Lightroom changes colour in my RAW files captured with NIKON D300

[Guest]

Dear All! Lightroom changes colour in my RAW files captured with NIKON D300. Some of the images are completely ruined. I am sure Adobe must be aware of this problem. What could be done? Is there a solution? Many thanks for your help. Regards, Stanislav

[Bishap]

I have the same issue, I am using a macbook pro 2013 and Adobe LR CC. I imported my RAW photos today from my Canon 6D and after that I started viewing them. I noticed the same problem of the preview changing from Vivid to something that is not pleasing for me. I went on trying to uncheck the auto tone but seems useless (that option to uncheck doesn't take away the auto tone setting, it still remained active. I went to the Develop Tab and there I think I found the solution. Under the Camera Calibration - change the profile matching the shooting profile you choose on your camera to take that photo, i.e. Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, etc. In my case, I used Landscape as my shooting Profile (I am using canon) and as soon as I changed the Camera Calibration profile to Landscape, the image went back to the tone and color as I remembered it 2 seconds after importing (and the way my camera view finder sees it). I hope this helps, I just wish that LR would automatically recognize the profile instead my setting it to its default Adobe Standard. forumnotifier

[DdeGannes]

Quote "I just wish that LR would automatically recognize the profile instead my setting it to its default Adobe Standard. "

You can do this two ways create, an import preset and apply when you import new photos or change your default options (Lightroom menu bar Develop> set default settings).

The information contained in the raw file about the special settings you have set in your camera when taking your photos is proprietary info that is only readable by your camera firmware or the software provided your camera manufacturer. The "Camera Vivid, etc profiles" you can select are profiles also created by Adobe to emulate some of your camera special settings. see link.

Lightroom Help | Develop module tools

[mek]

It is interesting to read how hostile people seem to be against in camera functions. Just again, I shoot raw, but I still like the rendering on how it comes from the camera.

I have the option to adjust settings directly on camera while shooting, like when I know its this or that lens or situation I have to adopt.

So why not have it directly in the camera on how I like it.

By that, there are more settings than just vivid, standard, portrait, ...

If I read "crally HDR modes / Active D-Lighting", ... For me it does an ok job. And many people seem to adjust highlights and shadows as well,

so thats the same to me.

So a generic "vivid camera calibration profile" does not do the trick as the settings profiles and its settings are dynamic.

And even with the vivid profile, I simply like the Nikon preview images better than what Lightroom makes out of it.

If you only handle 10 pictures it might be ok, but if you have like 1000, why shall I spend so much time to fix  something which was great before.

I do not say all Nikon rendered pics are perfect, but they are a way better starting point for additional adjustments.

Shouldn't I better spend the time I save by automatically have the images on how they are on the camera,

on how I like them, - and in my opinion on how they should also be from the start in lightroom -

and spend it on optimizing the ones which should stand out or really need manual adjustments?

[areohbee]

mek wrote:

how hostile people seem to be against in camera functions.

I'm not sure people are hostile against in-camera functions, it's just that Lightroom doesn't attend to them, so if you are going to use Lightroom, you need to adapt. The camera emulation profiles coupled with some ADL presets get you pretty darn close to what you have in camera, if you haven't customized the picture styles in camera too much I mean, and if you have, then the equivalent in Lightroom world is custom camera calibration profiles. So, is the problem:

A. That you want settings applied automatically to emulate in-camera functions, or

B. That even after manually (or otherwise) applying settings, you're not liking the results as well, or

C. You don't know what settings to apply,

From your post above, it seems like "all of the above", begging the question: why don't you:

A. Use a plugin which automates assignment of Lr settings based on camera settings, if that's really important to you.

B. Learn how to get better results than what your camera can do - if you can't, then you're using the wrong tool.

C. see B...

I mean, I don't have a lot of influence over what Adobe does, nor does anybody else in this forum really, so the best we can do is help you get the results you want, using Lightroom as it is today - if you want to complain to Adobe that you're not able to get as good results as camera, or it should be automated etc., this is the wrong forum for that: try the Adobe feedback forum instead.

Recently active topics in Photoshop Family about Photoshop Lightroom

Rob

[jeff_jolly]

Hi All,

I was noticing a similar problem when importing my images (RAW, NEF) from my Nikon D7000 and my old D80 into Lightroom.

