The Nikon D300 has a new feature called Active D-Lighting. Basically a built-in version of Photoshop's Shadow/Highlight feature. Unfortunately, you cannot just set it as and when you want to use it. If you enable it, it's enabled for all the photos taken (until you turn it off in the menu). So, the question is should we enable it? If so, should we use Low, Normal or High? This is what DPReview said about the D300's Active D-Lighting feature :
I used to turn it low by default, as I thought since I shoot RAW I can always turn it off if I need to. Then I find that the result of my shot is not the same as I intended some how, even when I turn it off in CaptureNX later, so nowadays I just turn it on when I need to.
High contrast and low contrast has its use. That's why having better HDR isn't always desired, for me at least. Better HDR can result lower contrast image.
But you can only toggle it on or off in the menu, right? Too bad there's no way to do it via a button.
That's what I was thinking... Would it be better to leave it off and then post-process (using Photoshop's Shadows/Highlight) for photos that require it?
Okay, I've decided to turn Active D-Lighting OFF. The Nikon D300 has the option to apply it (D-Lighting) as a post-processing effect in the Retouch Menu. There are other options as well, like a Warm Filter, Red Eye Correction and even Image Overlay. I tried out D-Lighting. It works the same way, giving you the option of how much (Low, Normal, High) you want to apply. Best of all, it automatically creates a new picture and leaves the original alone. So I think it's better to turn Active D-Lighting off and use the built-in D-Lighting to do it for photos that require it. Otherwise, I think the other photos will appear a little washed out and lack contrast.
Hmm.. Ken Rockwell recommends turning on Active D-Lighting though... Maybe I should do a test of Active D-Lighting...
Don't have to read everything he says lol. Unless you shoot in difficult situation like landscape, or wedding shoots, most of the time, Active D-Lighting will reduce contrast. Many people like contrasty pictures.
Nah, I'm reading from everywhere. Just quoting what he said because it differs from what we have discussed earlier. Besides, he was comparing it to the D-Lighting post-processing feature in D200, not the D300. I think I will test this out. If both Active D-Lighting and D-Lighting works the same, then there's really no need to enable it unless you are a purist who want to ensure absolutely the minimum loss of details. It's just too tedious to turn it on or off. There's no way to map the Fn button to active and deactivate Active D-Lighting either.
