LR issues with NRW files

Richardflack

Ive seen a number of old (> 1 year mostly 2 or 3 years ago) comments about LR being inferior to (Capture) NX2 in certain areas, specifically noise reduction and skin tones.
Can anybody say how LR5 stacks up in that regard?

Golf007sd

I have been very happy with the most current version of LR. If you shoot in RAW (NEF), addressing the skin tones will not be an issue during your post processing.

spraynpray

Ive seen a number of old (> 1 year mostly 2 or 3 years ago) comments about LR being inferior to (Capture) NX2 in certain areas, specifically noise reduction and skin tones.
Can anybody say how LR5 stacks up in that regard?

Slightly bizarre question really Richard - if you are shooting raw, you will usually need to adjust the skin anyway parameters so where the colours start is not really so important.

Bokeh_Hunter

LR is great and has been for since the 2nd version came out. Whoever made the comment about it being inferior to NR and skin tones had no clue what they were talking about.

NX2 is a different program than LR and doesn't replace it, but complements it. LR is a catalogue 1st, that can do "darkroom" type changes. That said, 90% of my paid work is done in LR. It is invaluable to me.

spraynpray

+1 Me too.

Richardflack

To all ... many thanks, I think this is helping me get a comfort level with LR.

Ive started the trial and based on a VERY limited sample so far of "good" photos (exposure & focus wise) Id say that at first glance there is no difference in the on-screen rendering of the RAW files. (Havent tried printing yet!)

At 'second glance' Id say the colour balance, skin tones etc is pretty good. What I do seem to notice is that the View-NX2 version looks fractionally 'sharper' (fine details are a bit crisper), is that plausible or am I seeing things? Not sure if that's something one can adjust for (as opposed to shadows highlights etc).

Also the LR version is maybe a shade brighter at least in the shadows. Not sure which is 'right'! Maybe I prefer LR in this regard. ( But I assume that can be adjusted in LR (still working thru tutorials, I do know how to do it in VNX2).

And yes, overall, Im really interested in the cataloguing aspects of LR; also the ('book' and 'web' features)

Msmoto

Having used only Lightroom and Aperture, I cannot compare anything else. But, I think I have no complaints as to how LR 5.6 and the previous iterations have supplied me with all the tools i can handle and more.

For examples of how I post process, see the images on Flickr:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/

Bokeh_Hunter

At 'second glance' Id say the colour balance, skin tones etc is pretty good. What I do seem to notice is that the View-NX2 version looks fractionally 'sharper' (fine details are a bit crisper), is that plausible or am I seeing things? Not sure if that's something one can adjust for (as opposed to shadows highlights etc).

I would just forget that you ever heard anything about color balance, skin tones and whatever else you saw on LR. To be honest, LR is a lot more color accurate (in application of color) than NX2. Now in regards to "pleasing color," that is just an artists personal choice.

Realize that NX2 is Nikon's bundled software and they have made it react to files in "their" or "the Nikon" way. There is nothing right or wrong with that, it is just the color shades or hues they want, sharpening, and other settings that they feel are the best. It also will take into account when processing raw files what your picture controol settings are set to in the camera. In contrast LR utilizes Adobe's defaults for cameras and attempts to read the embedded camera settings that are saved in the file. LR's color hues are close to NX2 but not quite spot on. Depending on how you set LR up, you can ignore these, or have LR apply corresponding profile settings. It takes a bit of reading to get it right (I don't think I have ever read enough) but it will get you very close. Adobe takes a default stance not to "over apply" anything when you import. NX2 on the other hand applies everything, and leaves it to you to set it back if you want assuming the controls you set in the camera is what you want on the output file.

I use to use NX2 a lot but haven't much for a couple of years now. I like it for a lot of reason's but LR with the catalogue, it just makes things much simpler and hundreds of times quicker to use. I'll have 400 exposures from a session and to sort and dump, pick, edit, etc, LR cuts the time ten fold. That said, I have used it a few times if some colors went awry.

spraynpray

There are much, much bigger differences in colour and sharpness out there lens-to-lens than there are between NX" and LR5 so what are you going to do?

Frankly, the sooner you build your own knowledge base and stop listening to strangers, the better you will find Lightroom to be in reality. You are shooting raw - make a preset and apply it on import if you still have a colour preference (plenty of tutorials around for this - it's easy).

[Deleted User]

Here a LR user from version 1.0 till now. It is amazing to see a D70 shot in the LR 5.6 version. It is less PS for me. The Database system LR uses is great, when you have to find a photo quick out of 70.000.