As I have only had the software a couple of months, I'm still new to the way it operates, so apologies in advance if I ask questions which are previously answered elsewhere!

I have been using Nikon's own software that came with the D7000 (View NX2) for the last 2 and a half years.

I would occasionally take some of my raw files into work where I was able to use Photoshop and it's RAW interface, but I only recently bought Adobe CC for my own home computer.

So, when I import or look at my RAW files in Lightroom, many of them do the thing that I assume other people are seeing i.e. there is a small preview thumbnail that closely matches the version you see in your camera AND in the Nikon software.

After a short time, or when opening the image to full size in Lightroom, the images are changed sometimes quite substantially. The colour depth seems to drain, contrast changes etc. and there isn't an obvious way of getting the images back to how they are, for want of a better term, "supposed to be".

As others have said here, I try to get the best photo I can WITH THE CAMERA.  I like to then look at it how I captured it and see if I can improve it with my Adobe software... after all surely that is the whole point?

I don't want to have to have a picture taken the way I wanted it to be, then have to start editing a picture that by comparison looks like a rather poor effort!  I count myself as someone who does photography as an enthusiastic hobby and I am far from professional level, but surely Lightroom is aimed at precisely that kind of user?

Amyway, to try to explain the problems I am having I'll try to put a couple of photos in here...

This is a screenshot of a photo opened with Nikon software.

This is a screenshot of the same photo opened in Lightroom.

So before anyone comments on how rubbish they are ;¬) these are just snaps that demonstrate the difference quite well!

I have read an awful lot of posts regarding this subject to see if there is a way to get Lightroom to display the image the way I shot it/recorded it with my camera.

I have looked into the "camera calibration" panel on the Develop tab. (For this particular image, using the "Camera Lanscape" setting helps somewhat, but not exactly.)

I cannot find anywhere that I can set Lightroom up to match my camera settings. Is there a way?

As for camera settings, I try to do a lot of my photography using a manual setting, but I still have a lot to learn so I will quite often change to one of the "presets" such as Landscape, Sport, Portrait, etc.

Is it mainly when using those settings that my images would see most changes between how Nikon sees them and how Adobe sees them?

I'd be grateful for any tips, although things like "learn to use the software" are not helpful as that's what I'm already trying to do!  I just don't see the point of trying to get the image the way I want it to be and then having to start all over again because Lightroom "resets" it.

[Jao vdL]

Jeff,

fundamentally, Lightroom cannot read the settings you apply in the camera. They are meant for Nikon software and since the raw interpreter in Lightroom is different, there are no settings that map 1:1 with the in-camera settings so Lightroom like almost any raw converter not made by the camera maker ignores them. There are some scripts around that can read the settings from a raw file and apply those to mimic the in-camera jpeg rendering if you search this forum but as I explain below that might not be what you want to do. The reason you are seeing this behavior is that you first see the camera rendered jpeg (every raw has one embedded) and then you see the actual raw file as rendered by Lightroom. By default this rendering is quite bland and you need to do a little editing. Other software (including camera maker's software such as View NX) often simply shows you just the embedded jpeg. It is important to realize that most of the camera settings have no consequence for the data in your raw file, so getting it right in camera as evidenced by what it looks like on the cameras screen is not what you want to be doing as you might actually hurt the hidden quality of the raw file. The camera does not show you the raw data, it shows you a jpeg rendering. The only settings that influence the actual data are exposure settings. The rest is just metadata that gets saved along with the raw data and that gets used to render the embedded jpeg file.

The problem with your workflow is that it is not a raw shooting workflow, but a jpeg shooting workflow. If you optimize in camera for how it looks on the screen in the back you are not necessarily producing the best quality raw file. You are producing the best jpeg as even your camera just shows you the embedded jpeg file. These are not necessarily the same thing. Basically if you follow the Ansel Adams philosophy, you are skipping the "negative" step and going straight to the print in your camera. This can be good if you don't want to fiddle afterwards but it defeats the purpose of shooting raw. Also, the interface for optimizing the jpeg in your camera is very cumbersome in general and you are losing a lot of control over the end product. If you want to get the best image and you want to use raw rendering software, you are better off with a different approach that optimizes the quality of your raw capture. For this, set your camera up completely default. Use the camera standard setting in your camera and turn off any dynamic lighting mode. In Lightroom set the camera standard profile as the default profile for raw files from your camera. This will make the initial rendering close to identical to what you see on the camera's screen so you don't get these color shifts. Then shoot the image in your camera so that you don't blow out important highlights (use the blinkies or your histogram) and focus on your composition and not on what the color looks like on your camera per se. Then treat your raw file as the negative from earlier days. To use Adams' analogy, the negative is the score to the performance, the performance being what you do in Lightroom - generating the actual final look of your image. This will allow you to be much more efficient in the field, generate higher quality raw files and spend less time overall as you are not tweaking your camera's settings constantly using its very awkward interface but you are using a far more efficient and powerful method to generate the final image. This advice is independent on whether you use Lightroom or any other third-party raw software. Focus on getting the highest quality capture which is ONLY determined by exposure settings in the field and might actually look under or overexposed on your camera's screen and often can look bland there too but visualize what the final result can be when you get it in your raw converter and start editing.

