Thank you for your response. As I have been doing more research, it appears as though my problem is that Aperature 2 simply does not recognize the proprietary nature of the Nikon RAW file information. Therefore, the picture control settings applied in the camera do not get translated. Does this make sense to you?

If this is true, I am wondering whether Aperature 3 does a better job of converting Nikon RAW. Any thoughts or actual experience from any readers of this post?

Hi,

Welcome to the forum! The D700 is a great camera isn't it? If you use Adobe RAW, Lightroom, or Apple's Aperature 2, the embedded JPEG file within the NEF RAW file, which is for previous purposes, will not match the converted NEF file unless the picture control settings on the camera were at default values. Many people forget this. Many third party RAW converters do reproduce Nikon's White balance settings with precision, so color might look a little off compared to an NEF file converted using Nikon's View NX or Capture NX.

When you modify a picture control and you are not happy with the results, the default setting of the LCD brightness could be an issue as well. Try -1 and remember the D700 like other Nikon DSLR are still not able to show the full spectrum of colors defined by Adobe RGB color space. Its actually closer to the narrow spectrum of SRGB.

With the contrast setting, if left to auto the D700 tends to add too much contrast I find. Remember its far easier to increase contrast than it is to reduce it. Therefore, it might be better to make adjustments in post processing.

I should also add that when shooting RAW, and viewing on my iMac with aperature, the picture control setting for contrast seems to have no effect. JPEGs on the other hand do seem to have increased contrast when viewed.

Thanks again for some help in this area......

I have been thoroughly enjoying my D700 for a while now and am looking for some direction regarding the picture control settings. I enjoy a great deal of contrast in my pictures. I most always shoot in the Vivid mode. When I increase the contrast setting to the maximum I just do not see that much of a difference. What else could I be doing to enhance the contrast within the camera. What other recommendations do others reading this post have in terms of using the Picture Control settings?

Look forward to your thoughts....