[WMBP]

RAW+ and Lightroom!

What happens when you import your raw+ files into Lightroom? Does Lightroom recognize the jpeg as a second file? Or what?

Will

[jshurak]

What happens when you import your raw+ files into Lightroom? Does Lightroom recognize the jpeg as a second file? Or what?

Will

Will,

I usually copy all the files into a folder using windows, then manually import just the RAW file in Lightroom, using the jpeg as a reference to what I'm importing. That way I don't waste time with something I know I won't use. When I have time to sit down an organize things I plan on using Lightroom to import and sort photos, but that takes a bit of time to set up. I read that Lightroom will ignore the jpegs and just import the RAW files.

Everyone - If I were not so set on shooting RAW, I don't think I'd have one setting. I think it really depends on the shot or type of shot. Over saturating a portrait may cause skin color to look unnatural. Very often I reduce saturation. Also, many people prefer a softer focus. When shooting outdoors, a flower for example, the opposite may hold true. Saturation can really bring out the yellow in that daisy! (this is why I shoot RAW!) Ideally a custom settings presets would be nice. One for portraits, one for landscapes...etc.. I'm not sure if that's an option though.

[bymy141]

I am new to the Pentax family, I just converted from Nikon. I have searched the internet looking for people that have posted their settings bank (sharpening, contrast, saturation), and Custom Settings bank with no luck. I was actually surprised that this forum didn't have anything like that either.

So... Lets start one. Post your shooting settings and custom settings and some sample pics so us noobs can see what changes will effect what aspects of the photos.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!

Bryan

Bryan,

There is more than one area you can discuss on custom settings. Have a look at: PENTAX digiich
Digiichi's preferences are not just for sharpness and contrast.

I myself prefer shooting RAW+, just for having a rapidly available jpg for distribution.

I either shoot in vivid and sharp+1, or normal and saturation+1, sharpness+3, contrast+1.
I cannot tell much difference between these two settings.

For my RAW PP I use Lightroom 1.2 and/or PS/CR.

- Bert

[mattdm]

So, here's a sequence of scaled-down crops (it's from the background and the extreme edge, so ignore the focus) from an image developed in camera going from -3 saturation to +3. Bright mode, and contrast and sharpening are left at 0.

And I gotta say: Gah! Using bright mode at least, anything higher than -1 seems ill-advised as a general default -- everything to the right of there looks quite unreal.

I remember that in their review DPReview mentions this about bright mode specifically regarding the red channel, but green leaves in another part of the image don't fare much better than the oranges shown here.


Using the DA 40mm Limited at f2.8, btw. (Image scaled down 5x using no interpolation so as to not distort the colors further, and saved as a 98% quality jpeg to avoid introducing noticeable color artifacts.)

Attached Images

 

[Miserere]

So, here's a sequence of scaled-down crops (it's from the background and the extreme edge, so ignore the focus) from an image developed in camera going from -3 saturation to +3. Bright mode, and contrast and sharpening are left at 0.

And I gotta say: Gah! Using bright mode at least, anything higher than -1 seems ill-advised as a general default -- everything to the right of there looks quite unreal.

Clearly this is a matter of taste, as I would choose saturation = 0.

Could you do the same thing with the contrast? I'd be interested in knowing which setting you would prefer.

[mattdm]

Clearly this is a matter of taste, as I would choose saturation = 0.

Yeah, there's a little bit of wiggle room. At +1, the left side of the closest orange traffic cone is totally blown into red (something like red 98-100%, green 0-1%, blue 0%). At 0, it's a lot more reddish than I like but not totally off the chart. -1 gives a little bit of a margin.

Could you do the same thing with the contrast? I'd be interested in knowing which setting you would prefer.

Sure, although I've actually deleted that original (didn't see the point in saving a bunch of artless test shots), so I'll have to reshoot some samples.

As mentioned above my initial preference is to bump contrast up some, but that's definitely subjective. (I actually kind of dig the -3 saturation +3 contrast look of a few of my sample shots, but I don't think I'd go with that as a general setting.)

The guy working on reverse-engineering the firmware mentioned that there's some hints of rudimentary scripting language hidden in there -- too bad that's not active, because then I'd have the camera just go ahead and do a matrix of all 686 possible combinations of tone curve, saturation, sharpening, and contrast.

[imadethis]

Let me say welcome to the Pentax family Bryan. Depending on the situation, for important shots, I shoot RAW + Jpeg. I do this because the Jpeg can be used as a reference for comparison to what I could do with my RAW file.

Jpeg setting: bright mode +1 for sharpness.

An awesome feature I found useful is the Fine Tune WB. You can take a photo of scene and tune your White Balance at a touch of a button.

As for custom settings:
Program line - MTF
EV Steps - 1/3
ISO Warning - 400
AF Button function - Center of AF point
Color space - Adobe RGB
e-dials - these are customized to my shooting preference

Hope that helps. Go out there and shoot!

[mattdm]

Sure, although I've actually deleted that original (didn't see the point in saving a bunch of artless test shots), so I'll have to reshoot some samples.

So, if you didn't see the other thread where I did this, here's a pointer to it:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-dslr-discussion/14585-k10d-contras...gs-matrix.html