[jeff_jolly]

Jao vdL,

Thank you so much for your in depth explanation!

:¬)

I now kind of understand why I am seeing this "problem" in Lightroom (and Photoshop).

So my interpretation of what you are explaining is that any settings made "in camera" other than the actual exposure (ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed) are basically camera manufacturer dependent and only stored as a sort of metadata which is only displayed in third party softwares as a jpeg preview because the software cannot reproduce it exactly. If that is correct then it makes a bit of sense as to why I see these differences - although I still find it disappointing!

For the sake of clarity, I have my cameras set up to their most basic settings - Picture Control = Standard, Active D-Lighting = Off, and take RAW images most of the time I try to use manual setting, but will sometimes use the Landscape/Sport/Portrait modes.

Is it when using these modes that I am most likely to see these effects?

I am not entirely sure though that the Nikon software only shows the jpeg version of my RAW files... When I export my RAW files from Nikon View NX2 as TIFFs, they keep all the colour and contrast. Unless the software uses a jpeg to make the TIFF from which i doubt is the case.  Maybe I will revert to using the Nikon software for images that are "losing" something in Adobe software.  It just seems terribly counter-productive to have a "nice" picture reduced to a basic bland one when using the very software that is supposed to help make the process of improving your pictures easier!!!

Anyway, as I said in my previous post, I am nowhere near professional level but I'm always trying to learn how to do things better and I will remember your advice. I think it's the most helpful on the subject that I have yet read :¬)

I have also signed up for an online photography course, so that might cover some of this subject as well.

Once again, thank you very much for your reply to my question.

Jeff

[ssprengel]

The Nikon raw converter (in the camera or installed on your computer) can understand Nikon adjustments you specify in camera or in the Nikon software on your computer.

The Adobe raw converter (installed on your computer) can understand Adobe adjustments that you specify in LR and the ACR plug-in for Photoshop.

They can't understand each other's adjustments.

Try making adjustments in LR and saving those to a XMP sidecar using right-click / Metadata / Save Metadata to File(s), then open that raw file in Nikon software.  Surprise, surprise Nikon has no idea about the adjustments you've made in LR.  The same it true for Adobe software and adjustments you've made in Nikon software.

The Portrait, Landscape, Sport modes you're setting in camera might make adjustments to the exposure settings, like Sport may keep the shutter speed higher while Landscape may make the aperture narrower for more depth of field, and that is fine, but any adjustments they make to the color or tone of the image, like Landscape having brighter colors, aren't going to be understood by non-Nikon software.

It's probably better to make the shutter speed and aperture adjustments yourself in M, Tv, Av modes and keep your picture style on Standard and turn off Active D-Lighting and other auto-fix settings.  That way the camera isn't doing anything magic that you'll be disappointed isn't be replicated by Adobe software.

[Jao vdL]

> For the sake of clarity, I have my cameras set up to their most basic settings - Picture Control = Standard, Active D-Lighting = Off, and take RAW images most of the time I try to use manual setting, but will sometimes use the Landscape/Sport/Portrait modes. Is it when using these modes that I am most likely to see these effects?

These modes only change your exposure settings and perhaps the focus behavior. They shouldn't affect the rendering metadata. Next to setting picture style to standard and turning active D-lighting off, you should set the "camera standard" profile as the default for raw files from your camera in Lightroom. If you do that you will see only very subtle differences between the on-camera rendering and Lightroom.

