[Free Soul]

Hi everyone,

I am using Lightroom for a long time, and since the beginning I have this problem - when import RAW files, the colours from bright and deep turn immediately to washed and pale.

Of course I make changes afterwards, but it would be great to see the colours as they were in RAW.

Before K5 I had K10 and imported PEF files. Now import DNG from K5 - the problems stays...

I am using Lightroom 2.6. for Windows.
How it is with newer updates? Do you see the same problem as mine? How have you solved it?

Thank you!

[Trig]

Are you compare the before colors to what you see on the review screen on the K-5 to the LR result? If so, that is not the actual RAW file but an embedded jpg.

[PhilippeG]

Do you mean compared to JPEG files?
Lightroom (or any other RAW converter) doesn't import/apply the camera jpeg settings.
If you want the exact same settings as the jpeg files, I think you can only do so with Pentax Digital Camera Utility, the software that shipped with your camera.

In Lightroom you can make some changes to the curves and contrast and so on the way you like, and save them as a default preset. Then you can apply this preset automatically to all the pictures as you import them, it's an option in the import panel.

Perhaps you can post an example of a washed picture?

[wlachan]

You can do camera calibration by using a Color Checker & DNG Profile Editor.

[enoeske]

Sounds like you are shooting in sRGB but importing the files to aRGB. I would double check what your import settings are.

[WerTicus]

I know what he is talking about, he is talking about the RAW file before it has finished loading in light room, when it shows the embedded JPG image and not the actual raw file.

Which also answers his question Its not a problem, your just comparing the jpg to the raw and thinking the raw should look like the processed jpg which it should not.

[Free Soul]

Are you compare the before colors to what you see on the review screen on the K-5 to the LR result? If so, that is not the actual RAW file but an embedded jpg.

Not on the camera screen but in process of importing in LR.

Wneh the image is imported in LR I see it brighter, colourful for a few seconds in Preview and when it is loaded it is washed out.

[wlachan]

Sounds like you are shooting in sRGB but importing the files to aRGB. I would double check what your import settings are.

The RGB setting of the camera has no effect on RAW, and LR uses ProPhotoRGB space.

[Free Soul]

Do you mean compared to JPEG files?
Lightroom (or any other RAW converter) doesn't import/apply the camera jpeg settings.
...........
Perhaps you can post an example of a washed picture?

As I wrote I compare the file in Preview for a moment and when it is loaded.

When loading in Preview I see it in similar way:




After a while, when loaded:

[Free Soul]

You can do camera calibration by using a Color Checker & DNG Profile Editor.

Hm, I thought the problem is the LR...

Is DNG Profile is for LR import? I could't find how to import it in Lightroom...

[Free Soul]

I know what he is talking about, he is talking about the RAW file before it has finished loading in light room, when it shows the embedded JPG image and not the actual raw file.

Which also answers his question Its not a problem, your just comparing the jpg to the raw and thinking the raw should look like the processed jpg which it should not.

You mean the brighter image I see is an embedded jpg, and the washed one is the actual RAW?

[Jasvox]

Create your own profile as a pre-set using the color, contrast, sharpness, etc as you prefer and then you can make that your default view when importing and initially viewing them in LR.

Jason

[wlachan]

Hm, I thought the problem is the LR...

Is DNG Profile is for LR import? I could't find how to import it in Lightroom...

You can find the detail here.
DNG Profiles:Editor - Adobe Labs

I have done this with my 40D, Ds & K-m with great results. I am using LR2.7 too.

[PhilippeG]

You mean the brighter image I see is an embedded jpg, and the washed one is the actual RAW?

Yes. The camera modifies the picture according to your camera settings (contrast, colors, saturation…) before it saves it as a jpeg.
The RAW file on the other hand is, well, "raw", untouched, and that's how it is supposed to be. To get a similar image you need to tweak it by yourself.

In Lightroom it can be as simple or complex as you want It can just be a matter of increasing Blacks and Saturation, or you can make lots of adjustments to make it look just the way you like.
Again, once you have achieved a look you like, you can save these changes as a preset and apply them to any other picture with a single mouse click.

[Free Soul]

Thank you all a lot!

I will try each of your suggestions