Nikon D300s raw processing in LR not as good as NKview

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NikonionJK

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I am using LR2.6 and LR3B2 to process raw pictures from my Nikon D3''s.
Unfortunately the processing is not as good as the NKview software that comes free with the camera.
It all workes fine with my Nikon D7'.

Is there a best practice to this?

I have tried many settings:
- camera profile to standard. Any other setting overexposes the picture
- presettings: general, zero value give very dull, flat pictures. Any other setting blows out the exposure.

Thank you for your advice.
Jeroen
 
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Welcome to Lightroom Forums.

Can you post a raw file, perhaps with the settings you've tried? There has to be a middle ground between "very dull, flat" and ""overexposes" or "blows out".
 
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ViewNX will hour your in camera settings but Lightroom can't. One of the main exposure issues I have experienced with Nikon is when Active D lighting has been set in the camera. This changes the actual exposure of the image and sets a flag in the RAW data so that ViewNX / CaptureNX can correct the exposure. To get accurate and consistent exposures when using non Nikon RAW processors you have to turn off Active D lighting.

The D7' doesn't have active D lighting if I recall correctly which is why it looks ok.
 
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Thank you for your fast response. :)

As far as I know I did not use Active D-Lighting, but I'll be careful with D-Lighting as I use it.
I have posted an example file at
walking lion http://fotos.communikoters.nl/DSC_'647.NEF and watching lion http://fotos.communikoters.nl/DSC_'64'.NEF

It is not the best composition, but illustrates the issue best.

I used in LR3B2:
Presetting: general, zero
WB: as shot

Most pictures imported were overexposed, but dull.
Clearly I can tweak blacks further, correct WB, etc. But is there not a basic setting that makes the import 9'% correct.

Tx for your help
 
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*Active* D lighting is set to 'on' or 'auto' by default so it catches many people out. This is not the same as D-Lighting which the D7' can utilise.

The general zero preset will look flat, you aren't supposed to use it as a default its just a way to remove all settings. Make sure you don't apply the general zero preset during import.

In the develop module select a D3'' RAW image and then go to the develop/set default settings... menu at the very top of the screen and set the default back to Adobe's standards. Then hit the reset button on the lower right to reset the image and see if this helps.

This will make sure the settings are at least starting with Adobes defaults and no presets. If that works then reset the other images too.

I'm away from home until Sunday so can't download your NEF file to check at present as I'm on very limited/expensive wireless bandwidth.
 
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Jeroen

Your photos show that ActiveD-Lighting was set to auto. I can think of two reasons for the over-exposure:

  • [li]ActiveD-Lighting[/li]
    [li]64' ISO is not a real ISO setting with the sensor of the D3'' (which I've not heard of, but of other cameras where this is the case)
    [/li]
Beat
 
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Re: Nikon D300s raw processing in LR not as good as ViewNX

Hi all,

Thank you for your responses :). I assume that the Active D-Lighting is one of the issues. A whole series of these pictures were made with active D-Lighting in 'automatic', the hard sun in Tanzania triggered Active D-lighting often, so they all show similar issues. :'(
Certainly the picture with the walking lion does not need Active D-Lighting, as a few more in the series.

If LR cannot adjust for Active D-lighting I'll have to do that manually.

The auto tone worked ok, allthough contrast was set to approx. 5', which I consider a bit much, but is close enough.

Having worked with ViewNX and LR. I do prefer LR. Adjustments are much easier for large batches, and it is much much faster in rendering pictures. I hope Active D-lighting can be put in the D3''s camera profile.

Thank you all for your support. This issue can be closed
Jeroen
 
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[quote author=Mark Sirota link=topic=9511.msg64155#msg64155 date=127'869778]
... 64' is certainly a standard ISO value. It's 1/3 stop below 8''.
[/quote]

Mark,

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not the pro. But as far as I understand it, most cameras are not able to set their physical sensor sensitivity to anything other than full stop ISO values (e.g. 1'', 2'', 4'', 8'', ...). Inbetween ISO settings (e.g. 125, 16', 25', 32', ...) are adjusted when writing the RAW file by calculations based on either the next lower or next higher full stop ISO. Also, I've read about some camera (I don't remember which one anymore) which does not even do this calculation when writing the RAW information, but just tags the image so the (proprietary) software can do it when interpreting the RAW data.

I'd be interested to hear oppinions about this issue. Based on this "believe", I never use 1/3 stop ISO settings, since these might cause either reduction in the dynamic range, more noise or clipping.

This article is one of many references I've come across regarding this issue.

Beat
 
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Mark,

We have a missunderstanding here :) . I'm not talking about what ISO you can set in the cameras user interface, but about how this affects what the sensor is set to and what happens when writing the RAW data to the card.

Beat
 
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The sensor sensitivity does not really change. It is the amplifier in the A/D converter that amplifies the signal from the sensor that is effected when you set the ISO higher. The RAW data is effected it is not just a tag.
 
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Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm not the pro. But as far as I understand it, most cameras are not able to set their physical sensor sensitivity to anything other than full stop ISO values (e.g. 1'', 2'', 4'', 8'', ...). Inbetween ISO settings (e.g. 125, 16', 25', 32', ...) are adjusted when writing the RAW file by calculations based on either the next lower or next higher full stop ISO. Also, I've read about some camera (I don't remember which one anymore) which does not even do this calculation when writing the RAW information, but just tags the image so the (proprietary) software can do it when interpreting the RAW data.

I'd be interested to hear oppinions about this issue. Based on this "believe", I never use 1/3 stop ISO settings, since these might cause either reduction in the dynamic range, more noise or clipping.

This article is one of many references I've come across regarding this issue.

Beat
Click to expand...
Beat,
This is true for Canon cameras in the xxxD and xxD series and the 7D, but the 1D series models have two stages of amplification, the first boosting the output from the sensor to whole ISOs and the second providing additional gain to 1/3 or 2/3. I haven't seen any information regarding the 5DII.
 
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[quote author=tzalman link=topic=9511.msg64357#msg64357 date=1271'79561]Beat,
This is true for Canon cameras in the xxxD and xxD series and the 7D, but the 1D series models have two stages of amplification, the first boosting the output from the sensor to whole ISOs and the second providing additional gain to 1/3 or 2/3. I haven't seen any information regarding the 5DII.
[/quote]

tzalman,

Thank you for this clarification. I think I've read somewhere that this is only NOT true for the 1D/1Ds, but applies to the 5DII.

Beat
 
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Jeroen,

The Camera Profile you are using is under "Camera Calibration" at the bottom of the right Develop Module panel. I don't know how to determine version information. These profiles are packaged with Adobe Camera Raw. So, if you download and install ACRv5.7 you'll have the latest. If there is a D3''s profile updated before the next release of ACR, there will probably be a post on this website, and there will for sure be posts on Adobe's Lightroom and ACR forums, with a link to download them.

Hope this helps,
Rob
 
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Hello Rob,

As far as I know LR includes these profiles, and a separate download is not required. If any updates are made I would assume Adobe puts them in LR.

Jeroen
 
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Yes this is so, ACR 5.7 RC and LR 2.7 RC would install the same/latest camera profiles.

[quote author=NikonionJK link=topic=9511.msg64436#msg64436 date=1271154699]
Hello Rob,

As far as I know LR includes these profiles, and a separate download is not required. If any updates are made I would assume Adobe puts them in LR.

Jeroen
[/quote]
 
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