Dark Current Enable Tool

Dark Current Enable Tool was designed to help astrophotographers or scientific photographers enhance the quality of their photos by disabling the RAW pre-processing pipeline. It is a portable application that comes with no Graphical User Interface (GUI), but users can access its functions through a Command Line Interface (CLI).

It works exclusively with Nikon DSLR cameras that feature appropriate sensor components. Usually, scientific imaging, such as spectrum or photometry require the usage of sensor RAW, and this application can be used to disable the RAW pre-processing.

Among the supported devices, users can find the EI-142 D300, EI-149 D5000, EI-154 D3100 and EI-158/175 D800 camera models. However, disabling the function mentioned above is not a permanent effect, since the application does not write in the Flash memory of the device, but instead, it temporarily modifies the RAM, since this method is actually safer than modifying the firmware. Whenever the device or its camera metering system is put into sleep mode, the effect is lost.

In order for the effect to function for a longer time, users can increase the value of the “Auto-meter off delay” from the “Custom Settings” menu.

Users can achieve the desired effects by disabling the “Long Exposure NR” and “High ISO NR” settings, connecting the device to the computer via USB, turning on the camera and running the executable.