Nikon is using a crap 13.5 MP Sony sensor with noise levels high enough to make Mount Everest look like a hill.
I believe that they are indeed trying to hide this with some pre-post processing built into their own codec.
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This appears quite sound : notice how the samples don't contain any textures in the shadows? Not to say they're so bad either, but that seems consistent with a fair amount of NR in the shadows.
One final word though, I don't see how this is arrogant.
Well, with the usual reserve that I'm no native english speaker, I'd agree the word
arrogance may be a bit misused, but I fully understand the angry reaction of a photographer waiting for raw format in a compact to have some room for image treatment, and only finding that this particular raw format actually deprives him from the treatment he wants (or at least complicates it).
[a href=\"http://www.cnrtl.fr/lexicographie/gougnafier]Gougnaferie[/url] is a much better suited word than arrogance in this particular case, but alas! It's no english word.
For me it's a either/or situation :
- either the manufacturer chooses to have only its treatment applied on a camera's files, and then this camera only outputs jpeg,
- or it allows some custom treatment, and then a raw format as standard as possible, and with a minimal amount of built-in processing, is required.
Nikon tries to sit in between two chairs here, imho.