P: Leica DNG Embedded Camera Profile Issue

[Todd Shaner]

[Feature request: The Embedded profile is hidden in the Legacy group, which is hidden by default.  The profile, which is assigned by default when a Leica photo is imported, should be appear in Favorites and also in a profile group that isn't hidden by default. See here for details:
https://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/leica-m-262-dng-embedded-camera-profile-issue...
- John Ellis]

Leica M 262 DNG camera files display the 'Embedded' Profile when initially viewed in LR Classic 7.5 Develop module. When any other camera profile is selected the 'Embedded' Profile entry is no longer visible including in the Profile Browser. If 'Read Metadata from File' is invoked the 'Embedded' profile entry reappears and is selected. In addition if 'Save Metadata to File' or 'Update DNG Preview & Metadata' is invoked the 'Embedded' Profile selection disappears completely and is not recoverable using 'Read Metadata from File.'

LR 7.2 does not exhibit this behavior so it appears this "bug" was created in one of the LR Classic versions after 7.2. Please see this post in the Lightroom Classic forum for further information:

https://forums.adobe.com/message/10591309#10591309

[TheBilbo]

Yes, in my experience with my M262 the Embedded profile appears automatically in LR 3.2 and 3.3, but not in 3.3.1 or later.

[johnrellis]

"In older versions of LR (7.2 and earlier?) the Embedded profile would "automatically" appear in the list of available profiles. This includes after doing a 'Save Metadata to File operation with a different camera profile. Both profiles were visible as the DNG Specification provides for saving multiple camera profiles to the DNG file."

I'm not sure I'm understanding. In LR 7.5, the Embedded profile does appear in the list of all available profiles, it's just that it's buried in the hidden Legacy folder and doesn't appear in the Favorites list. 

Here's a Leica DNG I changed to Adobe Monochrome, did Save Metadata To File, removed from the catalog, and reimported:



Embedded is still available under Legacy, and selecting it correctly restores it.

I think this is just a user-interface issue of which group is used to display the embedded profile  in the panel and doesn't affect the actual assignment of profiles, the rendering, or what gets written to metadata?

[Todd Shaner]

"Embedded is still available under Legacy, and selecting it correctly restores it."

Agreed, but as you said:

That embedded profile gets hidden in a group called "Legacy", which is also hidden by default.
-Add Embedded to Favorites by default.OR
-Put the Embedded profile in a different group that's visible by default, not hidden, e.g. Adobe Raw (yes, it's not technically an Adobe-authored profile, but it comes from a close Adobe partner).

This works for DNG embedded camera profiles that are named 'Embedded.' But does it work with embedded custom camera profiles created with DPE or other DNG profile editor that have  a different name like MyCoolStuff.dcp AND that profile isn't installed on your system? Users should be able to easily access both camera embedded and LR/ACR embedded custom camera profiles as in the past. It can't be that hard!

[johnrellis]

Got it. A quick test indicates that embedded profiles other than "Embedded" show up in the profile browser under the group Profiles, and you can freely switch between any of the embedded profiles:



To do this test, I used the DNG Profile Editor to make a modified version of the Leica embedded profile, with a greatly munged tone curve. I named this profile "John's Test" and saved it as "LEICA M (Typ 262) John's Test.dcp" in the CameraProfiles folder. In LR, I applied that profile to the Leica DNG and did Photo > Update DNG Preview & Metadata to embed the profile in the DNG. Then I exited LR, removed the .dcp file from CameraProfiles, restarted LR, and examined the photo as shown above.

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

I hit this yesterday with... Lightroom's own camera. Photos comes in with Camera Default, but if you switch to something else, you can't easily get back to the profile you started with. I'd support an Embedded group which are automatically added to the favorites pop-up.

[Todd Shaner]

Thanks John, I can confirm it also works with two custom camera profiles along with the camera embedded profile. They both show in the 'Profiles' folder after removing the custom profiles from the User folder, removing the DNG file, restarting LR, and then re-importing the DNG file.
Victoria's idea of automatically adding an 'Embedded' group to the Favorites menu sounds like the best solution. That way you know they are embedded profiles and perhaps profiles not installed on your system. The new Profile Browser is a great idea, but it needs some streamlining to improve usability.

Question of the Day – How many Adobe Champions & ACPs does it take to change a light bulb?

[Victoria Bampton LR Queen]

> Question of the Day – How many Adobe Champions & ACPs does it take to change a light bulb?

Only one. But it takes a whole team of engineers to install the light fitting in the first place!

[Todd Shaner]

Kinda like an "Elephant in the Lightroom?"