Updated 2004-May-01

Note:  These custom tone curve do not compensate for poor metering technique, however, because of their linearity with the normal tone all the way up to the near highlights, they provide enough latitude for adjustments if slight mistakes are made.  They can also decrease time spent post-processing by minimizing the need for complicated curves and levels adjustments.  Furthermore, these curves are applied to images in the camera while they are still in 12 bits, which means that if you are shooting JPG images, which are only 8 bits, using these curves will give you a higher quality than post-processing with similar curve adjustments.  If you are shooting RAW, they are still useful because they provide a more accurate starting point for further curves adjustments, if necessary.  These curves are most effective in situations requiring either daylight or flash white balance settings.  At other settings, there may be a very slight shift in hue towards yellow.

1.  White Wedding v3.4:  This curve is simply a better alternative for D100 and D70 photographers using Nikon's "Normal" tone with EV compensation to correct for dark images.  It adds the precise equivalent of +0.5 EV to midtones while holding all of the original highlight information. There may be a slight decrease in contrast and saturation in near highlights compared to the normal tone with +0.5 EV.  This curve is recommended for most users as a general use curve.  It was designed with wedding photographers in mind who want bright images out of the camera without any added risk of blown highlights.

2.  Provia v3.4:  This curve is very similar to Nikon's "Medium Low" tone setting with +0.5 EV.  This curve performs best in high contrast lighting and is not recommended in low contrast lighting.  Personally, I keep this tone curve loaded in my camera because I prefer the slightly softer, pastel-like quality that it results in, and I can always switch to the normal tone setting and add +0.5 EV when the lighting conditions become flat.