P: Nikon Z6 RAW processing and Adobe WB

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Nikon Z6 bugs only. Interestingly Nikon Z7 raw files don't have these issues. Nikon SDK for both cameras was released and updated on the same date, 18/11/18. Is Adobe Lightroom perhaps using Z7 SDK for Z6?

1) Nikon Z6 raw files are rendered incorrectly. Unlike Z7 the Z6 RAW presets do not carry over.
2) Adobe WB for Z6 is broken. WB Auto has a huge magenta cast, other Adobe WB presets have huge color shifts rendering files useless.
3) None of the Nikon Z-series lens corrections are correct. If lens correction is enabled the lenses are recognized as incorrect lens models.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Dear Rikk, sorry for the long silence, I'm forwarding a Dropbox link to a raw image already taken some time ago (last December), which displays a substantial amount of vignetting with the lens profile set to "built-in" and what it looks like after editing in LR:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ds54p11r9weslnu/AABsaEEAVZfoQrLH3-Nneq1ka?dl=0 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Dear Rikk, did you have a chance to look at my example files (JPG and NEF)? The vignetting issue with the (otherwise fantastic 24-70 f/4 S lens) seems to be mostly confined to the 70 mm zoom end of the range. Would be nice if it can be addressed by an as usual high-quality specific Lightroom lens profile for this new Nikon lens. (I have also observed that Adobe issued lens profiles for the new Canon lenses for the the RF lenses... so there is hope). Best wishes from Corsica, France, Steffen

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

I have forwarded to the Camera Raw team for review. 

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Thanks a bunch

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Dear Rikk, by way of a small update: the vignetting issue seem to mostly affect only the ~60-70 mm, ie, the long end, of the zoom range. Typically, requires a +25 to +35 vignetting correction in the Lens Corrections panel.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

PS: as far as i know there is no mechanism to apply this automatically to a specific zoom range of a particular lens, eg, during the import of new images. The vignetting correction would affect all Z 6 images, isn't it?

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

PS: would be nice to see some action on Adobe's behalf... mind you, i'm paying a monthly subscription fee but i don't see any work being done for this (at least nothing of any utility for me)?

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

If you have a sample file which exhibits the issue well and you would be willing to share with us. The team can take a look and see if they can work with Nikon to get this adjusted. 

[Todd Shaner]

Rikk there are Nikon 24-70 f/4 S lens vignetting test raw files at the below link, which may be helpful.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/nikon/z-24-70mm-f2.8-s-nikkor/review/

The 70mm F2.8 test shot exhibits -1.33 EV vignetting in the extreme corner of the image as measured inside LR with the default settings applied.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-z7/Y-JG-Z7-24-70-F2-8-5103-VIGN-70MM-F2-8.NEF.HTM

The 70mm F4 test shot exhibits -1.00 EV vignetting in the extreme corner of the image as measured inside LR with the default settings applied.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-z7/Y-JG-Z7-24-70-F2-8-5104-VIGN-70MM-F4.NEF.HTM

The 70mm F5.6 test shot exhibits -0.33 EV vignetting in the extreme corner of the image as measured inside LR with the default settings applied.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-z7/Y-JG-Z7-24-70-F2-8-5105-VIGN-70MM-F5-6.NEF.HTM

Exactly why Nikon chose not to better correct the F2.8 and F4 vignetting remains to be determined.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Thanks Rikk. I've added the most recent 70 mm shot (well, 66 mm to be exact) taken on last Saturday to the Dropbox folder I'd shared previously (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ds54p11r9weslnu/AABsaEEAVZfoQrLH3-Nneq1ka?dl=09

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Dear Rikk, hope all is well. Did you please have a chance to look into this? Many of your loyal Lightroom users (in my case since version 1.0 beta) are waiting for this. We may be spoiled by the past (where Lightroom provided perfect profiles) but i hope this high expectation could be a motivation? Thanks in advance!

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

We did. The team is working on new profiles for an upcoming release. I do not have an ETA.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

These are terrific news! Thanks a bunch Rikk also to the team. I can't wait to be able to use the new profiles... 😉

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Dear Rikk, hope all is well. LrC 9.3 is out (with new a icon, which looks great) but i can't find profiles for Nikon's new Z lenses. Hope that doesn't mean another wait of several months... (i was hoping to be able to save loads of time for this summer holiday's pictures - looks like i have to continue to manually adjust vignetting for many images).

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Or is there a chance to help with beta testing the new profiles...? 😉

[Jao vdL]

Lightroom uses the built-in profiles for z-lenses that Nikon z-series cameras embed in the NEF files. You can't turn off the lens correction on the z-series in Lightroom which is a real problem and subject of another thread on this forum. If you set lens correction on a file from a z-camera, you get double correction so you have no control. Adobe does this for most mirrorless cameras for a reason that is not entirely clear.

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Aha, thanks Jao. If this is the case, this is indeed weird. However, i'm still hoping for Rikk's colleagues to deliver a solution that fits (a) their track record of delivering great correction profiles for Nikon and other glasses and (b) the price of our subscriptions. ;-)

(Re double correction: my problem is actually not related to over-compensation - which one would expect with "double correction" - but a substantial and very (!) visible under-compensation (or no compensation at all at least on my Z 24-70 f/4 at both ends of the zoom, ie toward 24mm and 70mm, and with F-stops below 6.3))

[FeedbackCommunityMember]

Hi Rikk, i can see that LR 9.4 lays the groundwork for introducing Adobe calibrated lens profiles to replace the built-in profiles (which can be poor as in the case of the new Nikon Z lenses). Maybe in October? This will then be almost 2 years since these new Z cameras hit the market... sigh and hope at the same time.

[SteffenB1970]

Hi Rikk, you can imagine how disappointed i was when i opened version 10 and realised that there is still no support for the now 2 year old Nikon z lenses...

[SteffenB1970]

(apart from a continued absence of support for HEIC export)

[Rikk Flohr: Photography]

@steffen

Lens profiles are embedded on the Nikon Z-6 and are enabled by default. There is no need to apply one as it is already applied.

As of the August update you also have the option to disable the Lens profile. 

Given that I can't understand your disappointment because they have been there for some time. 

[SteffenB1970]

Dear Rikk,

Thanks and oops. Our point has always been (since more than a year and backed up by several comments and example files) that the Nikon built-in profiles are low quality and that they need to be replaced by Adobe calibrated lens profiles... and yourself confirmed this (see above): "The team is working on new profiles for an upcoming release. I do not have an ETA." (7 months ago)...

Best wishes, Steffen

[Jao vdL]

We also still cannot turn off the lens profile for the Z7 even when correction was turned off in camera even in the latest update. For built in profiles such as the ones the mirrorless Nikons embed in the raw files, we really need the capability to use the amount sliders like we can do for Adobe developed profiles. For example, the vignetting correction Lightroom applies using the built-in profiles is not enough. Lightroom also applies less correction than Nikon applies using the same profile when using their own raw converter at default settings.

[SteffenB1970]

@Jao: agreed, it's still a significant quality issue for Nikon Z camera images in Lightroom (since late 2018....).

[SteffenB1970]

@Deleted User: can you please clarify what is going on (if anything happened since i first labeled this issue almost 2(!!!) years ago? You had requested example images, which i provided (also almost 2 years ago). There was your acknowledgment (finally) early this year that the Lightroom team is working on this. But your most recent reply seems to indicate that you're still not understanding what this issue is (although i wouldn't know any other more basic issue than proper control of vignetting). This is NOW URGENT. Mind you i'm paying € 10 every month but do not see any improvement for now 24 months... is this going to be a test of my patience (or stupidity as a paying customer for nothing)?