Lightroom settings

[IWC Doppel]

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I think it's well worthwhile watching the Luminous landscape video's if they are still around. an easy watch (Well easier, more interesting than adobe IMO)

 

My approach for what it's worth has settled on DNG and Jpg Fine set to B&W in camera, allowing me to choose between colour and B&W and I also quite like the M9 B&W jpg as a start/comparison.

 

I then have a few presets I like as a start then it's tweak with knowledge, I am usually happy enough after a minute or so, sometimes I also adjust in Silver Efex / Ven... as I like the starting film presets in B&W and the control points to deal with dark areas

 

There's lots you can do and everyone's process is different, the more you see what others do the more you can compare and contrast to your own process/settings

 

IMO from camera to happiness needs to be very quick. Then more time when you want to print or other

[sblutter]

For my serious work, I shoot for prints, not the web.  When I start on a file I print a test print that looks close.  Then I calibrate the monitor to the print and adjust, spot etc. from there.  Usually takes about 5 - 6 tests to get it perfect, then I print a large 'keeper' for exhibition and save that 'final' version, keeping the original intact in case of a change of mind.

 

There are so many variables (ambient light I'm working in, mood desired etc.) - there can be no one 'standard' preset.  On top of that - no 2 monitors are visually identical.

 

I can't even get my desktop and laptop to look alike in the same ambient light side by side working on the exact same file.

 

I use mostly Photoshop but also Capture One and Bridge.  Lightroom has been superceded IMHO, other than for quick websites.

[tredlie]

Hello,

 

I've just got an m9 and I love the shooting experience so far. I'm having some trouble with the files though. When I shot jpegs before I didn't like the colours but I find the dngs a bit flat. If I play with the settings in LR5 I can get some great results but a lot of playing or using some vsco presets. Are there any settings people apply to all photos that they find work well? For example on my Fuji I always drop the highlights by 50, up the vibrance etc; sharpening to 100 etc.

 

Any tips/tricks? I've done some googling but not much has come up so far.

 

Thanks

 

Rob

Rob

this is an ooold post but still..

I had posted something similar some time ago for the X2: flat images if exported straight out of LR.

While teh final version out the LR or the likes may indeed be a matter of taste, the initial version should be 

close to what Leica considers appropriate in their jpg "production". And that should be made 

available as Leica preset in LR (as is for instance in darktable). If we are using raws we want to go beyond 

camera jpg and not first waste time to get our images there and then improve upon that (my opinion).

 

But I have a question: were the camera jpg equally 'flat' as those that you would get straight out of LR?

 

greetings

 

Tred

[Robert M Poole]

Rob

this is an ooold post but still..

I had posted something similar some time ago for the X2: flat images if exported straight out of LR.

While teh final version out the LR or the likes may indeed be a matter of taste, the initial version should be

close to what Leica considers appropriate in their jpg "production". And that should be made

available as Leica preset in LR (as is for instance in darktable). If we are using raws we want to go beyond

camera jpg and not first waste time to get our images there and then improve upon that (my opinion).

 

But I have a question: were the camera jpg equally 'flat' as those that you would get straight out of LR?

 

greetings

 

Tred

I agree, it would be great if there was a way to automatically merge the JPEG and RAW whilst still keeping the flexibility of the RAW file. Fuji have profiles available on lightroom. As far as I'm aware these don't exist for Leica (do they?).

[Duane Pandorf]

I agree, it would be great if there was a way to automatically merge the JPEG and RAW whilst still keeping the flexibility of the RAW file. Fuji have profiles available on lightroom. As far as I'm aware these don't exist for Leica (do they?).

By default you have the camera's embedded profile and Adobe's for camera profiles in Lightroom. However, it's not that difficult to create your own presets to match the look you're after.

[tobey bilek]

I might slide the contrast a little...using older lenses affords me that control.  Might move black point. Modern digital can look a bit clinical, so I'm going backwards!.

A little noise is OK too in my books.  In camera settings are good on the M's...change contrast, sharpening, colour and light balance...all in camera.

