(Two Images at Once)

Some photographers use a clever storage mode whereby the D700 takes two images at the same time. It’s called NEF (RAW) + JPEG. This gives you the best of both worlds in that you shoot a RAW file and a JPEG file each time you press the shutter button. In NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine, my camera’s 8-gigabyte CF card storage drops to about 295 images since it is storing both an uncompressed 14-bit RAW and a high-quality JPEG file at the same time for each picture taken (Figure 5-15).

Figure 5-13. Two Shooting Menu screens for setting JPEG compression, with the second screen set to Optimal quality

Figure 5-14. Image quality screens for setting TIFF

You can use the RAW file to store all the image data and later to postprocess it into a masterpiece, or you can just use the JPEG file immediately with no adjustment. Many people use this combination quite often. You can have a JPEG to give others immediately and later work on the RAW file for special purposes. Here are the three available modes:

There is no need to go into any amount of detail about these modes other than what we have already discussed. The NEF + JPEG modes have the same features as their individual modes. In other words, the NEF (RAW) file works just like a NEF (RAW) file if you were using the standalone NEF (RAW) mode. The JPEG in a NEF + JPEG mode works just like a standalone JPEG shot without a NEF (RAW) file.

Figure 5-15. Image quality screens for setting NEF (RAW) + JPEG fine

If you need more information, just refer to the NEF (RAW) or JPEG information found earlier in this chapter.

Now, let’s consider which of these formats might become your favorite and the benefits each might bring to your photography.