Imported jpegs have exposure +4

[DavePinMinn]

PC, Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit.

I rummaged around in here and found a couple topics from several YEARS ago about imported images coming in eith the exposure set to +4.

When I import the images for a focus stack, they're jpegs.  Lightroom is setting the exposure to +4.  I have NO import presets, NO develop settings, and NO metadata being applied during the import.  I"m not renaming anything or doing anything other than importing.......

Since my folders are usually a combination of NIkon RAW images, tifs and jpegs, I do the import as a "Copy to DNG", which I presume won't to do anything to any image other than a RAW.

I just updated to 2015.12 to make sure it wasn't something fixed in the new version.

What's going on?

[AxelMatt · Accepted solution]

Have you tried to reset the lightroom settings to the defaults?

Axel

[DavePinMinn]

I haven't - I didn't even think of that since the problem is on imports...  I'll give that a try and see if it works.

Thanks.

[DavePinMinn]

OK, a few months have gone by, some Lightroom updates, and it's STILL doing the same thing.  Not all the time, not EVERY jpeg, and I THINK it may not be ONLY during IMPORTS...

Yesterday, I opened a folder and brought up some images in the Library, and suddenly 3 or 4 of probably 10 jpegs in the images I was viewing went totally white.  Switch to Develop and Exposure, which has NEVER been set (neither has any other setting on the jpeg) is +4.

I've reset Lightroom.  I've updated Lightroom.  I've verified that I don't have anything I KNOW of that's set to shove the exposure up to +4...

[ssprengel]

One way this could happen is if you had accidentally set the LR defaults to include an Exposure +4.

Setting the LR Defaults involves changing the settings on the current photo to be what you want for the defaults to be pressing the Alt or Opt key and clicking the Set Default... button that the Reset button has turned into once the Alt/Opt is pressed:

Once that button is clicked you get a choice to set the LR Defaults to the current settings or reset the LR Defaults back to whatever Adobe has them set to:

In your case, especially if you haven't purposely set the defaults for JPGs, then select one of these JPGs as the current photo, then click Restore Adobe Default Settings and then click the Reset button in LR and see if the JPG goes back to a Exposure +0.

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Whenever you import new photos, ones that haven't been touched by LR or Photoshop/Camera-RAW, yet, LR will make the initial settings whatever the LR Defaults are set to for that camera.

LR Defaults can be saved differently by camera model and by RAW vs JPG and you can have them set per camera serial number if that preference is enabled.

You can see what JPGs are Exp +4, know whether they have had any prior editor done to them, and probably have some sense of what camera (or not if from the internet) they are from so might be able to determine if LR Defaults have anything to do with what you're seeing.

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Having Auto Tone set in the LR Import defaults can also cause unexpected variations in photos, but probably wouldn't set the Exposure to +4 or +0 without many other settings in between.

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There could also be a bug, although I don't recall seeing people complain about Exposure +4 on their photos so there must be some very specific set of conditions required for the bug to happen.

[DavePinMinn]

Thanks, I THINK that got it...  It also explains why I kept saying "it's only SOME of the jpegs"......  I must have done something to the default for one of the three cameras 'cause once I RESET the exposure on the right camera, when I display the jpegs in the grive view, I can see them come up as totally white, then change back to "normal".......

Yet ANOTHER stupid human trick (I think)...