Lightroom changes the appearance of my images after import

This is happening to me...with JPEG files.  Its like some kind of auto toning is on, but there is no option for that checked anywhere in Lightroom.  This is super annoying!

I have found a little solution as I've experienced the same thing.

I changed my default settings to have the camera profile in sync with the image style I shoot with most. for me Landscape. I set the default settings in LR for the camera profile to "Camera Landscape". I've noticed a significant shift in speed and I'm not dealing with the shift in the image looking good for 2 seconds and then shifting to Adobe Standard Profile. You'll find this under the camera calibration tab in Develop mode. Hold alt and click set default near bottom right where it usually says reset.

I have my Canon 5D Mark iii set to Landscape image style pretty much all the time in the camera settings. I just like what that image style does. So when I import my RAW files. the embedded thumbnail/jpg preview is with that Landscape image style. After a few seconds Lightroom loads the default settings for the RAW file and that look that the Landscape image style has is gone. not anymore by changing my Lightroom default to Camera Landscape.

I've just experienced the same. I processed the photos before the update was applied and they were all the way I wanted them to look. After an update for same reason all my photos look flat as though they're not contrasty enough. Settings haven't changed at all, but I now need to apply contrast to all the images before exporting them as JPGs.

Here's an example, as I exported some of my images before and after the update.

This means that now I have to apply more contrast to EVERY photo before exporting!!!!!! Wish I didn't update Lightroom...

On the bright side, that update affected the Nikon D810, but left photos taken with D7100 and D7200 intact.

Quote "The bottom line is this, Lightroom is changing the appearance of my RAW files and I have no idea how to fix it. If anyone has any answers to this issue, please help."

The reality is what you see from your camera is a presentation/ rendition of the raw data by the Camera's Firmware. The raw file is not a viewable image file it has to be processed/ rendered by software designed to process and render the raw data.

Your camera manufacturer has such software that provides this function. Its called the firmware within the camera and that is what provides you with the image you see on the camera display.

Lightroom is software that provides an alternative to the what your Camera Manufacturer provides. So guess what you will see a different rendition of the raw data when it is rendered by Lightroom.

Lightroom provides you with the tools to be the creator of the effects you wish from the raw data.

Hi Everyone.

I just found this thread and wanted to share my experience. I have spent the last days tweeking my in camera settings for my D750. My wife and I shoot with both the D700 and the D750. We love the look of the D700 images and we felt like the D750 images were flat, muddy, and un saturated compared to the D700. We use Lightroom to view and develop our images. I changed the Fine tune exposure, and the Set Picture Control attributes in camera until our images looked similar enough in Lightroom. We went outside and did some street shooting to test our settings in the real world and when we came home we dug in a little deeper. After viewing the raw images in both Lightroom and Photo Mechanic we noticed a vast difference in the image quality (as pictured below). We then checked the D700 images in both programs and found a vastly reduced difference.

The bottom line is this, Lightroom is changing the appearance of my RAW files and I have no idea how to fix it. If anyone has any answers to this issue, please help.

This is a screen shot of the two D750 RAW images, untouched, no presets applied. Keep in mind I intentionally upped the Saturation in camera to make it look right in Lightroom.

This is a screenshot of the D700 Raw images in both programs.

Hi all!

I've used Lightroom to process RAW images for many years. Today I noticed that when looking at older libraries, for example one from 2014, the processed library thumbnail looks as I processed it - but when switching to Develop module, LR 'loads' it and somehow manages to turn the contrast / shadows down.

I'm not working from JPEG previews, my previews are all rendered and set to show me the processing as I'd done it in 2014 - and it has been working fine - they even got exported once and printed exactly as you could see them on screen.

I suspect this is LR automatically (or maybe somehow I clicked on 'update'?) updating the Process it uses for old images too, from 2010 to 2012. Do you know if there's a way to stop it doing this? When I 'reset' or change it back to 2010 process, it doesn't correct the issue.

Here below is an example:

Left: Image as it was processed. Right: Today, after LR re-processed...

I am having similar problems, although my issue is with the viewing of images once edited. I must say though that recently I have acquired the Nik software suite & have been using that in combination with Lightroom 5... at first there were no issues once edited, now there is.

What I am experiencing is that the image looks fine in Lightroom 5 once increased to full screen, yet after I export the image to my hard drive & view it there certain portions of the image become blown out &/or way too sharp.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of issue?

I have not changed any of the standard settings... as mentioned above, I was not having any issues initially until now.

I recently upgraded to Lightrom Five and noticed that immediately after importing images, each image becomes darker. This only happens in RAW, so I decided to drop the brightness level of my LCD screen to assure more exposure to compensate. Events are exposed in JPEG, so I will reset the brightness screen. Am I right to do this? Seems logical to me.

I agree with ninjapimp's original claim and the issues he is having as I am having them as well, and I am a professional photographer. The issue ninjapimp describes is a very unfortunate feature of Lightroom and the respective Camera Raw plugin by Adobe. I hope Adobe can fix this in upcoming updates to both the application and the plugin.

I shoot with a Leica M because, well, it's a Leica. And Leica has spent a tremendous amount of R&D to get the pictures to appear as true to the eye as possible. And it renders perfectly in camera, and in the brief instance before Lr renders the 1:1 preview and changes it.

The argument about working w/ JPEG if the JPEG looks better is a non-starter. I purchased a Leica to be able to keep the RAW settings captured by the camera. Everything changes when you bring it into Lr. The color changes. The crispness of the image changes (usually becomes blurrier), and the depth of field appears to changes slightly. I'm not sure why Lr can't just provide a setting which allows Lr to utilize the native Camera settings which unalter the appearance of the image when rendering the Raw image. The time to edit the Raw image to look like the camera generated cannot be solved by creating a single preset, as each image would need to be edited in a custom manner to achieve its original intended appearance, if it is even possible.

Adobe should allow a preference to utilize the native camera settings for editing the Raw image, or use the JPEG created by the camera AS the preview (instead of ignoring the file at import).

For what it's worth, Aperture makes no change in the appearance of the Raw file, nor does Capture One.

Have you received satisfactory help with this situation? If not, check and see if the same thing is happening to your photos when you open them with Windows Photo Gallery. If that is the case, email me at putman_jason@hotmail.com (I don't frequent this forum much) and I can tell you how to fix it. If the same issue does not occur with Windows Photo Gallery, then I will be of no help.