>I am not entirely sure though that the Nikon software only shows the jpeg version of my RAW files... When I export my RAW files from Nikon View NX2 as TIFFs, they keep all the colour and contrast. Unless the software uses a jpeg to make the TIFF from which i doubt is the case.

In the program interface it always shows you the jpeg version unless you specifically ask it to render from the raw. I think there is a little button to do that. It also renders from the raw when you ask it to export to tiff. Obviously when ViewNX renders raw files, it uses the saw raw conversion algorithms (they are both made by Nikon) that the camera has built in and so the image will look identical (safe for possible jpeg artifacts and probably better sharpening/noise reduction than the camera does).

>Maybe I will revert to using the Nikon software for images that are "losing" something in Adobe software.  It just seems terribly counter-productive to have a "nice" picture reduced to a basic bland one when using the very software that is supposed to help make the process of improving your pictures easier!!!

As I said, if you set the default in Lightroom to camera standard and set your camera up as I pointed out above, you will be very hard pressed to see a difference. The Adobe default profile is very bland and often leads to disappointment initially when you open your files. Then you can get easily better results to the default rendering when you know Lightroom development even when starting from Adobe default but if you want something more punchy to start, just select camera standard.

>Anyway, as I said in my previous post, I am nowhere near professional level but I'm always trying to learn how to do things better and I will remember your advice. I think it's the most helpful on the subject that I have yet read :¬)

I have also signed up for an online photography course, so that might cover some of this subject as well.

There are many local photo clubs that are doing Lightroom courses nowadays. I do these for some clubs in my area and they can be quite useful (or at least so I am told 😉 ) Actually seeing somebody do it can be quite instructive.

[jeff_jolly]

ssprengel and Jao vdL,

thank you both for your help with this again.

It's much appreciated and I'm sure will help me with my future photography/lightroom work!

All the best,

Jeff

[Guest]

I used Nikon D90 and i have like problem. When i just opened it was so good. But after that (2s) the picture is not good as when i open. I think it's because the graphic card on my latop? Is this right?

The taxi Mai Linh.

[egberto_nunes]

In my opinion, the initial interpretation of RAW files should be more close to the the interpretation made by the camera manufacturer (In camera firmware or  manufacturer software).

If the manufacturer software can read relevant data inside the RAW file to recreate an initial image with the same aspect as created by the camera firmware in order to show in display, LR could do the same! (At least as an importation option).

Notice that LR Installation folder have a lot of files related to cameras brands and models. Would be great if such files, could turn LR able to interpret specific data in RAW files, just like the manufacturer software does.

Maybe a improvement ? I will be glad to hear something like that...

[ssprengel]

What Nikon does, the software, the algorithms, to convert the raw data to an image is proprietary intellectual property--secret information not disclosed to outsiders.  Adobe is an outsider.  There is no way for Adobe to make their conversion look the same as Nikon's since they have no idea what Nikon is doing.  You might as well have the "opinion" that Nikon use Adobe algorithms so things don't change upon import, where they can't for the same reasons.

[egberto_nunes]

Hi Ssprengel,

Thank you for your explanation.

Yes, I agree with you about intellectual property of the algorithms. Should not be simple, and perhaps, illegal reproduce the same algorithm. See this two references about Canon CR2 structure (Crazy stuff): Inside the Canon RAW format version 2, understanding .CR2 file format and files produced by Canon EO...

                                                                     Canon Tags

Anyway, just now I read a real reason why LR don't give us an initial aspect more close to the camera display: Adobe don't know how to handle the "extra" information inside the RAW file...

In fact I decided to reopen the discussion after read a lot of replies telling that the user should disable the optimizing parameters in the camera in order to create a "clean" and high quality RAW file. To me it don't make any sense, remove these parameters just to recreate then in LR. Don't seems to me the best way! Seems just like a workaround that you should use if want a initial aspect like in the display.

However, is strange that metadata inside the RAW files could not be handled by Adobe, since that this company is fundamental part of the Metadata Working Group  consortium where other camera manufacturers as Canon, Nikon and Sony also are participating.

Please take a look in the link below:

Metadata Working Group (MWG)

Yes, i know that maybe this consortium could be just a good idea that does not work outside the paper...unfortunately...

But, lets think about the "lenses correction" feature. Probably the manufacturer of the lenses have much more knowledge about optical issues/characteristics in your own products that could be corrected exclusively by their own edition softwares. Then, I am just guessing, but this information should be "secret" as well. However, Adobe done researches and created algorithms to correct a vast collection of lenses. It's not a easy task too!

