Overview

Nikon Gamma Controls bring interactive adjustment of the camera's gamma curve to video filming on DSLR's that support Nikon's custom Picture Control profiles. It is comprised of a set of calibrated gamma curves applied to Nikon's built-in Picture Profiles: Neutral, Portrait, Standard, Landscape, Vivid, and Monochrome. Unlike previous custom picture profiles such as Technicolor's Cinestyle, which provides a single, non-adjustable gamma curve that attempts to cover all types of shooting conditions, Nikon Gamma Controls enable the user to select a standardized gamma curve that best suits the illumination of each shot. And since Nikon Gamma Controls are calibrated to industry-standard grading tools, the selected gamma curve can be freely and accurately fine-tuned in a wide range of video editors without loss of image detail.

Gamma Control - Exposure's Hidden Dimension

One of the first challenges that confront videographers is gauging the proper exposure for each shot. While modern DSLR's provide a variety of illumination meters and exposure adjustments, high-contrast scenes can easily exceed the camera's limited dynamic range. In these situations it is often necessary to deliberately underexpose the darker areas of a scene in order to preserve highlight details in the brightest areas. This can result in starkly-lit video images that require significant grading to boost the visibility of shadow details. Unfortunately, the darkest areas in videos compressed with 8-bit H.264 encoders are recorded with noticeably degraded image quality, and this imposes a practical limit on the amount of enhancement that can be applied in post-production.

What is actually needed in these cases are controls that enable the user to set not only the exposure level of the highlights, but to independently control exposure of darker areas as well. When recording video, Nikon cameras convert the RAW sensor data into Rec. 709 video data and compress the scene's dynamic range into a format designed for viewing on consumer televisions. The core mathematical formula used in this conversion is known as the video gamma curve, and it determines the relative brightness of dark and midrange tones compared to the highlights. Broadcast engineers fine-tuned the Rec. 709 gamma curve for television viewing under subdued room lighting - a standard that is not well-optimized for image capture, particularly not for high-contrast lighting situations. For optimal image quality, the camera's gamma curve should ideally be adjusted specifically for each scene.

The Zen of Gamma Control

While there are many ways to adjust the perceived brightness of an image, the gamma function has a uniquely valuable property - it enables you to manipulate the proportional brightness of midrange tones while leaving the exposure of the brightest and darkest shades unchanged. That gives you the ability to protect highlight detail with a conservative exposure setting, while independently adjusting the overall brightness of the image with the gamma control. It is literally an extra dimension of exposure control, demonstrated in the video sequence below. The inset histograms measure the change in midrange brightness as gamma is varied from 1.0 to 0.4:

In practice, Nikon Gamma Controls are a set of seven gamma curves, in this case applied to Nikon's built-in Neutral Picture Profile. I have calibrated the curves with the base Neutral profile as gamma 1.0, decrementing with each step by 0.1 down to a gamma of 0.4. This provides a gamma adjustment range of 2.5:1, covering the full range of practical shooting conditions. The reason I chose this particular scaling is because it matches the calibration of the built-in gamma controls provided by a wide range of video editors. This calibration is so precise that you can grade each of the above clips back to gamma 1.0 simply by applying the same gamma setting that was used to record it. (In other words, to restore a video shot at gamma 0.5 back to the camera's default gamma 1.0 curve, simply grade it with a gamma curve set to 0.5. With a 32-bit video editor, this process is completely reversible - no image details are lost!)

Improving Image Quality with Gamma Control

If Nikon DSLR's recorded videos in uncompressed RAW format, there would be no practical advantage to using gamma control profiles. In addition to filming video, Nikon Gamma Controls can be used in JPEG still photography (e.g. to bring up shadow details in backlit photos). If you capture both JPEG and RAW image formats, however, you'll find that the RAW images are unaltered by Nikon Gamma Controls.

With video, however, the internal H.264 encoder burns the camera's gamma curve permanently into each recording, and it's here that Nikon Gamma Controls can visibly improve shadow detail quality. With a gamma of 0.5, for example, darker shades are recorded with about twice as much mathematical detail as that used in the camera's default gamma 1.0 picture profiles. An additional advantage is that boosting the recorded illumination of shadow details can give you the option of turning down the brightness when grading the video in post, instead of needing to dig image details out of the darkness. The example below shows how grading a video shot at the default gamma of 1.0 produces visibly coarser results than grading with gamma 0.7 or 0.5:

Nikon Gamma Controls Beta Test Info

This initial Beta Release of Nikon Gamma Controls has been thoroughly tested for accuracy and reliability on a Nikon D5100. In addition, I've verified proper operation on Nikon D5200 and D7000 cameras (and confirmed that Nikon D3100 and D3200 do not support custom Picture Controls). In addition, I've confirmed compatibility with the calibration of gamma controls provided in Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects, versions CS5 - CS6.

