John Navitsky
Well-known member
In other news, I tried HE* and didn't die! 
Nikon HE* Compression
- Thread starter John Navitsky
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I loved HE* especially that short time when MacOS would show thumbnails. But too many times now I want to use Finder to open a file to PS so I stopped using it. But it’s hard to tell any difference.
John Navitsky
Well-known member
i'm hardcore lossless, but i figured i should give it a try :-D
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I am sure the dog was jumping for HE* joy. Great shot.
abc123brian
Well-known member
I tried it when CaptureOne added support and have been using it since.
I’ve never shot in lossless 
have been He Star from Day #1.
have been He Star from Day #1.
EricKlees
Well-known member
HE* is indistinguishable from lossless. You need to crop in past 100% to see a hint of a difference.
Been shooting HE* since day one (Jan 13, 2022 second batch)
Been shooting HE* since day one (Jan 13, 2022 second batch)
I shoot a lot of sports and have been using HE* since getting my Z9. With a quality card you don't have to worry about buffer, file sizes are smaller, the apps I use to process have all updated to address HE*, and I still have a RAW file which makes it much easier to deal with crazy color balance at some locations.
Cameron T
Well-known member
The only time I'm not using he or he* is when I'm doing astro (my stacking software can't process it, and I don't know that it wouldn't cause problems in the stacking process even if it could).
Chris K
Well-known member
I did some tests between HE, HE*, and lossless, and overlaid them in Photoshop to see the ACTUAL differences between each.
I found there is a difference in images between HE* and Lossless, but when Photoshop pointed out exactly where the differences were, and I looked at the images, I had a hard time picking the differences out unless at 200%, and even when I did, I wouldn’t necessarily say HE* was worse.
Then, comparing HE and HE* the same way, it was easier to see the differences. I could squint at a 100% crop and maybe say there is occasionally a slight contrast reduction in high-frequency details? But I’d have to have it pointed out to me, and the difference was far smaller than any other factor potentially affecting image quality.
I shoot HE now, and enjoy the small files, infinite buffer, and fast card downloads.
I found there is a difference in images between HE* and Lossless, but when Photoshop pointed out exactly where the differences were, and I looked at the images, I had a hard time picking the differences out unless at 200%, and even when I did, I wouldn’t necessarily say HE* was worse.
Then, comparing HE and HE* the same way, it was easier to see the differences. I could squint at a 100% crop and maybe say there is occasionally a slight contrast reduction in high-frequency details? But I’d have to have it pointed out to me, and the difference was far smaller than any other factor potentially affecting image quality.
I shoot HE now, and enjoy the small files, infinite buffer, and fast card downloads.