My camera is taking 2 photos for 1 exposure...

[Peter Reader]

Hi all.

Silly question but: I have my Nikon D80 set to RAW + JPG and it takes 2 pictures for each exposure... somehow. Why is this?

Is it something to do with an automatic dark frame or something? Should I be including these in my DSS processing?

Thanks

Pete

[Kai]

I would guess that you have Auto Noise Reduction selected , If so then turn it off.

HTH

[Naz]

It has nothing to do with noise reduction.

It takes a RAW +Jpeg because you have selected that in the image quality setting menu, you have asked the camera to keep one copy in RAW format and one in Jpeg, therefore two copies. If you only want one image, go into menu, select the Image quality, select either RAW (NEF) or jpeg, not RAW + Jpeg.

[Glider]

For stacking and processing you'll want the RAW files, the jpg files have been processed and saved by the camera with already reduced detail. The RAW files are as seen by the camera chip with all detail maintained.

The jpg files can be useful as they can be used as a convenient 'thumbnail' for the RAW images which Windows Explorer will not display. I delete then when I've sorted the corresponding raw files.

[Psychobilly]

In camera darks (long exposure noise reduction) are an easy way of getting the best matching darks - Important if you have a camera which suffers from ampglow or dark noise that changes much with temperature - but very inefficient as it drastically reduces the number of light frames you can get in a session...

I can see my Nikon and canon Raw files as thumbnails in explore... just need to make sure the right codecs are installed...

Billy...

[Peter Reader]

I have the codek I got from Nikon so I can see them. I have changed to Just RAW now and all is well. Thank you everyone!

[Bizibilder]

I would still have the JPEG's for, as Glider says, they are useful "thumbnails" - I use mine to select the "best" for stacking purposes (Then stack the RAW of course!!). After all is done i delete the JPEG's and eventually the RAW's that are not used.

[Peter Reader]

Doesn't DSS automatically select the best ones though?

[Bizibilder]

I like to go through and get rid of obvious bad ones and then tell DSS to use 100% of the chosen "good" ones. I can then decide what to call "bad". It doesn't take long and you know what data you have stacked.

[Peter Reader]

Ahh ok. Thanks for the tip!