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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Nikon Scanner nef/raw advantages???
Bastian Ehl, Photographer
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Magdeburg | _ | Germany | Posted: 3:00 PM on 09.19.06 |
->> I just started to scan my film and slide archive. I'm using a Nikon Coolscan 9000. The software offers to save the scans in nef (RAW), tiff and jpg. Nef and Tiff files seem to have about the same file size.
Does anyone know the advantages of Nikon Scanner nef files (not D-SLR nef files), compared to tiff? I found nothing I could change afterwards with nef files exclusively. Every option in post scan editing is the same as when working with tiffs (within the Nikon Scanner Software). Quite strange, cause D-SLR nef files offers tons of options to change afterwards.
Any insights on what I might have missed? |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 4:31 PM on 09.19.06 |
| ->> Well...I wouldn't expect to have any of the advantages of a DSLR NEF from a scanned negative; it's not the file format that conveys that level of control, but the capture mechanism (i.e., the DSLR). |
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Paul Montague, Photographer
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Swisher | IA | USA | Posted: 4:36 PM on 09.19.06 |
->> Disclaimer… The following is just deductive reasoning without specific knowledge of the characteristics of scanner NEF files…
First, lets consider D-SLR raw files. These store the actual values as they come off the chip. The chip itself does not produce “RGB” pixels, it produces a matrix of red, and green, and blue “well” values that are adjacent to one another in a chip-specific pattern. Either camera software or PC/Mac raw file conversion software converts those red and green and blue “wells” into RGB “pixels” by making a sophisticated, analytical “guess” at the missing two colors for every pixel.
Because these D-SLR raw files contain only the raw data as they came from the chip, there is only one value per “well”, and the files are smaller than uncompressed tiff files which contain three values for every pixel.
A scanner doesn’t work that way. It makes three passes over the film, creating raw data that are comprised of red, green, and blue components for every pixel location in the image. The is no complicated matrix, so the “raw” data should be nearly the same size as a corresponding tiff file because there are three color values for every pixel in each image type.
What might be gained from a raw scanner file? One possibility is bit depth, but even the best scanners probably aren’t going to exceed the gradient resolution of a 16-bit per color tiff (although the certainly exceed that of an 8-bit per color tiff or a D-SLR, for that matter).
The engine that turns the original scan into a tiff (or jpeg, or whatever) might be making certain assumptions about the curves of the three color scans that can be overridden or altered. It may also give us a better opportunity to mold the images into different color space rather can converting an already constructed tiff from, say, sRGB to Adobe RGB.
Whatever the list of advantages of saving scanner raw files is, it would seem that manipulation of D-SLR files would have a far greater impact.
Would love to hear some real-world examples of how folks have used these…
Paul. |
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Paul Anderson, Photographer
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Münster | Germany | Germany | Posted: 5:07 PM on 09.19.06 |
->> I do not know the answer to your question. I would test the RAW images with Capture NX.
But I would like to add that I started using Capture NX last week to adjust my D2X & D200 RAW images & I really love it!
I view the images with Photo Mechanic and then I open the files with Capture NX.
I shot a wedding last weekend and I am very happy with the D2X RAW images.
I have never been able to shoot RAW files because of the slow pace of editing. Now that I am using Photo Mechanic and Capture NX, I think I can shoot RAW files for deadline work.
PDA |
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Peter Hoffman, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Naperville | IL | U.S. | Posted: 5:33 PM on 09.19.06 |
->> I always used TIFF on the coolscan 8000 and never had any problems, printed up to 40x40 from 6x6 chromes. NEF sounds like it could be good and if it's no bigger than TIFF why not give it a shot.
On another note, Bastien, bring back SBP or at least let me know what happened to it and my subscription $! |
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Oscar Sosa, Photographer
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Jacksonville | FL | USA | Posted: 7:00 PM on 09.19.06 |
| ->> I'm saving mine as 16-bit Tiff files. |
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