In the camera all I did was make sure all the perameter settings were turned off sliders were at bottom. same white balance for both same f stop, same speed.

These two pics taken this morning, ( should have said One Pic)
Shot1
Temp 5550
Tint -3
Exp +1.10
Shadows 5
Brightness 77
Contrast +50
Saturation 0

Shot2
Temp 5550
Tint -3
All other boxes unticked 0

Christine, the ACR picture shows a good histogram showing a full range of tones. (However it is set to 16bit :( ) The Histogram from the JPEG is well out however. Proof perhaps that the in camera processing didn't do a great job.

The check boxes in the ACR will endeavour to keep the curve within the bounds of the histogram, similar to Auto levels.

May I also mention to Don that is altering levels it's best not to use Brightness & Contrast as you said you did :) Levels or Curves is the best way. Apologies if its something you already knew

A classic example of where personal choice controls the end result. I would have chosen somewhere in between the two. ;) Using in camera JPEGS you would not have had the choice and probably have had to attempt an adjustment anyway, arguably then degrading the image further

Stephen,
Will give that a go. As I said I am not profficient in digi darkroom and it is here that I will learn a lot. With this post done I will give that a go. Thanks

Christine,
While I give my eyes a rest I am returning your 2 pics with arrows marking the area's of difference I have found. I'll have to get my workshop magnifier in if this keeps up. :D

Don

From the look of the histograms there appears to be a slight adjustment somewhere - the two peaks are the same shape but with a slight movement towards the right. Probably means you have pretty accuratley set WB ISO etc. and so the difference between the look of the Jpeg and the Raw will be very slight - to the eye.

Your right Stephen - I only opened this pic for this debate to show the difference between actual Raw and Raw Opener default settings.
I am with you - when I start to work it will be somewhere in between

Don, I can see a difference if only slight, I just thought I would do a sample because I had this dilemma when I first bought the camera. I had to make a conscious decision as to what I was going to set things at and stay there, not keep swapping between the two. For me personally whether there is a big loss or not I feel more confident that I can get the best from raw if I make a mistake on settings.

Christine,

This is not to suggest that anyone use anything but what they prefer. It started in my head when I thought of upgrade the D100. To do that I would need to up the PC as well, ( budget implications ) certainly to handle the RAW file sizes. A trawl around the net was really inconclusive as no pics only talk. I also considered that people new to the hobby might go with jpeg for an easier learning curve. A lot to take in if you have to understand a camera and digital processing. Anyway part of the result of that look was the suggestion that different cameras processed the 2 image versions in different ways. Stephen and I did a few tests that confirmed that. Not to any great degree but its there. So here on WPF we may have one source of unbiased info that those seeking similar info could rely on.

Once we know the limitations of our chosen method of working we are into what you digi darkroom wizzes do, to finish our image in the pc. Re Stephens comment to me. Just given it a go .... excellent.

Don

I agree Don its a personal thing but once it has been put in your head that something is inferior it sticks and that is what made me change I couldn't shake it. every time I had a bad photo it was niggling as to whether I would have got a better photo shooting raw, utter nonsense I know, so decided, I wanted to be in control and not the equipment deciding for me.