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More on Photography
More on Photography
Image Quality and Size
Pictures taken with a digital camera are stored as image fi les. The size of the
fi les, and with it the number of images that can be recorded on the memory
card, depends on the quality and size of the images. Before shooting, choose
image quality and size according to how the picture will be used.
Image Quality
The camera stores images in one of three formats: NEF (RAW), TIFF (HI qual-
ity), or JPEG (FINE, NORMAL, or BASIC quality).
1 To reduce the amount of memory each shot occupies, JPEG images are compressed as
they are saved to the memory card. Compression selectively reduces the quality of the
image; the more a picture is compressed, the more noticeable this loss of quality is likely
to be. This column gives the approximate compression ratio for each setting.
2 Available only in shooting modes (Custom 1) and (Custom 2). Selecting
(auto) or scene mode resets image quality to FINE. Digital zoom (
16) not sup-
ported.
3 Available only at an image size of
. Direct print (
69) not supported.
4 Available only at image sizes of
and
.
BASIC
Basic image quality, suitable for pictures that will
be distributed by e-mail or used in web pages.
1 : 16
FINE
Fine image quality, suitable for enlargements or
high-quality prints.
1 : 4
JPEG
HI
2, 4
High image quality (on par with NEF) in format
supported by most imaging applications.
TIFF
RAW
2, 3
Raw data from CCD are saved in
N
ikon
E
lec-
tronic Image
F
ormat (NEF) without processing
or compression, preserving high level of detail at
fi le size slightly smaller than that of TIFF images.
Not
compressed
NEF
NORM
(
NORMAL
)
Normal image quality, suited to most applica-
tions.
1 : 8
Option
Description
Compression
ratio
1
Format
