Lightroom 3 jpeg vs new sharpness

[joe_cormier]

<p>I was trying an experiment using my Nikon d-300s. I wanted to compare sharpness of a jpeg to a nef file. I set my<br>

camera to nef/jpeg fine and my picture control to vivid and increased the sharpening to #9. When I imported the files<br>

into Lightroom 3, only the raw file was visable. How can I compare both in lightroom. I do understand the advantage<br>

of a raw file but was interested in how close a jpeg could come to a raw file. </p>

<p> Thanks in advance for responding!!!!</p>

<p> Joe</p>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>In Preferences, General tab, check "Treat JPEG files next to raw files as separate photos".</p>

<p>Now delete the imported file from Lightroom (not from disk!) and import again.</p>

[joe_cormier]

<p>Mark,</p>

<p>EXCELLENT! Since I am a novice at LR-3, after adjusting the nef image for sharpness, detail, etc and then comparing<br>

it against the jpeg, I appears to me that the jpeg is still sharper than the adjusted nef. Is that possible? Joe</p>

<p> </p>

[mark_sirota1]

<p>Sure, with your sharpening at 9!</p>

<p>But your goal shouldn't be to get LR to match the camera-generated JPEG. Your goal should be to produce the best final result you can produce. There's no reason to think that the camera-generated JPEG is the pinnacle.</p>

[ChrisSpeaker]

<p>Do you happen to have View NX 2 installed from Nikon? I have observed that View NX 2, when you select View/Viewer/Display RAW image, the images are much sharper than Lightroom3's RAW display. You may want to use that program to compare the NEF/Jpeg.</p>

[dbcooper]

<p>Unless your intended purpose is viewing the images on the web, you may want to look at a full-size print (or full-size section print) of each. It'll reveal sharpness differences much better than a monitor. It can also reveal digital artifacts from over-sharpening that you might not notice on a monitor.</p>

[nina_myers]

<p>sharp ≠ good</p>

[raczoliver]

<p>If you export the file from Lightroom and apply low or standard output sharpening for glossy paper, it produces an effect which is very desirable in my opinion and can't seem to reproduce with manual sharpening in Lightroom or Photoshop. High is a bit of an overkill, but low or standard, depending on the picture, is very nice. Anyone knows what Lightroom does there and why it looks so different from other ways of sharpening?</p>

[Kent Shafer]

<p>I think your original premise is flawed. There's no meaningful way to compare the sharpness of a raw file to the sharpness of a jpeg. It's like comparing a bag of groceries to the dinner your wife made from them.</p>

<p>The camera cooks up a jpeg from the raw data, applying the sharpness and other settings you specify. When you import the raw data into Lightroom or another program, you have the ability to cook it any way you want. You might make something very close to the camera's jpeg interpretation or something else entirely. You're in control at that point.</p>

[walterh]

<p>Nina it is always worth a try but you are probably running against windmills :-)</p>

<p>Let me add: sharpness is an illusion anyway .-P</p>

<p> </p>

[stan_schurman1]

<p>Joe, I too have found that, even after adjusting the NEF file, the original jpg usually appeared sharper.</p>