Custom tone curve

[Onyx]

Many D70 owners will know, the default tone curve in the camera leads to somewhat flat looking images, plus the anomaly of ANSI calibrated exposure metering (versus other brands' "18% grey").

The best way to optimise image quality on a Nikon dSLR camera is through a custom tone curve. There are numerous on offer, some more well known than others.

Share your favourites, or those you have found to be useful.

I personally use Fotogenic's Provia v3.4. I've tried the white wedding but IMHO it's nothing more than applying +0.5EV and tapering off the highlights to effectively extend dynamic range. So for me, when I'm in the situation of needing a boost in midtones, I simply revert to the default or med-low curve in camera and dial in +EV.

Fotogenic's website for more in-depth explaination of tone curves and free downloads of custom curves:
http://fotogenetic.dearingfilm.com/cust ... urves.html

Edit: I can't spell.

[Killakoala]

Would love to, but i don't have Nikon Capture to load the thing in with.

Unless there is another way to load it that i don't know about, but Nikon View doesnt' seem to have that option.

it's a pity Nikon Capture costs so much. It's not on my priority list of 'things i would like to buy' at the moment.

[Raydar]

I'm a fan of the Provia v3.4 curve as well.
I have oldskools_mtb_v1 in the cam atm, so far I am happy with the results.
I think I will be keep this curve loaded for every day use from now on.
Mid tones are nice & natural

Cheers
Ray

[gstark]

Would love to, but i don't have Nikon Capture to load the thing in with.

Unless there is another way to load it that i don't know about, but Nikon View doesnt' seem to have that option.

Look at my posting about Curve Magic. Swap in base curves under your image

[Killakoala]

I will have a look at your post when i find it ;)

I solved my Nikon Capture problem last night with a two hour download from Emule and got the V4.1 trial version. Sweeeet!!!!

[hillsrain]

Custom curves are great especially when shooting JPEG and trying to minimize PP. I have in cam at the moment the provia curve optimised for the D70 (not provia 3.4 a search on DP will find it) and is the curve that spends the most time there. For high contrast situations I often revert back to the camera's low or normal setting. Having come from the fuji 602 where major PP was a fact of life, to be able to get great near perfect images from the cam with little to no PP is fantastic.
Cheers,
Tim

[Raydar]

Welcome aboard Hill’s

The forum is getting bigger every day filled with some talented people & growing
I agree with the curves being a great asset to the cam, they give you that little more control over what you are trying to capture

Cheers
Ray

[Onyx]

Custom curves are great especially when shooting JPEG and trying to minimize PP. I have in cam at the moment the provia curve optimised for the D70 (not provia 3.4 a search on DP will find it) and is the curve that spends the most time there. For high contrast situations I often revert back to the camera's low or normal setting. Having come from the fuji 602 where major PP was a fact of life, to be able to get great near perfect images from the cam with little to no PP is fantastic.
Cheers,
Tim

I totally agree with the lack of PP. When the D70 was new to me, I was predominately shooting RAW because that was just the done thing - and PP was supposedly a fact of life with DSLRs. Then I learned not to listen to Canon users... Now I shoot jpegs fulltime, with a custom curve loaded the in camera exposure's spot on, and I'm slowly getting to grips with white balance and approximating temperatures and ambient light conditions. I get great prints direct out of camera and the PP consists of resize and unsharp mask for web posts.

[Killakoala]

I've now had the chance to play around a bit with custom curves and having a little bit of success creating one for astronomical pics. But i'm not satisifed with the result, not yet anyway. I'm still working on it...

As for PP, i enjoy playing around with my images, trying to sueeze and manipulate them to get what i can out of them.

For example
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~skilburn ... pe-800.jpg

The original looked boring and pathetic, but after a bit of cutting, slicing, re-exposing, sharpening, unsharpening, contrast adjustments and trying different WB temps, i came up with that image.

Well, i like it. Looks nice printed.

:)

[Raydar]

That is one awesome image

Well done mate

Cheers
Ray

[hillsrain]

Mate I agree with Ray - that is an awesome shot! I also like to post process and as a general rule most images do come off a lot better with a bit of PP. But I have just finished doing a 1st birthday shoot and 90% of the pics need nothing more than maybe a small levels adjustment. Less work at home in these circumstances is a bonus in this day and age of pushed time.. LOL
What I like about the D70 is its ability to produce very good pics with a minimum of fuss. I recently printed a pic (jpg) ( http://www.hillsrain.com/TEMP/dp/d701.jpg ) straight out of cam using various custom settings in cam including custom curves with only the lightest USM applied in PS and the results amazed me. The print was 18x12 and the detail was fantastic.
This is why I bought this cam for image quality like this,
Cheers,
Tim.

[Killakoala]

Hey, great photo. I love steam trains. Where on earth did you find that one?

You're right though. If you can take photos that good there is little need for PP.

Blessed is the D70.

[gstark]

The steam train shot looks like it may be at Zig Zag.

[hillsrain]

Cheers Guys...

The train is the "Cockle Train". The pic was taken at the Goolwa station on SA's southern coast (near the Murray Mouth). Its a fantastic old train and does regular runs from Goolwa to Victor Harbour running in the sand hills almost on the beach in many places.

Cheers,
Tim