Nikon D1The D1 WonderCam!<<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 11:Image Storage & InterfaceReview First Posted: May 12, 2000 |
Image Storage & Interface
The D1 uses CompactFlash memory cards for
image storage, accommodating Type I and II sizes. A 96MB card shipped with our
sample unit, but the retail boxes apparently include no memory card with the
camera. (We bet IBM sells a lot of Microdrives to D1 owners!) We were glad to
find the CompactFlash slot very accessible, allowing us to quickly change the
card while mounted to a tripod. The D1 utilizes a folder arrangement that allows
users to organize images in the camera and a sequential frame counter option to
avoid problems with overwriting files when copying them to the
computer.
Captured images can be individually write protected through the
Play mode settings menu. Write protected files are only immune to accidental
deletion, not card reformatting. File formats include several levels of
compressed JPEG files as well as RGB TIFF, YCbCr TIFF and RAW data modes. Below
are the approximate number of images and their compression ratios for a 96 MB
card. RGB TIFF is the familiar uncompressed TIFF format that can be read by most
any imaging program. The YCbCr TIFF is also an uncompressed mode, dealing with
data more closely to the format in which it comes from the CCD. While still
uncompressed, it is a more compact data format, resulting in images that are
only 5,184 KBytes, vs 7,747 KB for RGB mode. The "raw" file format stores the
data exactly as it comes from the CCD array, an even more compact format, at
3,961 KB. Since the "raw" format is completely proprietary though, it can only
be processed by Nikon's "Nikon Capture" software, sold separately (which we
didn't have the opportunity to evaluate). Late-breaking addendum: Mike
Chaney's excellent Qimage
Pro program can now not only read the D1's Raw file format, but
apparently does a significantly better job of color translation than does
Nikon's own software! For the trivial $30 fee, this is a program that literally
*every* D1 owner should purchase! Even more late-breaking addendum: We
just learned of Eric Hyman's excellent Bibble program,
which appears to offer fantastic color-correction for D1 images. At only $50 for
Bibble, we'd also put it on the absolute must-have list for every D1
owner! (Which one should you get? - Why not both? Each offers capabilities the
other lacks, and for $80 for the pair of programs, you really can't go
wrong!)
| Resolution/Quality vs Image Capacity |
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| HI RAW data |
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| HI YCbCr TIFF |
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| HI RGB TIFF |
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| Fine Quality |
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| Normal Quality |
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| Basic Quality |
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