Converting RAW?

[passingby]

Hey guys,

I have a Nikon d3000 and I shoot is the Nikon raw format. I really like the alterations I can do with the photos whilst they are still in the raw format before they need to be converted but my problem is that whatever I do to the raw (to make the image look better) when I convert (jpg.tiff options) the quailty of the image is extremely poor once the conversion is complete..eg. when I sharpen in raw it looks perfect but then once I convert to eg. jpg. the image is just one big mess of digital noise?..

Any tips with working with raw and converting?

Thanks!

[Digidave]

What software are you using to do your conversion?

[OsmosisStudios]

A before/after would be great, using screen captures.

[passingby]

The program I use is the nikon ViewNX and the Nikon Transfer for the conversion, okay I will get onto that when I get back on my own comp

[Digidave]

Nikon Transfer is only used to transfer the files from your camera to your computer. Nikon View NX2 is where you would be doing your post-processing & conversions. When you go to File>Convert Files, you should get a box where you can choose between JPG, Tiff(16 bit), or TIFF(8 bit). If you choose JPG, there is a slider to set the quality. Make sure it is set to the highest quality. That would be the only reason, that I can think of, that would degrade your quality. When you make changes to the RAW file, what you are looking at in View NX2 is a high quality TIFF, so if you set the quality adjustment to it's highest level you should get a JPG that looks virtually identical. If you aren't then there may be more problems.

[JFSanders]

I am not a big fan of view NX to process Nikon RAW images. Capture NX2 does a much better job. But I would have to see your workflow to help you as you may be just doing the sharpening out of sequence. The general rule is to size your photo first and then sharpen last before out put so as to minimize artifacts and noise.

jim

[passingby]

Yep that's what I do I choose the highest quality and then convert the raw to a jpg. would tiff. be better do you think? I need to upgrade my program so maybe that might help a little..