Raw file + on camera NR

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paul14086

Senior Member
Sorry if it's been asked before. I have a d7200 and have started to shoot in raw and edit in LR6 and am loving it.
My question is, is there any reason to have the in camera noise reduction and active d lighting etc on when shooting raw?
I can ofter edit out some degree of noise but am unsure of I should be leaving it on or not.
Thanks in advance guys and gals.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
High iso noise reduction, you could leave it on. It won't affect the raw, but you will see it applied if you use Nikon software. Also, if you switch to jpg for an occasion, it will be already on.

Long exposure NR. Leave it on. It takes a 2nd black picture to to subtract background noise from the first. It will double your exposure time on long shots. I think it kicks in at 8 seconds.

Active D, turn it off. Pushed to the higher setting, it will alter your exposure slightly as part of the process. You don't want that, because you won't be getting the full process on your raw.
 
hark

hark

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nickt said:
Active D, turn it off. Pushed to the higher setting, it will alter your exposure slightly as part of the process. You don't want that, because you won't be getting the full process on your raw.
Click to expand...

Active-D lighting affects RAW files?
 
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nickt

Senior Member
hark

hark

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nickt said:
I don't remember if I ever tracked down a firm source. I don't remember if I tested it for myself either, lol. There is a lot of talk on the forums though that at the higher settings, it does under exposure the original shot a bit.
Here's a couple threads:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1034454?start=0&tstart=0
Active-D Lighting Raw vs. Jpeg: Nikon FX SLR (DF, D1-D5, D600-D800) Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Nick. Guess I will test it out and see how the images differ. I've kept it on because I needed the detail within the shadows when taking drama photos. I used to shoot jpeg for them so it really made a noticeable improvement. Then I kept it on even though I switched to shooting RAW for them thinking it wouldn't affect the RAW files. However, after reading the links you posted, it's understandable it will affect the overall metering of RAW images.

I appreciate hearing about this, Nick! ;)
 
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nickt

Senior Member
I took 6 quick shots out back before it rains. Raw, unaltered. ADL Off, Low, Normal, High, Extra High, Auto.

off
D72_0146.jpg

low
D72_0147.jpg

normal
D72_0148.jpg

high
D72_0149.jpg

extra high
D72_0150.jpg

auto
D72_0151.jpg

I should have shot raw +jpg to see what the intended effect was.

edit:
Just to clarify, I shot these in aperture priority, f4.2, with ADL set at various weights. Processed in Lightroom which does not apply the ADL effect. It does show the suspected actual change in exposure that ADL applies at higher settings. The shutter speed increased from 1/800 to 1/1600. I think that would be one full stop of underexposure at the extreme setting.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
Except long exposure NR, where a "dark frame" is shot after the main shot, all the other settings have no effect on the RAW file. These settings are used mainly for jpeg (and at times slow down the camera), as during RAW processing you can implement them.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
aroy said:
Except long exposure NR, where a "dark frame" is shot after the main shot, all the other settings have no effect on the RAW file. These settings are used mainly for jpeg (and at times slow down the camera), as during RAW processing you can implement them.
Click to expand...
Aroy, check my post #7 above. It looks like ADL did permanently adjust my exposure on the d7200 at normal ADL and above.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
If anyone is interested, here are the same shots from post #7 above passed through Nikon NX-D which does properly apply the full ADL process.

off
D72_0146_00001.jpg


low
D72_0147_00002.jpg

normal
D72_0148_00003.jpg


high
D72_0149_00004.jpg


extra high
D72_0150_00005.jpg


auto
D72_0151_00006.jpg
 
S

Stoshowicz

Senior Member
This looks like its adjusting shutter speed faster, with the active D on, without changing ISO or aperture size, which you WOULD expect to affect actual exposure levels '' , it would then be affecting the raw file as well in that circumstance, correct?
I'm wondering though, if this effect would or would not affect metering, or the actual applied shutter speed, in manual, where you actually set the shutter speed yourself.. I suspect , that in using manual adjustments the active D lighting feature would only be a processing mode for generating a JPEG. Either way , I dont understand how this this might actually increase the details of either darks or lights beyond what is already recoverable from a properly exposed RAW data file. And figure that there really is no use whatsoever for someone shooting raw, and may be counterproductive for someone shooting jpeg only ( because of the unintended downshift in expected exposure levels.)
On the other hand , if it also affects the calibration , or sensitivity of the sensor at one end or the other one would be , possibly making a choice between dynamic range , and contrast.
 
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aroy

Senior Member
My understanding of ADL is that the algorithm tries to fit various levels of shadow recovery/highlight recovery from 12/13/14 EV DR to 8 it jpeg. So ADL should not affect the RAW image settings. What may be happening is that the ADL setting (and all other settings) are passed on to the RAW processor, which just applies them for your convenience.

To check just shoot the same scene with different ADL, and then in RAW processor, switch ADL off. At least in my D3300 processed in NX-D it works that way.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
Stoshowicz said:
This looks like its adjusting shutter speed faster, with the active D on, without changing ISO or aperture size, which you WOULD expect to affect actual exposure levels '' , it would then be affecting the raw file as well in that circumstance, correct?
I'm wondering though, if this effect would or would not affect metering, or the actual applied shutter speed, in manual, where you actually set the shutter speed yourself.. I suspect , that in using manual adjustments the active D lighting feature would only be a processing mode for generating a JPEG. Either way , I dont understand how this this might actually increase the details of either darks or lights beyond what is already recoverable from a properly exposed RAW data file. And figure that there really is no use whatsoever for someone shooting raw, and may be counterproductive for someone shooting jpeg only ( because of the unintended downshift in expected exposure levels.)
On the other hand , if it also affects the calibration , or sensitivity of the sensor at one end or the other one would be , possibly making a choice between dynamic range , and contrast.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I missed this post the other day. I just tried this real quick in manual. As expected, no shutter speed change in manual. However in manual with auto iso on, the iso changed to similarly under expose the shot. I didn't try all the ranges, just extra high and off. ISO went from 280 with ADL off down to ISo 140 with adl extra high.
 
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