 

I tend to just touch up JPG's; they come out pretty nicely.  But they can posterize in the skies if one uses too much processing.

 

cheers Dave S

 

JPEGS are 8 bit so graduations are a problem.  Use DNG or process in ACR which can be set to 16 bit.  Investigate if LR can be set to 16.   

 

I personally see no advantage to JPEG unless you will use what comes from the camera.  Consider shooting DNG + JPEG and use the DNG for images you decide to adjust and bin the rest.

[menos I M6]

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The OP question really is mostly related to the use of Lightroom - I have learned over the years most about Lightroom by trying and doing and VERY MUCH from Victoria Bampton:

http://www.lightroomqueen.com

 

And of course the Adobe tutorial videos by Julieanne Kost:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos

 

You can spend weeks learning from these two sites alone and trying to bring the knowledge into practice.

 

Now regarding the Leica M9 files:

I find with ANY digital file imported into Lightroom, I find I need very different basic settings for each different camera/ scanner and even different lenses.

 

The general rule for finding a basic setup in Lightroom is LESS IS MORE.

 

 

The rule for finding your basic setup for  a certain camera is to find the least common denominator.

- Make a Lightroom session with a huge variety of photographs, made with one single camera body under different lighting conditions, with different lenses, at different ISO levels, at different venues, etc …

(You can even just make a collection from such files - make sure you create virtual copies of these files when adding them to the collection, as you would otherwise change the development settings of the master files)

- Now reset all development settings of these diverse files.

- select all these files in the library view

- now with all files selected, go into the development module and start making changes to ONE SINGLE file of them only to your taste (work your way from top to bottom in the development pane)

- after each major change, press the sync button in the bottom (syncing the changes you made to all of the selected files)

- now look through the files and see if you can find any development changes that impacted any of the files in a negative way - if you find any, dial them down a bit and sync all files again after this

 

Repeat this step until you have found a GENERAL BASIC setup that works well for all of these diverse files.

 

Now you can select any of the files you just developed and create a new preset which you will dedicated to automatically load when you import files made with this specific camera body.

 

Work with this setup for a while and once you feel that a certain setting here or there needs above average tuning regularly, you can just tweak that single setting and implement it into your basic profile.

Over time you will tune these basic profiles and will have less and less development settings to fiddle with.

[Robert M Poole]

The OP question really is mostly related to the use of Lightroom - I have learned over the years most about Lightroom by trying and doing and VERY MUCH from Victoria Bampton:

http://www.lightroomqueen.com

 

And of course the Adobe tutorial videos by Julieanne Kost:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jkost/lightroom-training-videos

 

You can spend weeks learning from these two sites alone and trying to bring the knowledge into practice.

 

Now regarding the Leica M9 files:

I find with ANY digital file imported into Lightroom, I find I need very different basic settings for each different camera/ scanner and even different lenses.

 

The general rule for finding a basic setup in Lightroom is LESS IS MORE.

 

 

The rule for finding your basic setup for a certain camera is to find the least common denominator.

- Make a Lightroom session with a huge variety of photographs, made with one single camera body under different lighting conditions, with different lenses, at different ISO levels, at different venues, etc …

(You can even just make a collection from such files - make sure you create virtual copies of these files when adding them to the collection, as you would otherwise change the development settings of the master files)

- Now reset all development settings of these diverse files.

- select all these files in the library view

- now with all files selected, go into the development module and start making changes to ONE SINGLE file of them only to your taste (work your way from top to bottom in the development pane)

- after each major change, press the sync button in the bottom (syncing the changes you made to all of the selected files)

- now look through the files and see if you can find any development changes that impacted any of the files in a negative way - if you find any, dial them down a bit and sync all files again after this

 

Repeat this step until you have found a GENERAL BASIC setup that works well for all of these diverse files.

 

Now you can select any of the files you just developed and create a new preset which you will dedicated to automatically load when you import files made with this specific camera body.

