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Anyone having trouble with Nikon D800 RAW files in LR4?

Apr 2, 2012 2:55 PM

I am getting really bad results processing Nikon D800 files in LR4. Noise and CA are prevalent even at very low ISO and the images just aren't sharp. I thought due to the high resolution of this camera that the files may need a little more sharpening, but when I do that the noise gets out of control. I thought it was a camera issue and contacted Nikon. They basically wouldn't even talk to me unless I was using their Capture NX software so I downloaded it and ran comparisons. The difference was like night and day - the files looked great in Capture NX. I have run all my previous Nikon cameras, D200, D300, D2X, D700 through LR up to version 3 and have had no issues till this new camera. I really don't want to shift my workflow over to Nikons software at this point. I realize LR 4 and compatibility for the new D800 hit at the same time and am just hoping they have not had enough time to work on this particular camera suppport but am wondering what others with the D800 are seeing.

 
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  • Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 2, 2012 8:34 PM   in reply to wmp_slc

    nikon need to pull their head out of their bottom.  You cant dictate to a professional what software to use. Its not realistics and its arrogant.

     

    Sorry I'm no help. but commiserations (I will say that my first results with the 7d were horrible until an update was released)

     
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    Apr 4, 2012 1:23 AM   in reply to wmp_slc

    I played with a studio shot from Imaging Resource and it looked perfectly fine. Samples at dpreview look good too (and the do use ACR, afaik).

     

    What are your sharpening and NR settings?

     
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    Apr 12, 2012 4:36 PM   in reply to wmp_slc

    It is a matter of preference which rendition is better!

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 12:06 AM   in reply to wmp_slc

    These seem equally sharp to me.

     

    That said, the NX version has more sharpening applied and also has darker shadows, which gives higher contrast and more perceived sharpness as a result.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 1:46 AM   in reply to wmp_slc

    I'm unable to download Nikon D800 pictures onto LR4 too ...  I've seen hints that Adobe is preparing a fix but nothing definite.  The D800 is one of the world's top performing cameras and this is very disappointing.  It would be reassuring if folk at Adobe could spare a moment to respond directly to these concerns.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 1:53 AM   in reply to R Geoffrey

    Also one of the newest. As you can see above people are using Lightroo for their D800 files so you can too!

    R Geoffrey wrote:

     

    I'm unable to download Nikon D800 pictures onto LR4 too ...  I've seen hints that Adobe is preparing a fix but nothing definite.  The D800 is one of the world's top performing cameras and this is very disappointing.  It would be reassuring if folk at Adobe could spare a moment to respond directly to these concerns.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 1:55 AM   in reply to wmp_slc

    It looks as if Nikon have their equivalent of Clarity turned up. Have you tried some Clarity in Lr? I see the Lr file as being a little soft and the NX file as over sharp. Somewhere between would be good!!

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 5:30 AM   in reply to Geoff the kiwi

    Yes, I can see from the messages above that "some" people are can download Nikon D800 files onto Lightoon 4.

     

    However, not "everyone".  In my case, my attempts to download are greeted with a message that LR4 does not recognise the D800 files. It is possible, I wonder, the Nikon video files or the Nikon live view files are causing this non-recognition by LR4.

     

    In my experience Nikon Capture NX2 is not an option.  It is "clunky" by comparison with LR2 and amazingly does not cater for video files created by Nikon camers.

     

    Again, I ask if someone at Adobe can spare a moment to respond to these concerns.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 6:49 AM   in reply to R Geoffrey

    Currently, Lr 4.0 does not read D800 NEF files when shot in the Live View Video Mode.  This will be fixed.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 10:52 AM   in reply to wmp_slc

    That depends on what you're comparing.  If you're looking at the per-pixel level (e.g., 100%), sure the images from the D800 may appear to be more sensitive to sharpening -- that's because each pixel is physically smaller (compared to the D700) and thus has correspondingly higher noise level.  Sharpening in Lightroom works at the pixel level, so it is expected that you'll need to be more careful with applying Masking and luminance noise reduction with the higher-res D800 files.

     
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    Apr 13, 2012 3:01 PM   in reply to wmp_slc

    wmp_slc wrote:

     

    The settings in LR 4.i are 40, 0.8 and 35 (detail)

     

    What level of masking are you using?  If your masking is too low, then it might explain why noise is being sharpened (and, thus, introducing even more noise).  Not sure if you mentioned the masking setting yet, but I didn't see anything about it while browsing the thread.

     
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