Imported RAW Files look really dark and not the way they looked in camera.

[nittayuma]

I'm running LR Classic 11.2 and when I import Nikon Z9 Raw Files the jpeg preview image (which matches what I see on the camera) gets replaced by the raw file that has no adjustments to it.  Previously what I saw on the camera downloaded to what I saw in Lightroom as a RAW file, but not anymore.  The Z9 is new, perhaps I need to tweak a setting on it to prevent Lightroom from overriding the profile?  Please help...this is really frustrating!  Apologies to all of you who have read and responded to this complaint before.  

[dj_paige]

Did you turn on the D-Lighting feature in your camera? (It should be off when you shoot RAW, unless you are going to use Nikon's own software to edit the RAW images.)

[robs57062992]

YES, I turned on D-Lighting, is there a way to undo this in LR? Thanks

[Jao vdL]

This is a very old thread but the answer is to make sure you have the raw defaults in Lightroom set up to "camera settings" in the presets tab of Lightroom's settings. This will apply settings that mimic the in-camera settings automatically even the D-lighting setting. For already imported images, just apply the "camera settings" preset or hit reset after you made the raw default setting change. 

In the long run it is best not to use these in-camera settings at all since they hide what the camera actually does from you.

[robs57062992]

thanks, this saved me a lot of time. Applying Camera Settings Prest to 2063 photos, now matching jpegs and what I was seeing back of camera. I always shoot HR jpeg and RAW with my Z9, so no in-camera settings/adjustments? Thanks for help...

[DdeGannes]

See the article at this link. It is from 2010 but the info is still relevant today.

There have been significant changes since, if you go to the develop module you should find several "Camera matching" profiles created by Adobe that are specific to the Camera Model that produced the raw image.  They can help to display close to what you see in your camera. If you have used special settings in the Camera they may not all be supported. Lens Profiles by Adobe may also be affected.

Nikon processes are proprietary to Nikon and Adobe processes are proprietary to Adobe.

[Jao vdL]

Just set your default for the camera to "camera settings". Also always turn off D-lighting in Nikon cameras if you shoot raw as dj says. If you have camera settings as default though, it should correct for even that.

[Sameer K]

Hi there,

We are sorry for the difficulty with Lightroom Classic. Please share the exact version of macOS you’re using. Do you have the latest firmware on the Nikon Z9 Camera? Does this happen with only the images shot recently, or do all the images behave similarly?

You are seeing an embedded JPEG preview, which can get replaced in Lightroom Classic by different kinds of previews. You can intentionally create 1:1 previews to ensure the best quality viewing; however, they are larger and put some load on Lightroom Classic to generate.

You can check if you are using any Import Presets from the bottom of the import dialogue box below. 

Suppose you are noticing any other changes in the images right after import. The reasons could be the RAW defaults within Lightroom Classic (version 9.3 & above) which sets default settings for importing raw file format images in Lightroom Classic based on Adobe defaults, camera-specific defaults, or custom presets.  

Check this article to understand, create your default settings and troubleshoot the same. 

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom-classic/help/raw-defaults.html 

Please let us know if this helps. 

Regards, 

Sameer K.