M8 DNG in Lightroom?

[Ernstk]

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Apologies for this very basic question.

 

I've just become the owner of a very clean low actuation M8. I'll be using it primarily with my 35 pre asph Summilux.

 

Is there an M8 specific profile for DNG conversion in Lightroom or is there an external converter that is recommended? I'll be working primarily in B&W with some colour work.

 

I've searched older posts here but most seem to relate to very early versions of Lightroom

 

Thanks

[Jim-St]

An M8 DNG file imported into LR will show up with "Adobe Standard" and "Camera Standard" options available in the Profile dropdown under Camera Calibration tab in the Develop module.

 

You can make your own profiles using a standard X-Rite (formerly Gretag Macbeth) 24-patch colour checker card and the free Color Checker Passport app from X-Rite. These will be specific to your M8 and you can make different profiles for different lights (daylight, tungsten, etc). I use my own profiles, applied at import, for most purposes. The Adobe profiles are always available if you want them. For my M8 I've always found the daylight rendering just fine for 98% of shots, and likewise with my M9.

 

Enjoy your M8 - and it's worth sorting out these basics of colour management up front. You'll still be able to use the colour channels to fine-tune B&W work in LR if you shoot DNG, as I guess you've understood

 

Jim

[Ernstk]

Jim

 

Thanks for this, very helpful.

 

Some more context to my question...

 

I'm new to RAW file use. My Digilux 2 and D Lux 5 give me excellent Jpegs straight from the camera so I've never had to consider RAW.

 

I've read in many places that the M8 produces stunning files but I have to say that the camera Jpegs don't seem that great to me.

 

My challenge then is, how can I reveal the true quality of those files and is there an accepted optimum route to getting them? I've just looked at the DNG file in LR4.4 and was shocked by how drab it looked (even after using both the Adobe and Camera profiles.)

 

Clearly more work to be done here...

 

Ernst

[Jim-St]

Hi Ernst

 

Did you try adjusting the White Balance in LR before you went into camera calibration? One of the main strengths of DNG/ raw files is they don't have WB baked-in by the camera's onboard computer, as jpegs do. So a good place to start is with WB settings. Either just try the presets in LR, or use the colour picker on a neutral grey area (or a black or a white, but only if their RGB values are in the range say 15>90%, to avoid clipped shadows or blown-out highlights). You can often give a real boost to colour rendition this way in DNG's, although the M8's AWB setting is pretty good imho.

 

As a general principle, in LR's Develop module you should work down from the top: so start with WB, and if you have LR4 or LR5, you'll find that the Shadows, Clarity and Vibrance controls can boost colour rendering and contrast and breathe new life into dull files.

 

I've just been looking at a couple of my old M8 files, and it confirms for me the usefulness of a camera calibration profile built in the X-Rite app I mentioned - results are generally far superior to either of the "Standard" renderings. And the big advantage is you can make a Develop Preset that you can apply at import, so the job is done when you see LR's rendering appear on your screen

 

Jim

[UliWer]

Apologies for this very basic question.

 

I've just become the owner of a very clean low actuation M8. I'll be using it primarily with my 35 pre asph Summilux.

 

Is there an M8 specific profile for DNG conversion in Lightroom or is there an external converter that is recommended? I'll be working primarily in B&W with some colour work.

 

...

 

The M8 came with a License for Capture One when you bought it new. They changed to Lightroom with the M9. You still can use Capture One for everything you need for converting your files (be it M8, M9 or other).

 

For B&W Capture One was better imho - until the last Version 5 of Lightroom which came out this week.

 

Capture One offers a tool to tune the original colours after conversion to B+W. So you get a very subtle possibility for tuning your grey-tones. Now Lightroom offers something similar in the last version. It seems to be quicker but perhaps not so subtle, though I didn't make any direct compariosns yet.

 

Also in many other respects Capture One has the edge over Lightroom - even if it produces a superfluous amount of different folders for Caches and Settings etc, which I don't like at all, and isn't always completely stabile on every computer system.