The EXIF values that you see only reflect the settings that would be applied if a JPEG is produced from your RAW file. If it did, it would cease to be a RAW image. A RAW file from your camera will not have any WB applied to the values recorded by the sensor. You can safely ignore the numeric discrepancy.Īlso you might note that setting the WB in the camera only affects the in camera processing which applies only to JPEG files produced by the camera. Because the camera makers do not share the details of their raw files, Adobe created their own, and they differ slightly from the camera's. The white balance is not recorded in the raw file as degrees kelvin - it is recorded as coordinates in a color profile, which is then translated back to degrees by Lightroom using its own color profile. Now, it’s your turn to fire up Lightroom and go through each camera matching profile to see how each affects your images.This is normal. Standard – more saturation and contrast vs.
Portrait – designed for pleasing skin tones. Neutral – built on the flat profile and has a bit of saturation and contrast. For my Nikon, it has the most vibrant saturation and strongest contrast. Landscape – saturation is more vibrant, and contrast is bold. It’s the closest to “raw” you can get and gives you the most creative control. This is similar to Adobe’s Neutral profile. Depending on your camera, the matching profiles might be similar to these…įlat – minimal saturation and contrast. The color options have been named based on possible uses. Since your camera manufacturer has profiles too, this should be one of your first selections.īut, the question is which one should you choose?įor my Nikon Z6, there are 11 profiles to choose from! 6 color and 5 monochromes.
When it comes to editing, I believe that editing starts in-camera and not in Lightroom! Oh, and if you were or are a film photographer, you use profiles too! More on that coming up soon. …this article is going to de-mystify Lightroom and camera profiles, so you know which one to use for YOUR images. To make matters more confusing, your camera manufacturer has more profiles to choose from! No worries… Based on the profile, it applies a certain amount of contrast, color saturation, and tonal adjustments.Īdobe has its own set of profiles for Lightroom and ACR.
Think of profiles as a starting point for your editing.
The difference between the two is you can change the edits applied via presets but not with profiles. Both profiles and presets are non-destructive too.
They both have editing information saved to it and will adjust your images based on those edit settings. In a way, profiles are like Lightroom presets. That interpretation was created by someone that says the colors of your RAW image should look like “x,” and it should have an “x” amount of contrast. In Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR), a profile is used to interpret your RAW file into the colors and tones that you see. There are color profiles, working profiles, printer profiles, and many more. In photography and digital imaging, the term “profile” means many different things.