My understanding of Nikon's documentation is that all contemporary pro and prosumer DSLR's support custom Picture Controls using a standardized, cross-compatible set of built-in picture profiles. Detailed information on the Nikon Picture Control System is available here:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/picturecontrol/catalog/PicCon.pdf

The reason I'm releasing this version as a Beta test is because there are additional compatibility issues I don't have the resources to investigate on my own. I would appreciate help in confirming support for Nikon Gamma Controls in the following areas:

• Support for custom Picture Controls across Nikon's DSLR models.
• Accurate gamma calibration on each of the built-in Picture Profiles.
• Calibration of gamma adjustment controls in prominent video editing suites.

With Nikon Gamma Controls v0.1 Beta, I've included the complete set of gamma controls for Nikon's built-in Neutral profile, with default user settings adjusted for video recording. The Neutral profile is well-suited for video and provides a solid baseline for evaluation. Once we have confirmed compatibility with a broad range of Nikon DSLR's and video editing applications, I will generate calibrated gamma control profiles for all six of Nikon's built-in picture profiles and include them in subsequent releases.

Download and Installation of Nikon Gamma Controls

I've packaged Nikon Gamma Controls in a zip file attached to this post. After downloading and unzipping it, you'll find a folder named NIKON, which contains a CUSTOMPC folder that contains a set of Nikon Picture Control profiles. Copy the entire NIKON folder structure to the root folder of a compatible memory card and insert it into your camera.

To install Nikon Gamma Controls, find the "Manage Picture Control" option in the SHOOTING MENU. Select the "Load/Save" option, and then the "Copy to Camera" option. You should then see a list of the Nikon Gamma Controls profiles, starting with one named "Sepia". I included this profile as a convenient placeholder to fill in the seventh slot in the stock "Set Picture Control" menu, at the bottom end of the list of built-in picture profiles.

If your camera works like the Nikon D5100, it will accept up to nine custom profiles, labeled C1-C9. If you load Sepia into C1, it will be displayed along with the built-in profiles on the first page of the Set Picture Control menu. You can then load the seven Neutral Gamma profiles into C2-C8 slots, and they will all fit neatly on the second page of the menu. When loading each profile, the camera will give you the option to revise the profile name. You need to take care at that point, and press the +Magnify button instead of the OK button, to accept the custom profile without changing its name.

Usage of Nikon Gamma Controls

On Nikon DSLR's, video is recorded in Live View mode, and prosumer models work in a quirky manner that can subtly foul up the use of Nikon Gamma Controls. The fundamental problem is that the camera is unable to electronically update the lens aperture after you enter Live View - the lens iris will stay fixed even when the displayed aperture appears to change. In order to reliably set the aperture, you must exit Live View mode to do so.

Once you've set your aperture (in either M or A-priority modes), and returned to Live View, you may want to lock down your exposure with the AE-Lock button. This will work properly as long as you do not exit Live View mode. But beware, because there's a hidden pitfall - if you snap a still photo in Live View mode, the camera will exit and return to Live View. That will silently invalidate the AE-Lock exposure settings and your video exposure will no longer be correct. To be absolutely sure you're shooting with your intended exposure, always engage AE-Lock just before pressing the movie record button.

Once those glitches are under control, you can experiment with the seven profiles in Nikon Gamma Controls. As long as you stay in Live View mode, you can interactively select different gamma settings from 1.0 to 0.4, and evaluate their visible effects on the LCD screen. You can also use gamma bracketing - repeating a shot with a range of gamma settings - without leaving Live View between each recording. This is how I recorded the sample videos and it was very quick and convenient to adjust gamma on-the-fly while composing each shot.

If you examine the user settings in each Neutral Gamma profile, you'll see that I've set Sharpening to 0, Saturation to -2, and Hue to 0. These settings differ from the defaults in the built-in Neutral profile - they're what I found most useful for shooting video. If you experiment with these user settings, be sure to update each of the seven Neutral Gamma profiles the same way. That will preserve your ability to fine-tune the gamma profiles in post, with calibrated grading and intercutting among all Nikon Gamma Controls profiles.

Nikon introduces the latest D-SLR to its mid-range DX-format line-up, the 24.1 megapixel Nikon D5200, designed to bring out your creative side. From beautiful still photos to smooth Full HD movies, this camera empowers your freedom of expression, letting you capture your own unique view of the world.

