Camera RAW doesn't respect image WB settings from camera

[Jerome Tandale]

Camera RAW doesn't respect image WB settings from camera, for example when I opening an PEF from Pentax, and in camera was set up for for example 5600k, ACR opening WB settings from camera as 5300 and with color tint shift 15%, I think that color tint shift should be an edit option. it's not normal, it's an issue.

WB settings are very important, especially when I want be consisten for example in photo series, but sometimes it need corection when opened in ACR, sometimes not. It make worflow messy, it take time to make it just ok, just ok should be available out the box.

[Erik Bloodaxe]

Check your Camera Raw default settings. They are set by selecting a preset. Create one of your own ensuring that WB is set to "As shot" .

[Jerome Tandale]

Thank You, great idea, I can go around any issue, but ACR is an sofistication tool which should has experience transparent and user friendly as possible, and for example 5600 WB should be 5600 with not any tint, if it happen it mean that something is wrong, PEF files are wrong, or maybe the way how translate these PEFs into ACR envornment an adobe engine is wrong, but it's for sure issue which could be easily solved, as I suspect. Problem is wider and it's not just ACR, if these PEFs have strange tint even in 5600 WB if taken in casula daylight it mean that it's camera manufacturer problem, or some failure.

[D Fosse]

The numbers aren't supposed to match.

Color temp/tint aren't absolute numbers. There's nothing in the camera that actually measures the color of the light. The sensor just records the photons that hit it.

What these numbers mean, is the amount of correction required to produce a neutral-looking result. That's an algorithm, and since the processing engines are entirely different, different correction may be required to reach that perceptually neutral result.

Now - ACR does read the camera setting, but, given the different processing engines - there is a choice between matching appearance, or matching numbers exactly. The ACR engineers chose to match appearance.

[Jerome Tandale]

I know that it's kind of simulation, photons to numbers, then interpolation and again to something which can be displayed, but all of this partly based on analogue films looks, it's quite similar, from some cameras images are similar to Portra, some are more like Kodachrome, and these films are scaled to 5600 usually, it's contractual as well. However sensor measure color, every sensel with filter and microlens is for different colour and density of it, it's typical Bayer sensor, Fuji has some different solution, called X-trans, but it's based on the same rule, Canon and Sony as well had some prototypes which measures not just color intensity but as well brightness, it should give more natural looking images with intense hightlights, where digital image generated by most of cameras still is not perfect, usually because of it most of photographers underexpose photographs.
Keeping in base topic, we have this Calvin scale and it's pretty ok, these all engines for every kind of raw are done with some cooperation with manufacturer, so I think Adobe should take this more seriously, because for now it's not something you can rely on.  

[D Fosse]

I think you're missing my point. There is no absolute reference here. The numbers on the scale don't reference the actual scene. They are just a counter-correction, performed after the fact, to reach a visually neutral color balance according to certain algorithms.

With different raw processing engines, numbers don't mean the same thing. You can't transfer a number from one process to another and expect the same result.

Adobe are taking it seriously. To prioritize visually neutral appearance over numbers is a choice. And it's the right choice. They could prioritize the numbers, so that you would get the same numerical readout. But that would in most cases alter the visual appearance, so that you would get an image on screen with a color cast. You wouldn't want that. And you can imagine the flood of complaints they would get over that.

The reason ACR reads the camera numbers, is to get a baseline. If an image has been shot with, say, a deliberate bluish cast, that will be carried into ACR. But not with exactly the same numbers.

[Jerome Tandale]

There is some order how sensor is designed to interprate these photons, there is special software in camera, in certain cameras signal is strongly processed even if saved in raw, generally are two kind of sensors: scientific and cinematic. I think for the most of professional cameras users the best option is scientific where registered information is close as possible to nature, maybe You should give users to choose the best approach in ACR, so scientific and cinematic as radial options in main acr window. There is a software designed by Sigma for Sigma cameras raws, it's SIgma Photo Pro for developing X3F files, in ACR are not possible to develop newest Sigma files but I remember older X3Fs which were possible to be developed in ACR, and there was extreme rift between ACR and SPP, so it mean a lot about possibilities. In Sigma Photo Pro is special slider for colours temperature, and it absolutely enough to change WB in all spectrum, tint is not necessary, because tint is tint, it's like colour filter on lens, it good to give some style touch to images, some atmosphere, but for good start the best is scientific approach as just WB.