I am just telling that would be great if LR and PS give us the opportunity to use the metadatada inside the RAW in order to keep the initial aspect of the images adjusted by photographer in their camera.

Of course that LR is a great software! and even without this feature we will continue to use it. Maybe adjusting our workflow to adapt this limitation, but we need to accept that it is a limitation that occurs between all manufactures.

Egberto

[Jao vdL]

egberto,

if you simply set your default camera profile in Lightroom for raw files from your camera to "camera default", you'll get close to identical rendering of your images as the camera display out-of-the-box. This works for all Nikon and Canon cameras and some other cameras too. Now if you modify a lot of in camera settings (profile, contrast, etc.) this doesn't work as as was already mentioned Lightroom can't understand those settings. If you shoot raw, you should not be changing any rendering settings in your camera anyway as they don't affect the raw data, just how it is interpreted to generate the jpeg preview. Bottomline if your camera uses default rendering settings, just select camera default and you'll get close to identical images to the jpeg preview.

However, is strange that metadata inside the RAW files could not be handled by Adobe, since that this company is fundamental part of the Metadata Working Group  consortium where other camera manufacturers as Canon, Nikon and Sony also are participating.

The problem is not reading the settings, it is what to do with them. These settings are only relevant if you use the same raw conversion code as the camera maker. They have no direct equivalents in Adobe's camera raw engine as they work completely different. You can't simply translate between in camera settings and camera raw/Lightroom slider settings. You can get an approximation in some cases but it simply is not the same thing. In crude terms, you have a recipe on how to generate a picture using crayons on paper and you are trying to translate that to generating the same picture with oil paints on canvas. With a lot of effort you can get close but it it will never be completely the same.

[EnvironmentalArtist]

OK, five years on, and my original question of 2012 is still far from being answered. Why on earth did Adobe not engage closer with Nikon and other camera manufacturers in order to obtain accurate colour profiles? I think all this nonsense about 'there is no correct way of representing a raw file' completely misses the point. I want to be able to start with exactly the colours that were captured by my camera. There is a reason why I have chosen a particular model or camera type. If Adobe is not capable of working in line with professional requirements, it should say that openly. This is a software for amateurs, etc. Our time is precious. If we are using Nikon, Hasselblad or any other camera, we spend time on accurately capturing colour before !!! the button is pressed. It is only natural that we require from the software manufacturer (Adobe) to respect that. Please recall that 'The client is always right', there is no need to argue.

[ManiacJoe]

Sounds like you are still confused about what is going on.

Raw files, like Nikon's NEF files, are not image files. They are data files. To be used, the data needs to be interpreted into an image. Each company that wants to read these files needs to create their own interpreter because Nikon  will not share their interpreter.

Included in the raw data file is Nikon information about the camera settings, including the Picture Control settings. Since Nikon chooses not to share this data with anyone, only Nikon's software knows how read it and use it. Everyone else is left to ignore it and supply their own camera profiles.

If you are looking to complain about someone, complain to Nikon for not sharing. Every other camera maker does the exact same thing.

Your options are these:

- Initially process your NEF files using Nikon's software to get the Nikon settings applied, save as 16-bit TIF, import the TIF into Lightroom.

- Shoot JPG files which have all your Nikon settings baked into the image by the camera.

- Do like the rest of us and create your own presets that match your basic desires for what the photos look like, and apply these presets during the import process.

[Jao vdL]

The problem has been solved many years ago. Just set your default profile in Lightroom for this camera to camera standard and rendering of your raw files will be virtually identical to the out of camera jpeg and you will see no or only an extremely subtle color change after import. If you use non-standard setting such as a neutral picture style just set that as your default.

[mek]

I do not agree here, I am using this function and I still think the Adobe handling is not good,

neither on my Nikon camera, nor on my Sony.

As the preview jpeg is included in the raw file it should be easy for Adobe to auto adjust the parameters

following the cameras rendering.

Besides that, not sure if its Adobe or the camera vendors, but I would prefer to have a proper

support of the camera vendors options within lightroom.

[ManiacJoe]

There will never be a "proper support of the camera vendors' options" in Lightroom. All the camera vendors consider Adobe to be a software competitor and purposely share no specs or any other knowledge with any third-party software vendor.