I opened a NEF file (with in-D700 custom linear tonal curve) in CNX2, retained the linear curve in CNX2; applied shadow and highlight recovery optimally, applied a conservative S-shaped tone curve and then slid the midtone lever very slightly to the left of the histogram upto a value around 118 - I am very pleased with the result. Is this right, keeping the midtone value at around 118 is most important?girod