tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

I shoot raw mostly along with a jpg version for backup and comparison; the jpg output from LR should look better than the jpg created by my D610.
Can anyone tell me setting the WB of my camera makes any significance to the Raw files; Will the Temp & Tint slider of the LR over rule all the camera WB setting ?
Should LR be sufficient that the output jpg need no further process (levels,color, contrast, brightness, etc) in PS?
If one hesitates of the exposure during shooting, underexposed is better than overexposed Or the same, (of course by the same amount) ?

big-guy Loc: Peterborough Ontario Canada

When shooting JPG the camera assigns, as best it can, a white balance. When shooting RAW there is no white balanced assigned and leaves that to PP. For you, shooting both, the camera will show you on the JPG what it deems as correct but won't/can't touch the RAW version.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Getting accurate white balance at the camera is important when:

• You are a professional with a studio/controlled lighting condition workflow, and want to create "perfect" JPEGs at the camera (i.e.; you know how to set exposure, custom white balance, and ALL the camera menus to get precisely the look you want, at the camera, because your client demands immediate use of the images).

• You work for a wire service, magazine, newspaper, forensic department, etc. that requires UN-post-processed JPEGs straight from the camera. Many agencies now require this, because of concerns over image manipulation in post-processing.

• You want your images to look good when you open them in post-processing software. (But it has to be the RIGHT post processing software, and you have to set the defaults in that software correctly!)

Yes, Lightroom can be used to completely override the white balance (and most other image parameters, to some degree). You can export or web-post "perfect" JPEGs from LR. You need not use Photoshop at all, unless you need its tools, such as layer masking, text, color separation...

I use BOTH a raw workflow AND a JPEG workflow, for completely different kinds of work in completely different situations. I appreciate the power and flexibility of raw files. But I love to "get it 'right' in the camera" when a job allows, because I hate labor time and costs. I also like to see something close to what I want when I open an image!

To me, the most important use of the LR Develop Module (ACR, really) is in the tonal manipulation of raw files.

JPEG was NEVER MEANT to be anything more than an immediate use, distribution file format. You CAN edit JPEGs a little, especially if you use Photoshop to convert them to 16-bit TIFFs in ProPhotoRGB color space before you go bending the tones. Adjust at will, then save or export as a high quality 8-bit JPEG in sRGB color space when done. That preserves the maximum range of tones from the original file, AND it smooths out the conversion back to 8-bits. (I know, hard to believe, but try it! High end pro lab software pulls a similar stunt automatically, using a 12-bit conversion.)

Remember that the paradox of JPEG (and color slide) photography is that the closer to "perfect" you get it at the camera, the MORE latitude you have to adjust it in post-processing, should you need to, but the LESS you will need to!

In summary, you DON'T HAVE TO worry about white balance at the camera when recording raw files, but it helps later if you do!

twowindsbear

Why not perform an experiment and determine how WB settings actually affect RAW captures? Should be fairly simple and should give you real-world results.

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

the WB does not affect the RAW data, but it does affect the exposure. You may get a tint to the photo

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

Nikon raw file .NEF is different from the others DNG, which can be viewed in Faststone. I am not sure NEF is a true presentation of the raw images? But I think the NEF files is afftected by the White Balances of the camera setting. Am I right?

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

Put in a pp program that you can change the white balance see what see what you find.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Here's the deal. The menu settings on your camera, including white balance, are all used to process the JPEG preview image you see on the camera's LCD, and any JPEG FILE you save in the camera.

The JPEG PREVIEW image is stuffed inside the raw file, if you save one.

Part of ALL JPEG images, including the preview, is an EXIF table of metadata, or data about data. The EXIF table is what actually STORES the white balance and other menu settings from the camera!

A RAW file — and a NEF is Nikon's raw file format — is simply ALL the digitized data coming from the sensor array, with almost no processing done to it. It's in 14-bits per color channel mode. So it has billions of possible pixel colors. So yes, a .NEF file IS a true Nikon raw image.

A DNG file is Adobe's Digital Negative file. Essentially, it too, is a raw file, but it is converted from the proprietary camera file format to a UNIVERSAL, PUBLIC DOMAIN raw format.

All raw files are not the same! Every model of camera generates a slightly different format of raw. It may have the same .NEF, .CR2, .RW2, or other manufacturer's extension, but a .NEF from a Nikon D300s is not the same as a .NEF from a D810. The difference is a color profile code. Each camera model has its own sensor characteristics, and unless your software knows what they are, it cannot open the file. NIKON software always knows how to read the camera it came with. Adobe and other third party software companies have to come up with their own "keys" to the code for each new camera model. Inevitably, Adobe's defaults do not look like Nikon's, or Canon's, or another manufacturer's defaults. They look like the folks at Adobe think they should look like.

When you open a raw file, MOST camera manufacturers' supplied software will read the EXIF table from the preview image, and convert the raw data to a bitmap that looks like the JPEG, because the software is using the same parameters that the camera used for processing. But you have COMPLETE control over that bitmap before you save it as a TIFF or JPEG! You can improve the processing by adjusting the sliders in your software. Hopefully, you will be using a calibrated and custom ICC-profiled monitor, suitable for adjusting images, when you adjust them! Otherwise, you risk wrecking perfectly good color, and your lab or friends on the Internet will not see what you saw.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

If your whites are pink or blue in Jpg you have the wrong WB set in camera....In Raw you can easily swop it without altering the exposure setting. With a Jpg you can juggle the RGB or use the eye dropper to test and change in PSE. The what and the where may be of interest BUT fixing it - or applying it when it suits is the important thing.(I use 'cloudy' or 'shade' a Lot! even when it wasn't. How perverse is that!!

CindyHouk Loc: Nw MT

For someone learning.....I have my camera set to Raw only right now --- I should set it to both Raw + JPG and if the preview on the lcd looks good...then I have the settings correct for the situation...if the preview looks bad...I have something wrong? Whether that be exposure, f stop, shutter...etc I have the Nikon D5300...would that be a good learning tool?

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

Cindy, the image you see on the LCD is based on what the camera's jpg settings are weather you save as jpg or not. In other words if you are only saving as raw the camera will still display an image based on what it would do for a jpg. The data input for that comes from the raw file. I hope that makes some kind of sense.

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

how about my other 2 questions: any comments?
Should LR be sufficient that the output jpg need no further process (levels,color, contrast, brightness, etc) in PS?
I thinks the answer of the first question is Yes, unless the raw file is deleted.

If one hesitates of the exposure during shooting, underexposed is better than overexposed Or the same, (of course by the same amount) ?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Once the highlights are at 255 in any of the three primaries (RGB), they are gone forever. Unless you saved a raw file.

CindyHouk Loc: Nw MT

Thank you Rich...yes makes sense.

tenny52 Loc: San Francisco

For my limited understanding, if the LCD display has clippings(flashing some highlights or dark areas), that means some information in the picture are not captured even in the raw files. Otherwise, the picture is considered OK with all the details?