 

Work with this setup for a while and once you feel that a certain setting here or there needs above average tuning regularly, you can just tweak that single setting and implement it into your basic profile.

Over time you will tune these basic profiles and will have less and less development settings to fiddle with.

That's really useful, I'll check out the videos and try the technique you suggested! I'm pretty much only using my m9 and 50mm 2.5 Summarit at the moment so it should be easy to create a sample of just these.

 

Most of my recent pictures are from my m9 other than a few old pictures I've reprocessed and the photos from Iceland where I wanted a wider focal length.

Www.Flickr.com/rmpoole

[Luke_Miller]

I have never been satisfied with the Lightroom profiles for any of my digital Ms.  They tend to accentuate the reds in skin tones and give some subjects an unnatural ruddy complexion. I have good luck creating my own profiles using the Adobe DNG Profile Editor.  I photograph an X-rite ColorChecker card under tungsten and daylight illumination and then use the wizard in the Profile Editor to create a much more accurate profile.  I can tweak that profile as needed to get just the colors I prefer.

 

Or I can just use Capture One.  I find their profiles to be much superior to Adobe's.

[wda]

Rob, arrived a little late but this is how I try to simplify my procedure. For each camera I select a fairly normal straight-forward image and select 'Zeroed' from the LR presets. Then I work down the righthand panel making only those adjustments I deem necessary. That includes Tone, Presence, Tone Curve, HSL, and Sharpening. Only make the adjustments absolutely essential in order to make the image match your initial feelings and memory of the actual shooting in camera. Avoid excessive adjustments. Back off if a slider has gone too far. Stick to Global adjustments only. Local adjustments will be image specific. When that is done, goto the Presets panel and click the + sign. Create a new preset name, such as 'M9 Starting'. Check mark on those boxes relevant to the above actions. Click CREATE.

 

Once you have created this initial preset,  it will be listed under User Presets. When you import files from that camera into LR, find APPLY DURING IMPORT on the rightside. Open Develop Settings and select your relevant preset. Continue importing.

 

When you start to process the pictures, you will have an acceptable starting point for every picture. With experience you can refine this preset, but initially it should be close barring gross exposure errors or WB errors. Even they can be corrected, to a degree.

 

Now is the time to concentrate on local adjustments for each individual picture. Hope that helps you.

[Robert M Poole]

Rob, arrived a little late but this is how I try to simplify my procedure. For each camera I select a fairly normal straight-forward image and select 'Zeroed' from the LR presets. Then I work down the righthand panel making only those adjustments I deem necessary. That includes Tone, Presence, Tone Curve, HSL, and Sharpening. Only make the adjustments absolutely essential in order to make the image match your initial feelings and memory of the actual shooting in camera. Avoid excessive adjustments. Back off if a slider has gone too far. Stick to Global adjustments only. Local adjustments will be image specific. When that is done, goto the Presets panel and click the + sign. Create a new preset name, such as 'M9 Starting'. Check mark on those boxes relevant to the above actions. Click CREATE.

 

Once you have created this initial preset, it will be listed under User Presets. When you import files from that camera into LR, find APPLY DURING IMPORT on the rightside. Open Develop Settings and select your relevant preset. Continue importing.

 

When you start to process the pictures, you will have an acceptable starting point for every picture. With experience you can refine this preset, but initially it should be close barring gross exposure errors or WB errors. Even they can be corrected, to a degree.

 

Now is the time to concentrate on local adjustments for each individual picture. Hope that helps you.

That's great thanks!

[tobey bilek]

The best improvement for any digital file is to reduce contrast with the contrast slider about half way or less to full flat,  then put contrast back in with a contrast curve.    This gets you midtone contrast without blowing highlights or crushing shadows.   It is a more film like effect.

 

A small amount of clarity is also nice as is an equal amount of vibrance.

 

All digital files require some sharpening.  They are unsharp by nature.  Use masking and detail sliders, image at 100%, hold down command or alt key to see what is happening in monochrome.