Beginner Lightroom: Importing jpeg + RAW shots

[Jaze]

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I've set up my iMac with Lightroom and a mirrored external hard drive, and am good to go. I imported (with a few hiccups) my iPhoto library, and am ready to import photos from the SDHC card in my D-lux 4 for the first time.

 

All the tutorials I've looked at so far talk about importing RAW files, and about importing jpeg files, but seem to use slightly different settings for the two different formats. How can I best import both the jpegs and the RAW files from my Leica? Is there a particular setting people use?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

J.

[Jaze]

Sorry! I should've set that my camera is set to capture each shot as BOTH jpeg and RAW files!

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[jackart]

If You shoot in RAW + JPEG mode, camera saves 2 images per shot. Importing all images from SD card, Lightroom treates this set as 1 image, basically ignoring JPEG. I use this setting. Usually I work in LR, but sometimes I need JPEG quickly, then I take JPEG directly from the card, not passing Lightroom workflow.

 

j

[Jaze]

Thanks, Jackart! When I import, then, I'll just use the RAW settings.

[Marquinius]

Th next trick will be how to handle all those files and not get confused ...

 

Small tip: import from camera on hard disk with photolader, preferably use an external HD (why put them all on your precious space on the Mac?), then import through Lightroom (import without moving files).

 

1Tb of photos later and I'm getting to understand how it works

[stunsworth]

TSmall tip: import from camera on hard disk with photolader, preferably use an external HD (why put them all on your precious space on the Mac?), then import through Lightroom (import without moving files).

 

What advantage does this have over importing the files from the card and telling Lightroom where to put them?

[Jaze]

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I set up the system so that Lightroom's on my iMac, with the picture files stored on a mirrored external hard drive. Since the external drive is 1TB mirrored, I wanted to get tips on how to do it right BEFORE I could post Marquinius's "1Tb of photos later and I'm getting to understand how it works"!

[Marquinius]

What advantage does this have over importing the files from the card and telling Lightroom where to put them?

 

I'm not totally sure LR does not fiddle with the photos (i.e. some pre editing or some such). And to be honest, I started out without LR and so now find myself working with photolader without reflecting on the why

[wda]

Jaze, forget about your jpegs. LR will import the raw files and you can generate jpegs or tiffs at will after raw conversion and post-processing in LR. If you only shoot jpegs, LR will import the files as jpegs or, I believe, as DNGs which is good.

 

Don't forget that the original files from camera are never altered by LR. All changes are saved as instructions which are read when you export a file for printing, the web etc. That is a wonderful attribute of LR. It is non-destructive.

[Jaze]

Thanks, David - I appreciate the input.

[jackart]

Additionally, JPEG-s are 8 bit and DNG/RAW is 12 bit depth. This is actually huge difference in tonal quality during post-processing.

[gpleica]

Jaze,

 

I am shooting for B&W output only, though I set my M9 up for shooting both DNG and low res. JPG without saturation - so my JPGs and previews on the M9's LCD show up as B&W images....and I set Lightroom up to import both. Why? Because it's a nice quick way to immediately preview the image on the camera AND in Lightroom's Library screen. Of course, I do not use those JPGs for the final images to print - their tonal range is nothing compared to working with the DNG files. I mention this so others who shoot for B&W output can benefit from a reason to shoot both DNG and JPG.

 

Geoffrey

[nhabedi]

I don't think it has been mentioned yet that there's a setting in LR so that it'll treat DNG and JPG as two separate files when importing. Most people probably don't want this, but it's possible in case you think need it.

[wda]

Jaze,

 

I am shooting for B&W output only, though I set my M9 up for shooting both DNG and low res. JPG without saturation - so my JPGs and previews on the M9's LCD show up as B&W images....and I set Lightroom up to import both. Why? Because it's a nice quick way to immediately preview the image on the camera AND in Lightroom's Library screen. Of course, I do not use those JPGs for the final images to print - their tonal range is nothing compared to working with the DNG files. I mention this so others who shoot for B&W output can benefit from a reason to shoot both DNG and JPG.

 

Geoffrey

 

Geoffrey, you don't need to shoot jpegs to see an image on the camera's LCD. Also, LR will give you a preview from a DNG file; so you don't need to shoot a JPEG at all unless that is all you need. If the latter, remember that you are turning your back on superior imaging performance.

[Marquinius]

I'm not totally sure LR does not fiddle with the photos (i.e. some pre editing or some such). And to be honest, I started out without LR and so now find myself working with photolader without reflecting on the why

 

I felt that slight tap in my brain telling me that something was not as it seemed: Lightroom DOES alter your photos, albeit in a way that you can always get back to the original.

 

The thing is that when importing JPG's, LR will just import with no additional primary development (I.E. curves, etc). But when you import a RAW photo (or DNG from a Leica), LR automatically puts a primary development in action. You can check this by first importing a jpg and than a DNG: look at the curves. With the jpg its linear, with the DNG it's medium.

 

Of course you can change the initial settings and so get a DNG without any development set to it.

[gpleica]

Wda,

 

Yes, I am using the full uncompressed DNG files for all my work...but the quick look at the image as a B&W image in the LR library is helpful in discerning if the shot works in B&W...it's like looking at my film contact sheets - you get an immediate sense of which shots to start working on. Plus, I like seeing the desaturated B&W jpeg previews when I'm shooting - they are worthless for anything other than a quick check of the geometry of the scene in B&W, but still, it's a quick check of my previsualization of the scene in front of me in B&W terms. What is humorous though, is the surprise I have when seeing the color DNG files come up in Lightroom after importing, since the B&W LCD previews are what stick in my memory as to what I shot. Sometimes the colors are so beautiful it almost makes me want to print in color! But B&W is my medium for nearly 40 years.

 

Geoffrey

[wda]

Wda,

 

Yes, I am using the full uncompressed DNG files for all my work...but the quick look at the image as a B&W image in the LR library is helpful in discerning if the shot works in B&W...it's like looking at my film contact sheets - you get an immediate sense of which shots to start working on. Plus, I like seeing the desaturated B&W jpeg previews when I'm shooting - they are worthless for anything other than a quick check of the geometry of the scene in B&W, but still, it's a quick check of my previsualization of the scene in front of me in B&W terms. What is humorous though, is the surprise I have when seeing the color DNG files come up in Lightroom after importing, since the B&W LCD previews are what stick in my memory as to what I shot. Sometimes the colors are so beautiful it almost makes me want to print in color! But B&W is my medium for nearly 40 years.

 

Geoffrey

 

Geoffrey, yes; occasionally I use your technique with my much cherished Digilux 2. I shoot in Raw but set the filter to BW thus achieving what appeals to you on the LCD. Although you are a dedicated monochrome worker, the technique retains remarkable flexibility in case you have the sudden urge to recognize the world in colour!

[Philip Freedman]

If you want to import JPEGs as well as Raw, for example in order to get a minilab to run the JPEGs off as quick proofs, you can set Lightroom to keep them separate when importing and you can create two Smart Collections, one set to read only JPEGs and one to read only Raw. You can then use the appropriate Smart Collection to collect and export just the JPEGs.

Philip

[iLikeLeica]

Hello - maybe i'm missing something here but i can't seem to find in lightroom how exactly you could see in the library mode the 'B&W' jpegs - as way to do the quick sense check whether composition etc make sense. final post-processing would then obviously happen on the DNG file.

 

any thoughts?

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Hallo,

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