Poor D90 'NEF' files?

AndyWest

AndyWest

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I have been shooting in RAW almost exclusively for the past 3 or so years using Canon, Panasonic and Olympus, all to great effect. I recently bought a new D90 with a used 16-85mm lens which was according to the net reviews a very good sharp lens.

The RAW files i have been getting from the D90 are in my opinion pretty poor. I thought it was the lens and was going to sell it but i thought i would try shooting in JPG and see what happens. The images are far better, cleaner and better than how i can get them in LR or PS Elements9. Yes i do know that the images are processed in camera :D.

One thing i did try was to open the Jpg images in ARC which made available some of the sliders that are in LR which produced a pretty good image and after further tinkering i managed to get what i consider good results. I know full well that RAW files give you much more scope for editing but the NEF files are just not working for me.

Does anyone else feel the NEF files from the D90 (Otherwise an awesome camera!!) are somehow lacking or is it just me?

Here is an image example of just how sharp the 16-85 can be using my method of post processing.


Nikon Lens Cap by andywest1, on Flickr
 
How do the RAW files of the D90 look poor? :shrug:

Not sharp, dull colours, noisy? :shrug:

Sometimes if the camera is doing a lot to the Jpegs then the RAW software (I'm assuming Adobe Camera Raw from the ARC you wrote ;)) will not replicate a lot of it. There are options for you to compensate for that with some of the settings in ACR. You can set some colour changes using the Camera Calibration tab. You can download some presets for the various in camera Picture Styles of the D3/300 (possibly D90) to try and replicate the in camera settings. You can set a set amount of Sharpening and Noise Reduction and save that as a preset. It seems like a lot of work, but once done, it's a couple button presses to apply a preset.

By default I apply Sharpening of 70, Noise Reduction of 20 and the Lens Corrections (luckily my camera and lenses are covered) before I do anything else.

I have CS5 and ACR v6 btw, which has better Noise Reduction than previous versions I think.


I've set my camera to a Neutral picture style though to try and give myself a more accurate Histogram, and so don't see a big difference when I open the RAW file from the back of the camera. But other than White Balance problems, I don't take too much notice of the colours on the LCD screen anyway. :shrug:

If what you are doing works for you though, you may want to stick with what you are doing, as that image is very nice. ;)
 
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Can you shoot a raw+ jpeg of something and upload them for comparrison, then we can see exactly what needs to be done to match the raw to the jpeg.
 
It's not that simple. I have been processing for years so i know what i'm doing. The NEF files just don't seem to come out half as decent after processing than other RAW files i have worked with.

Perhaps it's just me?
 
I've read similar things about D700 NEF files, I think it's just a characteristic, rather than a fault.
 
AndyWest said:
It's not that simple. I have been processing for years so i know what i'm doing. The NEF files just don't seem to come out half as decent after processing than other RAW files i have worked with.

Perhaps it's just me?
Click to expand...

Ah, OK then. I thought you wanted some help, rather than just making a statement. ;)
 
I haven't access to a D90 to try, maybe yours has some fault or other issue?
What exactly is wrong with the raw shots?
 
redhed17 said:
Ah, OK then. I thought you wanted some help, rather than just making a statement. ;)
Click to expand...

I just kinda wanted to know if anyone else wasn't happy with their raw files.

I think it's just me!:lol:
 
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