Nikon D300 12bit raw vs 14bit raw

[Monkey]

Has anyone else noticed that if you run in 14bit raw, you get about 2-3 fps as opposed to the 6fps in 12 bit?

Not that im bothered, the jpegs that come out of the D300 are absolutly cock on

 

[PsiFox]

Yup that's why I use 12 bit raw most of the time but never jpeg

 

[Monkey]

Yup that's why I use 12 bit raw most of the time but never jpeg

you should try the JPEG on the D300, There is nothing in it.

I will only bother with raw now if i feel i could never take the shot again.

 

[Shak]

Has anyone tested the difference between 'size priority' and 'optimal priority' for jpegs?

 

[Flash In The Pan]

you should try the JPEG on the D300, There is nothing in it.

I disagree. My first time out shooting motorsport I discovered I hadn't taken enough CF cards so I shot in jpeg fine. Never again. You don't realise how good the NEF/RAW format is until you're forced to shoot in jpeg.

 

[G2EWS]

Hi Monkey,

Just asked the very same question on another forum:

Going through the settings on my D300 and thought I would select 14bit which took the available pictures on 4gb CF card from 156 down to 139. This is set in RAW and JPEG fine.

I also noticed a marked slowing down of how long it takes for the shutter to open/close and record the picture.

The opinion that came back is as follows:

Yeah, there's some extra shutter lag and a lower max frame-rate. The upside slightly cleaner shadows. I think if you aren't shooting high FPS it's worth using 14-bit especially if you're going to use ADL or recover shadows in post-processing.

I try to shoot landscapes and most stable scenes at 14-bit and action and snapshots at 12-bit to avoid the issues you mention. I could care less about the difference in consumed memory. The answer is to carry an extra or a bigger CF card. I like you use 4gb cards and I prefer the Lexar UDMA cards although others are probably just as good.

I then read this information on histograms:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Which made me realise that with the ability to capture in 14 bit and only using 12 bit when speed of capture is not important is a bit daft!

I also agree that the quality of the RAW image is so good that I would not take a photo in jpeg only.

I record jpeg as well as RAW because I use a Playstation 3 on a network that allows me to look at my photos on my projector and overlay music. A great way of really enjoying your photos! The PS3 does not recognise the RAW files of course.

Regards

Chris

 

[chuckles]

you should try the JPEG on the D300, There is nothing in it.

I will only bother with raw now if i feel i could never take the shot again.

But a jpg is only 8 bit - by not shooting in RAW you're throwing away tons of the available data!

8bit = 16,581,375 levels (colours if you like)

12bit = 68,669,157,375 levels

14bit = 4,397,241,253,887 levels

Now, whether there is anything capable of displaying (print or projector) that displays to that degree of subtle tone is a moot point. But, in truth, 8 bit is only in 'kindergarten' compared to 14 bit which is doing an 'honours degree'!

(I think I've got the sums right)

 

[Monkey]

i stand corrected, just shot a batch at 14 bit and im converted.

Capture NX2 made a great job of processing them