• 24.1 megapixel CMOS image sensor
• Vari-angle LCD monitor: View life at a unique angle with a high resolution, 7.5cm (3.0-in), 921k dot vari-angle screen
• ireless Mobile Adaptor WU-1a can transmit images from the camera to Apple™ or Android™ smart device and remote shooting*1
• High ISO (100-6400) extendable to 25600
• 39-point AF system with nine cross-type sensors in the center.
• 2016 pixel RGB metering sensor
• Scene Recognition System optimizes exposure, autofocus and white balance
• Continuous shooting at 5fps
• High dynamic range (HDR)
• Active D-Lighting
• Full (1080p) HD movies with smooth (up to 60i/50i) recording and a built-in stereo microphone (AF works, but slow as hell)

Available at:

• http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-D5200-Digital-Camera-Black/dp/B00AXTQQDS/
• http://www.ebay.com/sch/Digital-Cameras-/31388/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Nikon+D5200
• EU - http://www.jessops.com/online.store/categories/products/nikon/d5200-digital-slr-in-black-with-18-55mm-vr-lens-88090/show.html

Press release

Breath-taking image quality

The third camera in its series, following the D5000 and the D5100, the Nikon D5200 offers a massive leap in image-quality. In addition to the 24.1-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor for finely detailed images, the new EXPEED 3 image processor provides high-speed operation and excellent, rich colour reproduction – as well as enhanced movie recording. The high ISO sensitivity (100-6400 which is extendable to 25600) delivers brilliant shots in dark or poorly lit environments as well as producing clear images of fast moving subjects.

The Nikon D5200 shares an AF system, metering sensor and scene recognition with the Nikon D7000 series, giving this camera a new level of performance and much enhanced image quality. The superior accuracy of the 39-point AF system and nine cross-type sensors delivers razor sharp images by focusing precisely on the subject you choose. Meanwhile, the 2,016-pixel RGB metering sensor provides precise data to the camera’s Scene Recognition System, which optimizes exposure, autofocus and white balance immediately before the shutter is released.

Image creations from any angle

The Nikon D5200’s versatile 7.5cm (3-in) vari-angle LCD monitor provides the ultimate freedom and flexibility to take beautiful shots and movies from virtually any position. You can flip, tilt or turn the swivel monitor to get really creative with your angles. In addition, the Nikon D5200 is an intelligently designed lightweight camera, with clear menus and superior ergonomics, making it a pleasure to maneuver and shoot with.

Wireless connectivity to share your creations

Wirelessly transmitting images from your camera to an Apple™ or Android™ smart device is possible by using the optional WU-1a Wireless Mobile Adapter. This means you can share images that you are proud of with friends via social networks and email for instant reactions. It is even possible to control your camera remotely from your smart device to help you take beautiful shots without disturbing your subjects.

Distinctive HD movies

Effortlessly alternate between shooting stills and Full HD movies with smooth (up to 60i/50i) recording at the flick of a switch. The camera’s subject tracking of moving objects in three dimensions, with full time servo AF (AF-F), ensures focus of moving objects throughout filming. Adding to that, creating movies to be proud of can be achieved with in-movie editing and the camera’s built-in stereo microphone.

Inspirational Effect and Scene modes

Be even more original with the Nikon D5200 Effects mode. A range of seven special effects: Selective Colour, Miniature, High and Low Key, Silhouette, Colour Sketch and Night Vision can be applied in real time to images and movies through Live View so you can see what your final creation will look like before you shoot it. In addition, in-camera High Dynamic Range (HDR) and D-lighting capture detailed images of high-contrast scenes, increasing creative possibilities. You can also select from 16 different Scene modes – they optimize the camera settings, such as shutter speed, ISO and aperture – to the situation you are shooting. It is great for a quick shot or if you are still learning about D-SLR photography.

Now the first question I need to resolve, is do I get just a monitor by itself (such as one of the SmallHD monitors) or get a combined monitor/recorder (such as from Atomos).

Currently my situation is I'm using a Nikon D5200 plus a BMPCC that has just arrived with future upgrading plans of maybe perhaps getting a Panasonic GH4 in a few months from now. (slim possibility it might be instead a Sony A7S, or even a Samsung NX1. Could even be something that hasn't be released yet! I'm in no rush, I'll wait and see) So whatever I'm picking should be suited for what I've got now (& in the near future).

Am thinking I've narrowed down my decision to Ninja Blade vs Ninja 2.

I'm leaning towards getting the Atomos Ninja Blade (it is worth it over the cheaper Ninja 2???), for a few reasons (let me know if they're good reasons or not! I'm just presuming here): a) I'm thinking using SSDs could be better than SD cards in the BMPCC (though not being able to record CinemaDNG raw to SSD is a pity) b) having the ability to tag good/bad takes on set with AtomosOS seems like it could be a big time saver when doing rush edits. c) no time recording limit with the Nikon D5200 (if I got just a monitor, I expect I'd then get a Blackmagic Design: HyperDeck Shuttle as well. Well, or maybe maybe wait a few months to see if NikonHacker removes the recording time limit on the D5200)

But on the flip side the Ninja 2 is significantly cheaper.... so I wonder, is the older Ninja 2's screen satisfactory for pulling focus or is the Blade's high resolution screen going to be a huge bonus here?

Probably the biggest point of confusion I have between the two is how the Ninja Blade and Ninja 2 run different version of Atomos OS (with the Blade having the newer version of course), as I can't seem to clearly find any info on what specifically is the benefits of that. (such as around workflow around tagging clips on set and then in post)

Thoughts/criticism/suggestions? I'm all ears!