Thoughts on ADL

[danny wdr]

what do you think, On or off? Set to normal? Etc........

[OldClicker]

What's ADL? - TF

[Medley]

This explains things much better than I ever could:

http://photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00OYaw

- Joe U.

[Frog]

OC, I didn't know either.
The acronyms and abbreviations keep increasing and it is hard to keep up.
Looks like a good article, Medley.

[drg]

danny,

If you are shooting in not the best lighting conditions (bad light, wide range shadow to bright, low light, etc) it is certainly worth using for an extra edge. The D3 variants let you bracket to a greater or lesser degree with variations of the ADL implementation.

Only certain lenses will fully benefit and these are the G, D, and DX lenses when 3D Color Matrix metering is being used. The Extra-High setting when available on the newest Nikons also adjust the Metering performance in ways that are said to improve high/low lights; i.e. reduce clipping.

My best Nikon sources tell me that confusion abounds among some users as to the post-processing problems. These are to my knowledge based on using the wrong version of NX with a particular cameras output. I don't have a 'table' of compatibility, yet.

So to offer an answer to your original question, yes I'd use it when it is available and it applies to the lighting conditions. Test your camera/lens combos under known lighting that you will shoot in regularly and see what results you can get. You may not notice anything and you may see anomalies. Artificial lighting caused some noise for me last year in on site portraits (family wedding photos with dark gray tuxedos) in lower contrast areas of the photographs.

Joe's (Medley) article is pretty good with few exceptions. According to Nikon ADL and DL are implementation of a similar if not identical algorithm but one is applied in camera and the other is done in post processing. The ADL in camera when fully implemented alters the metering input to its computation and thus is 'better' than a static adjustment in post. The D-Lighting curve though appears to be identical. The base article speaks of the post-pro issue and I believe that to be a software issue that is resolvable with the right software version.

Try ADL in controlled conditions. Bracket with it if your camera supports that function. Be aware that any of these in camera processing functions can degrade an image under extreme conditions and may not fix both high and lowlights in the same image. If you have computer to evaluate the photos you are taking as you go, you can adjust the settings to the best image if ADL is having the desired effect.

If you are using strobes or other artificial lighting, dialing down the fill lights may be important so not to get unrealistic looking shadow areas and unpleasant highlights!

Happy shooting.

[danny wdr]

Thanks DRG for th info, and thanks medley for the link