Qimage Nikon D1 Raw File Support

Update (04/22): What's new in v7.92?

• Saturation: v7.91 produced slightly oversaturated colors. v7.92 improves the overall color balance for more natural pictures.

• Dynamic range: v7.92 offers even better automatic control of the dynamic range. As a result, where v7.91 may have rendered an occasional "hazy" image, v7.92 will not, yet retains details in the shadows and highlights.

• See our new folder of 100% unmodified NEF converted images on the updated comparison page.

Update (04/15): What's new in v7.9?

• New color correction algorithm based on a proprietary (all-digital) process improves color calibration dramatically over the old "color chart" calibration method.
• A bug in v7.83's auto clipping algorithm that caused some images to be "hazy" has been fixed.
• New auto clipping algorithm optimizes dynamic range even further based on amplitude and phase of all three color channels to maximize available color data.
• New auto "push processing" automatically corrects for exposure errors to brighten dark shots and darken overexposed shots. Great for those sports shots where you increased shutter speed manually to get the shot.
• Auto level clip value has been split to allow a different clipping amount for shadow and highlight areas for more control over dynamic range.

Qimage D1 Raw Files: General Info

Why NEF images?

• NEF images are simply the raw data exactly as recorded by the D1 CCD. These are your digital negatives. Once the camera has converted the image to JPG or even a raw TIF, it has applied it's own curves, color calibration, sharpening, etc. to the image prior to saving it. This means that if you allow the camera to save images as JPG or TIF, you have lost your negatives. It's that simple! So before you decide that the raw NEF images take up too much space (about 4 megs each) and use up too much card space, consider how important your images are. Would you throw away your negatives if you were using a silver based film camera?

• Since processing of the raw CCD data is done outside of the camera, higher quality images can be obtained since more powerful algorithms can be designed outside the camera.

• Processing images using NEF negatives completely eliminates the well established D1 magenta push, yellow/red transition problems, dark/hazy image complaints, etc.

• Finally, more and more programs are offering good NEF support and quite frankly, do a better job of interpolation and color calibration than the camera. If you save your negatives and available software improves, you can go back to your original negatives and use the latest tools to improve your pictures.

Why Qimage?

Qimage offers full support for Nikon D1 raw format files and ensures correct color and exposure every time. Qimage can not only convert batches of NEF images from different drives/folders in the same session, but it will also provide a host of viewing and printing options as well. Our software is well known and has been heralded for producing the highest quality prints from today's photo printers while ensuring that no paper is wasted. Fully automated interpolation filters allow you to print batches of images at 4x6 size while optimizing paper, or print 13x20 prints without worrying about dpi... all directly from your negatives (NEF's)! Originally designed as a way to create "image documents" for printing, Qimage has become much more and is currently the fastest, most accurate software available for processing Nikon D1 raw files. Due to the range of features available in Qimage, our software appeals to both the consumer and professional market. While professionals will appreciate the speed and quality of Qimage (see the comparison page), consumers and other photographers will enjoy being able to view slide shows, create collages or image documents to be printed by simply dragging NEF images to the printed page, or use simple tools for cropping, blemish correction, etc.

Features

Qimage currently offers the above features to control how your NEF files are displayed/converted/printed. Once the above options have been set to serve your needs, it is unlikely that you will need to make further modifications such as levels, color curves, etc. Once these options are set, they are applied to each NEF image as it is opened in Qimage Pro. This means that when you are printing, viewing, converting or performing slide shows, Qimage will apply the options as soon as the file is opened and prior to any display/print/convert operations. Although sharpening, color changes, effects, cropping, etc. are available using the batch filter, Qimage is designed as an intelligent photo processor which can make the most out of your images for the least hassle!

Summary:

Nikon D1 raw files can provide better quality than in-camera JPEG's. The raw files have more dynamic range and allow for much more flexibility in enhancing/correcting images. Although both Nikon Capture and Qimage offer options that allow you to get the look/feel that you like from your D1, the color fringing inherent to Nikon Capture's processing of raw files and the need for additional sharpening are difficult problems to overcome. The completely automatic color correction in Qimage also ensures much more accurate color than is currently available with any other software or any options that you can select on the camera. Qimage does a better job of interpolation right from the start, requiring less sharpening and often capturing more detail at fine levels. Not bad for $30!

Click here to go to the Qimage homepage.