How to avoid LR from performing automatic adjustments to RAW images imported from a Nikon Z9

I know this response comes two years after the last one, but this was the exact question I needed to see.

For some reason, my Z9 writes settings to my RAW files indicating noise reduction on my photos should be set to 65, so the first thing I need to do on import is to drag that down to a much more reasonable level.

Now I understand that I will need to create a preset to actually set that level rather than apply "camera settings" which I otherwise would have thought would have been zero. 🤦🏼‍♂

Nikon embeds some Lightroom settings in the headers of the raw file. If you don't want that, then you have to override these with a preset that sets them to zero.

 

Now I find it strange that the automatic adjustments are made when the camera settings are followed and not when the Adobe Standard settings are followed. I'd rather think it's the other way around.

Does anyone here have an idea as to why this is so I can better understand this issue? Thanks in advance! 

By @carolined69956938

No, that sounds right to me. The Adobe Default should result is just that, all sliders are set to the default position after import, and the default profile should be Adobe Color.

Using "Camera Settings" as the default develop settings is more of a mixed bag, as it very much depends on what camera settings are exposed to LrC. The in-camera Picture Style should always result in the corresponding Adobe camera-matching profile being applied, but the application of other in-camera settings appears to vary. Using my Canon R5 and R7, for instance, none of the develop sliders are changed from the Adobe Default position, but apparently Nikon exposes more in-camera settings to Adobe which are then applied. For example I've just downloaded 5 Raw files from a Z9 and on import to LrC (with Camera Settings as the default) I see that Texture is set to +40, Clarity is set to +20 and Luminance Noise Reduction is set to 25 (for 4 images where ISO 64 was used) and 39 for one image shot at ISO 2000. If I then inspect those images I see that those values have been written into the XMP section of the file header, which is obviously what LrC is then reading and applying (just as it would if there was an XMP sidecar associated with the raw file). Canon don't seem to do that, which explains why there are no adjustments made to their files on import into LrC.

If that's something that you don't like I can only suggest you revert you develop defaults to the Adobe Default setting, then apply only the camera-matching profile either by an import preset, or post import.

Your camera screen displays your RAW image from the preview jpeg built into the file header. That preview is created by the Camera firmware which is proprietary to Nikon. That technology is not available to Lightroom Classic / Adobe Camera Raw they have created their own Processing engine and Profiles to render the raw data and create a preview for display, this process is proprietary to Adobe and will display differently. Adobe may have created some "Camera Matching" profiles to replicate some of the Camera's looks like Portrait, Landscape etc.