I have been using Lightroom 4 pretty much since it came out and I notice that once I go to the Develop module it automatically changes the exposure settings in my RAW files, which is causing me extra work since I do not agree with the software. I have Googled this many times, asked on other forums, checked my import settings, asked during a class, and so far nothing has changed this or helped me understand why this is happening. Anyone else experiencing this? Personally, if I wanted machines to make these decisions for me I would shoot jpg in automatic, which I do not.
Any help would be appreciated. I would love to go back to working with RAW files and having control over them again without "refixing" them.
@cfitzgerald Under presets in preferences you can set default values for your photos when you import. You need to reset these if you do not like what it is doing.
@bradleynovak Thanks for the response. I did an import and that said that it was set to no presets. I did a test where I exported a fixed image and reimported and it was definitely changed on the reimport. According to the settings that should not happen. It's not a huge deal to fix since there are sync settings, but it is getting frustrating. Is there a way to calibrate Lightroom 4 and my camera? The two histograms seem to be worlds apart.
Go down the the camera calibration panel on the develop module and see what the profile is set as, by default it's set to adobe standard which will always be different than how you took the picture. Experiment with the other profiles such as portrait or landscape to see what looks best to you. Once you find something you prefer you can make that a preset to be applied on the import. Hopefully that should help with the exposure issues.
@natew214 I am thinking that is it. I learned about that in a class, played with it and forgot about it. Soon after, noticed the change in my images. I will play around with it! THANK YOU!
@agima No, I shoot in just in RAW. I know that the camera and the software don't always match, but I became really suspicious when I re-imported images and LR "fixed" them automatically although I don't have any import presets. Any other ideas?
I do use the histogram on the camera when I shoot, but what would be the point of an on camera histogram if the software and the camera would disagree so much?
Just so we are on the same page let me think out loud for a second.
When we take a photo in RAW it is stored in RAW, however when we view the image on the LCD on the camera we are viewing the JPG version and the histogram is for that JPG and not the RAW. The JPG file that is displayed has any in camera setting applied i.e sharpens, contrast, etc etc.
When you export the photos of your camera it take the RAW file and sets everything to zero and the image is how it looked without any adjustments.
Ok. now on with your problem.
Are you saying that when you import the RAW files into your collection and you then look at the image in design view that the settings are not sitting at zero?
@agima That is exactly what I am saying. Since upgrading to LR4 after importing, once I move to the develop module, the images change and NONE of the settings are at zero, and I am not happy with the automatic adjustments, causing me MORE work instead of SAVING me work. All of the sliders automatically adjust, which to me, defeats the purpose of RAW. In Aperture it was easy to just go back to the original RAW file, but I cannot seem to figure that out in LR.
After playing around, I did notice that changing my camera calibration to camera standard does move the sliders back to zero. So maybe that was my problem? At my next import I will try that. It was set at Adobe Standard which must be the default? I am still new to LR, despite my online classes and hours of playing.
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@cheribug I can't seem to find this problem being discussed anywhere. I have looked in other forums and googled it and looked on the Adobe site too.
Thanks for responding.
Anyway, thanks!
@agima No, I shoot in just in RAW. I know that the camera and the software don't always match, but I became really suspicious when I re-imported images and LR "fixed" them automatically although I don't have any import presets. Any other ideas?
I do use the histogram on the camera when I shoot, but what would be the point of an on camera histogram if the software and the camera would disagree so much?
@onie @natew214 @agima Thanks for responding and helping!
When we take a photo in RAW it is stored in RAW, however when we view the image on the LCD on the camera we are viewing the JPG version and the histogram is for that JPG and not the RAW. The JPG file that is displayed has any in camera setting applied i.e sharpens, contrast, etc etc.
When you export the photos of your camera it take the RAW file and sets everything to zero and the image is how it looked without any adjustments.
Ok. now on with your problem.
Are you saying that when you import the RAW files into your collection and you then look at the image in design view that the settings are not sitting at zero?
After playing around, I did notice that changing my camera calibration to camera standard does move the sliders back to zero. So maybe that was my problem? At my next import I will try that. It was set at Adobe Standard which must be the default? I am still new to LR, despite my online classes and hours of playing.