Dynamic range - d90 vs d700

boazyiftach

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I have a d90 and I shoot mainly in a studio with powerful flashes. Nevertheless, I find that photos with a high contrast demand a lot of editting in photoshop. The problem is mainly in the dark colors and black. Is this something that a d700 can significantly improve? If so, it might save me at least half an our of frustrating editting per photo.
 
What do you mean by "significantly"? The D700 will have an increased dynamic range, but it's not going to be vastly better. If you're up against a really tough situation and film isn't an option, than you might want to see if you can find a used Fuji S5 Pro - reputed to have just about the best dynamic range of any digital camera.
 
I have both cameras. The D700 is going to be better by far, but may not be worth paying the extra money. I also have the D300 which surprisingly I enjoy better than D700 for a few reasons. Also it is a bit cheaper than the D700. Even the D300s is. However, I don't know what you shoot so I can't say if it is worth the extra money to step up to a better camera. The D700 is full frame, so that is a benefit.

I don't have any inside information, but I would wait anyway. As it has been a couple years since the D700 has been updated. It should be do for another model since pretty much every other came in their line up has been replaced.
 
.....If so, it might save me at least half an our of frustrating editting per photo.
"At least 30 minutes" is a long time to be editing a studio made photo, regardless the camera used to make the image.

It sounds like you have other, more pressing issues, If so, a D700 isn't going to help any.

The D300 timbearden mentioned uses the same image sensor the D90 has.
 
The problem sounds like a process one. If you have issues with blacks then change all the defaults, or create an action or someother way streamline the process.
 
I have a d90 and I shoot mainly in a studio with powerful flashes. Nevertheless, I find that photos with a high contrast demand a lot of editting in photoshop. The problem is mainly in the dark colors and black. Is this something that a d700 can significantly improve? If so, it might save me at least half an our of frustrating editting per photo.

maybe kick in a fill light perhaps?

The D700 isn't going to give you the extra DR you think. What it WILL do is when you do alot of shadow recovery, it won't be as noisy in the shadows. That's about it.

can you post an example of where you might need a higher end camera? maybe it has something to do with your lighting. Post a picture out of camera, than another when you're done editing so we can see what you're trying to go for.
 
With the D90 what Picture Control are you shooting with? For the flattest tone curve you should use 'Neutral' and that will give you the best perceivable dynamic range in the RAW NEF. You can process to your heart's content from there!

Also, are you using Active D-Lighting? It will brighten shadows automatically but will introduce slight noise. Works well in a lot of situations, but can me detrimental in some images.

If you're dealing with major high contrast in a controlled lighting situation, just deal with better light placement.
 
The D90 and D300 don't have the same sensor as mentioned, but they are similar. From my results I get better results with D300, but mostly because the functions are easier to go into full manual mode. Other people get better results with the D90.

However, he mentioned the D700, and for the price it wouldn't take the leap.
 
With the D90 what Picture Control are you shooting with? For the flattest tone curve you should use 'Neutral' and that will give you the best perceivable dynamic range in the RAW NEF. You can process to your heart's content from there!

Also, are you using Active D-Lighting? It will brighten shadows automatically but will introduce slight noise. Works well in a lot of situations, but can me detrimental in some images.

If you're dealing with major high contrast in a controlled lighting situation, just deal with better light placement.

picture controls don't affect the raw file at all unless you process with Capture NX, i bet its something with the lighting.
 

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