DX mode used by accident. Can I recover full frame information?

photocork

New member
Hi All

On a shoot this past weekend, I accidentally used the DX mode instead of the typical FX mode on my Nikon D600. I was shooting all the images in RAW on one memory card.

When I loaded the images into Lightroom, I noticed that the edges were cropped, and so am missing the top, bottom and sides off all images.

Is there a way to recover the data?

Many thanks for your help.
 
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photocork

New member
I did it completely by accident! It was only afterwards I realised that there is a button on the right hand side of the camera just below the lens. I must have pressed this and used the dials on the top, when you normally adjust the manual settings.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Think of it this way: take a sheet of paper, 8 1/2 x 11. Mark an inch or so in from all around the edges and cut it out. Throw out the outer portion that you just cut. Does that answer your question? :)
 

photocork

New member
I understand what has happened. My query is though... is there a way to recover this lost part of the image?

I realise it is a bit of an absurd question, but for example you can recover deleted files, so perhaps there is a way to also recover this information?
 

fotojack

Senior Member
I totally understand your frustration, but I really don't think so. My reasoning: the part of the sensor that would normally be full frame is just not there when in DX mode, so there would be no "lost information" to begin with. The shot was taken in a cropped mode, not a full frame mode. Understand what I'm getting at here? It would be like taking my cropped D200 sensor and asking it to make it into a full frame sensor. It's just not there.
 

photocork

New member
Hmmmm... disappointing really. Especially since it is not really obvious when you are looking through the view finder that you are shooting in a cropped mode, even though I was using a full frame lens at the time.

I guess I will put it down to experience.

Thank you for your replies.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
What you see is what you got.

There's a way to set the camera so that when you have it in DX mode it will shade the area not being captured. Probably a good idea to do that.

And also, I suspect you accidentally held down the Fn key and turned the front control knob. If you don't plan on shooting DX I would reassign that button pronto.
 

GeoWes

Senior Member
Go into the menu and reset the control button Fn. If you use the viewfinder grid and set the camera to automatically detect dx, when you put a dx lens on the grid will outline the new format. I use the Fn btn for just that very thing. I switch back and forth with both fx and dx lenses. The grid lets me know if I forget to change.
 

crycocyon

Senior Member
Sorry to hear about that....yes once in DX mode there is no way to recover the additional image area because the sensor is only "seeing" the DX frame portion so you are not capturing full sensor.
 

carguy

Senior Member
Kind of related - when would you want to shoot an FX camera in DX mode anyway?

Sounds like the C4 ZR-1 Corvette with the key in the console to go from full power to 'reduced power' :)

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Rick M

Senior Member
Kind of related - when would you want to shoot an FX camera in DX mode anyway?

If you have some Dx lenses. When I moved to Fx it was a nice option before I sold my Dx glass. The crop factor part is really more of a gimmick in my opinion, unless you want smaller file sizes perhaps.
 

crycocyon

Senior Member
Well the crop factor does give you 1.6x effective zoom so not really a bad option to still have on an FX camera if you need the extra reach and don't have really long telephotos....
 

Rick M

Senior Member
Using the full sensor and cropping afterwards has the same effect and gives you a larger window which my help prevent missing an action shot.
 

carguy

Senior Member
If you have some Dx lenses. When I moved to Fx it was a nice option before I sold my Dx glass. The crop factor part is really more of a gimmick in my opinion, unless you want smaller file sizes perhaps.

So you would use DX mode on an FX camera if you were using DX lenses?
 

wud

Senior Member
Really? Can you use dx lenses on fx, if you set the camera for dx?
I read that not all dx lenses fits fx cameras and you could break something important when trying to screw it on, is that wrong?
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Absolutely wrong - at least from an FX/DX perspective. Mounts are identical on current production Nikon lenses. There is old glass with different mounts.

And btw, I shoot DX on my D800 quite frequently - and with an FX lens. When shooting birds with my 150-500mm it's not often that I get a viewfinder full of bird. Shoot in DX and not only is there less to crop but my images aren't filling up my hard drive at record speed. I get about 16MP's in DX mode, which is more than enough for birdies.
 

RogerThat99

Senior Member
Good info. I have had mine get swithed accidently to DX mode twice and had no idea what external controls were making the change. Suck as some of what i was shooting got cropped out. I do use DX mode occasionally for some extra reach from my lens, but havn't been real happy with the results shooting motorsports.

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