Comparing NEF's of D5100 and D4

[rob_de_jong]

<p>This might be comparing appels with banana's, but I don't think so.<br>

When opening NEF's from my D4 in Camera Raw I get images that are way from what I see on the display of the camera or in ViewNX2. They are usually much brighter and it seems that there is a thin fog in the scene. And while processing them in Camera Raw I am hardly able to get close to what I see on the display. I am talking here about photography in the dark with using flash guns. <br>

When I open up NEF's from my D5100 in Camera Raw, I get almost identical images as I see them on the display of the camera or in ViewNX2. So they don't need much processing.<br>

Picture Control in Both cameras are set to VIVID. <br>

I realise that things will look different in Camera Raw, since it will not take over in camera settings such as Picture Control, but the difference between these two camera's is enormous. And the images from the D4 are so different from what I see on the camera and in ViewNX2, that I can hardly process an image that gets near to what I had hoped for. This holds especially for dark conditions. In daylight this issue is not so striking. With Camera Raw you are supposed to improve things in stead of using all the power to get the raw image as it shows up in ViewNX2 or on camera.<br>

Could there be something wrong with the sensor of the D4? <br>

Unfortunately I cannot show how things look in ViewNX2 and in Camera Raw, because files will be too large to attach to this thread. Is there another way to show some of the NEF's, so that you can see what I am talking about? Maybe a personal mail with email address?</p>

<p>Thanks,<br>

Rob</p>

[howard_m]

<p>1. what version of Photoshop and CAmera Raw are you using?<br>

2. Did you *verify* that on the calibration tab in ACR that it's selected Nikon D4 as the profile?</p>

[rob_de_jong]

<p>Thanks for your response.<br>

I am using Camera Raw 6.7 beta.<br>

This version has only general camera profiles. I have set it to Camera Vivid. That improves things considerably, but doesn't explain why there is such a big difference between the two cameras. </p>

[howard_m]

<p>You may want to update ACR to 6.7 final</p>

<p>http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5371</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>Rob, you could attach screenshots from ACR and ViewNX2, they would not need to be that large at all. After all, we do not need to analyse the pixels, but just get an idea of the differences.<br>

And obviously, these are 2 different sensors, it isn't too strange the differences are there in ACR. Isn't it possible to create a proper profile yourself once for the D4, and use that in batch-mode on the D4 images? It would be a one-time investment of your time, but sounds like it would be well worth it.</p>

 

[rob_de_jong]

<p>Thanks for your response.<br>

I am using Camera Raw 6.7 beta.<br>

This version has only general camera profiles. I have set it to Camera Vivid. That improves things considerably, but doesn't explain why there is such a big difference between the two cameras. </p>

[fhmillard]

<p>what do the curves look like</p>

[michael_bradtke]

<p>I did not even realize that ACR 6.anything would read D4 files. Using ACR 8.1 I see differences between D300 and D4 files but they are nothing like what you are describing.</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>"Is there another way to show some of the NEF's?" - Screen shots. If you have a PC all you need to do is press the Prnt Scrn/Sys Rqst button on the top centre of your keyboard, and then paste the resulting screen shot from the ClipBoard as a New Image.<br>

If you have an Apple - sympathies.</p>

[howard_m]

<p>Same capability on Apples :p :)</p>

[ant_nio_gomes]

<p>@Rodeo Joe<br /> - Thanks for your sympathies. The poor guys that use Apple can try to get images of their screens and test if Howard is right following this link indications:<br /> <br /> http://snowleopardtips.net/tips/screenshots-get-a-nice-touch-in-snow-leopard.html<br /> <br /> (I guess Lion and Mountain Lion have something similar)<br /> <br /> @Rob<br /> There must be differences among NEFs and I guess ACR without camera profiles will use Adobe adopted defaults that I wonder if can be closer to some camera models files than to the others.<br /> <br />Just a suggestion: You could try DxO that has automatic RAw conversion and use dedicated camera and lens modules. Even if you plan to continue with Adobe you can download and use it for 30 days just for test purposes and as a way to check if there is something wrong with your sensor.</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>First and foremost - follow Howard's advice and update ACR from the beta version - then report back if the issue persists. The D4 was new in ACR 6.7 - so it's entirely possible that the beta version hasn't gotten it quite right yet.</p>

[mag_miksch]

<p>you dont need a D4, sell it and keep the 5100</p>

[fhmillard]

<p>histograms would be helpful; also what color space is your camera set to,and what color space are acr,and vnx2 using,and since you stated the photos were taken with flash, is that the white balance setting?</p>

[tomweis]

<p>Rob,<br>

You said, "...the images from the D4 are so different from what I see on the camera..." That's because you are shooting RAW but setting the Picture Control to Vivid. Picture Control does <em>nothing</em> to RAW files. Picture control settings only apply to JPEGs. The reason RAW is called RAW is that the camera has done nothing to the file. RAW files typically look a little flat, and usually need some massaging in post production.<br>

Here's the rub: even when shooting RAW files, the preview image you see on the camera's screen is a JPEG!<br>

Tom</p>