in cooler images, and "minus" settings are higher color temperature, resulting in warmer images.) A PDF chart of approximate color temperatures and the corresponding D100 white balance settings is available to help sort this out for D100 users. The following test shots were taken with a Nikkor 28-105D f/3.5-4.5 lens at ISO 200, f/8 and 1/90 sec at various white balance settings:
 SUN (5200K) |
 SUN-3 (5600K) |
 CLOUDY-1 (6200K) |
 CLOUDY-2 (6400K) |
 CLOUDY-3 (6600K) |
 SHADE+3 (6700K) |
 SHADE+2 (7100K) |
 SHADE+1 (7500K) |
Comment: My purely subjective observation is that the CLOUDY-3 or SHADE+3 settings result in the most natural "daylight film" color balance with the most realistic colors, and will be my default color balance setting for daylight shooting. Although these two settings have almost the same color temperature, they have quite different qualities. CLOUDY-3 is noticeably more saturated than SHADE+3, but the latter is probably more faithful to the scene colors. Any of the SUN settings are excessively cool for daylight shooting, and the automatic white balance tends to be quite cool as well. However, for photographing green plants and foliage, I might select a slightly lower color temperature setting to bring out strong and vibrant greens.
Four tone compensation settings are available on the D100: Auto, Normal, Less Contrast, and More Contrast. A macro shot with a very wide dynamic range illustrates these settings well. The test shot was taken with a Nikkor 28-105D f/3.5-4.5 lens, ISO 200, JPEG fine, f/8 at 1/90 sec, white balance SHADE+3, -0.7EV. The following images are uncorrected JPEGs.
 Auto |
 Normal |
 Less Contrast |
 More Contrast |
Comment: The Auto tone compensation mode looks a little dull to me. The Normal mode handled this high-contrast image quite well, without resulting in overly muddy whites or blocked shadows. The More Contrast might please those looking for a "digital Velvia" look, although I suspect you could do this just as well in Photoshop post-capture. In this case the More Contrast mode has exacerbated the dynamic range problem with this image, but it might be interesting to use in a low contrast scene. The Less Contrast mode is very useful for getting the most latitude out of the camera. Here it has held the highlights on the white flower quite well; while the image out-of-camera looks quite dull, its contrast can be easily tweaked in Photoshop without blowing the highlights. If images are destined for post-capture processing anyway, Less Contrast should be the default mode.
This test shot also confirmed my suspicion that the D100, like most digital cameras, is very prone to blowing out highlights, and extra care should be taken when shooting white subjects that must carry some detail. Think "slide film when using a D100 or any digital camera: you must hold the important highlights within the latitude of the sensor. If you are shooting NEFs you have more latitude to play with than with JPEGs.
Five sharpening modes are available in the D100: None, Low, Normal, High, and Auto. The test shots were taken with a Nikkor 28-105D f/3.5-4.5 lens, ISO 200, JPEG fine, f/5.6 at 1/100 sec, white balance CLOUDY-3. The following images are images that have been optimally sharpened in Photoshop using unsharp mask to bring out the most detail possible. The intent of this test is to demonstrate what kind of ultimate image sharpness you can expect from captures in the various modes.
 None |
 Low |
 Normal |
 High |
Comment: All of the images benefited from additional sharpening in Photoshop. Images captured with NONE or LOW sharpening required more aggressive sharpening than images captured in NORMAL or HIGH. Image captures with HIGH sharpening required very little additional sharpening to reach optimal sharpness. Clearly, images captured with sharpening set to NONE were able to achieve the most detailed image. The LOW setting resulted in images that were almost as good, but noticeably less sharp. Images captured with NORMAL sharpening are significantly less sharp after post-capture processing in Photoshop. No amount of twiddling in Photoshop will make images captured in LOW or NORMAL as sharp as those captured with NONE, but to be fair, the differences between these settings is very subtle, and probably barely noticeable in prints, where dot gain will osbcure the sharpness differences. Images captured with HIGH sharpening are quite detailed right out of the camera, but at the cost of significant JPEG artifacting and background "graininess". Application of unsharp mask actually diminishes the JPEG artifacts somewhat, but they are still quite obvious on close inspection. The AUTO setting was not tested, as it cannot be controlled, and is applied differently for every image. If image quality is paramount, images should be captured with sharpening set to NONE, and image sharpening should be done post-capture in Photoshop under total user control. The HIGH setting is unacceptable for high quality printing due to JPEG artifacting of the highly sharpened image, but does provide an interesting option for direct out-of-the-camera web-ready images, or print-ready images for 4x6" prints, where the artifacts will not be readily visible.
Of course, no single setting of the D100 is suitable for capturing all images. Indeed, one of the beauties of digital photography is the ability to change ISO, white balance, and color modes frame to frame. But while the D100 has a plethora of adjustments available to make the most out of any situation, it still might be useful to think about a "home base," default, or starting point for imaging that is suitable for typical shooting situations. I keep two basic settings on my camera, one in Bank A for the most demanding work, and another in Bank B for most everything else. My settings approximate the behavior of daylight slide film, with which I am familiar. In particular, not everyone will like my white balance settings. I don't see any reason to shoot in modes I and III as it is always possible to convert to the narrower sRGB color gamut, or tweak up color saturation in Photoshop. I keep Sharpening set to NONE to maintain the highest ultimate image quality, and do all my sharpening in Photoshop. My philosophy is to get the best image possible out of the camera, and do most of the image tweaking post-capture. If you want in-camera instant gratification, you might consider experimenting with the Tone Compensation and Sharpening settings.
Bank A:
ISO: 200
White Balance: CLOUDY -3
Image Quality: RAW
Image Sharpening: None
Tone Compensation: Less Contrast
Color Mode: II (Adobe RGB)
Bank B:
ISO: 200
White Balance: CLOUDY -3
Image Quality: JPEG fine
Image Sharpening: None
Tone Compensation: Less Contrast
Color Mode: II (Adobe RGB)
(c) 2002 Roger
Rowlett
Last updated July 20, 2003
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