Hi!

I just installed Photoshop CC 2014 with Adobe Camera RAW 8.5. I have noticed a slight colour shift comparing the PEF-previews and the look in ACR before but now it is a huge difference. The pics here are untouched, just saved as jpegs. I do not know where to start in ACR to make them look as in DCU5 or any viewer that reads the PEFs. Forst one is what I expect it to look like (From DCU5), Second is the ACR 8.5 Default.






Any ideas?

[amoringello]

Some raw file viewers only read the embedded JPEG. Raw files are generally going to look flat and unsharp when not processed. If they look punchy and sharp, then the program is adding doe sort of preset processing to the file.

Both ACR and DUC5 is going to do some sort of default processing regardless of your "just saving as jpeg". ACR is probably going to do a lot less without your intervention.

DCU5 is likely adding extra contrast and saturation. It probably has closer match for in-camera JPEG processing, where ACR is only going to give you some rough general presets. (Pentax presets implementation in ACR is not as complete or actuate as some other brands).

Getting an exact match is not going to be easy as you don't know exactly what DUC5 is doing.
But in ACR you can start by adding a boost to the red and green in HSL panel.

With the K-5 I never saw a difference between ACR and the in camera processing. This is a huge difference and the real life color was more DCU than ACR...

[Na Horuk]

The other thing to keep in mind are colour profiles. In Lightroom you can switch between colour profiles (Adobe Standard, Embedded, etc.) and the difference can be quite big, especially in the spectrum between yellow and red. So be sure your software is using the best profile for your camera, the difference should be smaller then.
But you are right, different raw editors will draw the photo in a different way. That is because the raw data is not am image - the image is created by the software. In its own way.

With that image, I think you need to add vibrance and colour saturation, especially with reds

[DSims]

I was hoping Adobe had improved things with the new 2014 CC software. I've updated, but I gave up doing much RAW processing with Adobe a long time ago. PS is for when extensive edits are needed, and I don't use LR at all any more.


It's too bad, as I understand Adobe's made some real processing (performance) improvements in these new releases.


It's the camera color profiles. Adobe has done a poor job with them for years. Phase One takes these profiles seriously (it's not easy, their tech guys assure me), even with less "big name" camera models like Pentax DSLRs or my Olympus XZ-1.



You best bet is to either switch to another RAW editor (at least for the initial processing) or plead with Adobe to re-do the profiles (because, as you said with the K-5, they can make reasonably good ones when they try).

I will test using AdobeRGB in camera to see if there is a difference. Also do DNG instead of PEF for the same reason.

[Na Horuk]

I will test using AdobeRGB in camera to see if there is a difference. Also do DNG instead of PEF for the same reason.

I doubt that would change how the software understands colours, but tell us how it goes.
What you should do in ACR is click the little "camera" icon where you have camera calibation. Now you can choose process version and camera profile. At the bottom you can choose the colour space of ACR itself. It is best if you have the same colour space choice in camera as well as the editor. You can also adjust individual colour channels here (tint and saturation).

[Rondec]

I actually use Huelight camera color profiles and have founded them more accurate than Adobe standard in ACR (I use lightroom). Huelight Camera Profiles

I doubt that would change how the software understands colours, but tell us how it goes.
What you should do in ACR is click the little "camera" icon where you have camera calibation. Now you can choose process version and camera profile. At the bottom you can choose the colour space of ACR itself. It is best if you have the same colour space choice in camera as well as the editor. You can also adjust individual colour channels here (tint and saturation).

I doubt it to but for the sake of it I will test. I also has been in that tab in ACR and tried to do some adjustments but it does not come close. There is however a program at Adobe Labs for making your own color profile. I will test that aswell.

[SteveB]

You could try the Rawstudio profile in Photoshop for the K-3. I find their K-30 profile better than Adobe's own - it's free as well. You have to put the .dcp file in the right folder and you get an extra Rawstudio option in ACR added to the usual Embedded etc. Have a look for other dcp files on your computer and the file will need to be in the same place as them.

[stevebrot]

As noted above, color space on import to your software can result in huge on-screen differences. The rules of thumb are

• Capture at a wide gamut color space (Adobe RBG on your K-3)
• Edit in a wide gamut color space (Lightroom uses a variant of ProPhoto RBG)
• Export using a color space appropriate for the target medium/device (sRGB for the Web) and evaluate using that medium/device before calling it good

The last step is pretty critical. There have been a couple of images submitted to the Pentax Exclusive Gallery on this site that were crafted to a wide gamut. Unfortunately Internet Explorer munged them down to sRGB with significant and unpleasant changes to the color balance. The same was true for the preview images regardless of browser. Not good.


Steve

[audiobomber]

Pentax DCU reads the Image Tone settings (saturation, contrast, sharpness, etc) as set in the camera. To compare to ACR, you need to adjust these, or import with a preset. Sometimes changing to Embedded colours produces quite a large difference, sometimes not much at all, but I've yet to see Adobe Standard look better than Embedded.

Pentax DCU reads the Image Tone settings (saturation, contrast, sharpness, etc) as set in the camera. To compare to ACR, you need to adjust these, or import with a preset. Sometimes changing to Embedded colours produces quite a large difference, sometimes not much at all, but I've yet to see Adobe Standard look better than Embedded.

Well, I use PEF, not DNG. Made a DNG in DCU5 and with embedded it is closer but it still is not all the way color wise. I have been pulling on every lever =)

Well, I know of this option if needed. Thanks.

[audiobomber]

Well, I use PEF, not DNG. Made a DNG in DCU5 and with embedded it is closer but it still is not all the way color wise. I have been pulling on every lever =)

I was a big fan of DCU4, but I find DCU5 clumsy and limited in comparison. I'm not interested in learning new processing software with every new camera, so I changed to Lightroom.

I was very keen on DCU colours, but my tests showed they were too warm, LR was more accurate. Try adjusting White Balance, I think you'll find you can reproduce DCU5 colours.

[DSims]

As noted above, color space on import to your software can result in huge on-screen differences. The rules of thumb are

Capture at a wide gamut color space (Adobe RBG on your K-3)

I believe that this doesn't make any difference. The RAW files have the same color information either way - which (fortunately) is broader than even ProPhoto RGB. It only affects the color space in the JPEG files, giving you JPEG files that are less colorful and odd for most purposes, since (as you noted) sRGB is the assumed color space for most JPEG applications.

If you're going to shoot JPEG-only and PP them all later then AdobeRGB could give you a little more color to work with. But this is an unusual scenario, so sRGB is a more practical camera setting in most cases.