My workflow...need opinions.

[Visual Reality]

With my new D80 I have started new again. The process of working on my images has completely changed now that I am shooting in .NEF format. Tell me if this is how you guys handle yours.

1. I plug in the camera and let the autoplay come up. I select "Download Images using Adobe Bridge CS3".

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/WorkflowDNG1.jpg

2. Next the Adobe Bridge CS3 Photo Downloader appears. I use "Convert to DNG" and click Get Photos.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/WorkflowDNG2.jpg

3. The images are converted and loaded into Bridge.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/WorkflowDNG3.jpg

4. Camera Raw appears.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/WorkflowDNG4.jpg

This is as far as I have gotten. I will continue to read up on Camera Raw and learn more as I go.

So how do you handle your raw files?

[Paradox]

I import from the camera in lightroom, select ones I want to process, pre-process in lightroom, finish them off in CS2, save 3 copies of varying sizes for internet and website use, and upload. ;)

[Visual Reality]

I was just told that Photoshop will mess up the color...I am going to try Capture NX after work and compare the two.

[WestCoast]

I'm not sure how PS messes up the color. However, the way that your photos look on the Web is often dependent on which color space you use when you convert from RAW to a more compressed format (such as JPEG). If you save in ProPhoto RGB or Adobe 98, your work may appear darker as viewed on a web site. Most browsers are equipped to use sRGB color space. Save in this format if you're going to post them to a web site.

[Visual Reality]

Today I tested a .nef file opened in Capture NX, against the same file converted to .dng to be opened in Photoshop.

I saved both of them in 100% JPEG to compare what would be called an "end result", or a picture that would be viewed by others.

They were not the same. I believe the photo from Capture NX came out looking more "natural" and something wasn't right with the Photoshop .dng converted file. It was brighter but it wasn't just "brightness", it's hard to explain. The shadows weren't as good either and the skin tone was slightly warmer.

So how do you manage your .nef's? Do you open in Capture NX and save as a TIFF? I still want to work in Photoshop.

[Visual Reality]

After further studying, it seems my original description was a bit off.

Here are two sample crops, both saved with 100% quality:

Capture NX .nef -> .jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/_DSC0244.jpg

Photoshop CS3 .nef -> .dng -> .jpg
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/_DSC0244_1.jpg

There seems to be a bit more highlight clipping in the Photoshop output. I also noticed that before I save to jpeg, the image in Capture NX looks better than any of these saved files, it has the best color by far. Something about the way that program is handling the .nef files gives better results, but it doesn't seem to stay with the file outside of the program.

I was able to cheat using Print Screen to copy my .nef image from Capture NX and pasting into Photoshop so you can see the difference.
http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k245/BlackHawk2k6/Misc/_DSC0244_2.jpg

It isn't the "Nikon Adobe RGB" color space - I converted to my Spyder2Express profile and the picture and the histogram show the two are nearly identical. Says something about my calibration :) Some of the other color profiles were noticeably different though...anyway sticking with the default as that's ruled out (I use my Spyder2Express profile in Photoshop).

So my question becomes...what does everyone else do? I want to use Photoshop's RAW editor, pictured above, but then I have to convert to .dng...which would be fine with me if the output was the same, but it isn't. Now keep in mind this is a straight conversion with no tweaks to the image - I am unsure if with tweaking, I could make the images nearly the same. Maybe someone can chime in about this.

Either way, Photoshop's output is inferior...it seems saving from Capture NX to TIFF is the best option, but I still lose the opportunity to use Adobe's RAW editor.

[Visual Reality]

I came across this converter which may help some people but I'd love if it could convert to another RAW format.

http://www.reasoft.com/rea-nef-convert.shtml

[Visual Reality]

I'm thinking this is actually a color profile issue, I may have it worked out soon.

I also found that .nef's will open in CS3 natively, but the image appears the same as .dng so I can rule out the conversion as the cause.

[Visual Reality]

After confusing everyone here, I have figured it out.

Any settings such as Sharpening, Color, Contrast, and Saturation that are set in-camera, will load and show in Capture NX. They do not show in Photoshop or any other program.

My thinking on this is that the settings are set like "tags" that are read by Nikon's software. They ride along with the file, but do not actually alter the picture. That is why Nikon's software sees these "tags" and adjusts the picture inside the application. Photoshop and others will just load the photo as-is ignoring your in-camera settings. After playing with many test shots tonight I got the two looking pretty close and that is how I came to this conclusion.

It wasn't a total waste of a day though, I did learn more about color space than I did before, and that Adobe RGB (what I shot in yesterday) is not the right choice despite what Nikon tells me.

So from now on it's just straight shooting in sRGB mode, loading the NEF into Bridge/Photoshop and using Adobe Camera Raw.

Hopefully someone will find this one day and not have to spend all day sorting it out like I did.

[Visual Reality]

Addendum to the thread. After much playing and tweaking last night, I have futher confirmed that no matter what settings are used in the camera, the output from Adobe Camera RAW remains the same. Only the image in Nikon Capture NX changes with the camera settings.

The image in Adobe looks more natural, or true to life. Nikon's version of the image looks much too saturated, and the colors aren't right. That example that I posted is an exception, and I'm sure I could even better that look with some adjustments. The shots I took around the house of colorful items helped me calibrate the settings on my camera so that it looks very close to what I will see when I upload them to the computer, which is another issue I had. Due to camera settings, what I was seeing on the camera's LCD looked different than the image on my computer. Now my images are constant from start to finish, which helps me better judge my pictures when I am out shooting. Looks like I have no use for Capture NX.

I ended up with:

Image Sharpening: None
Tone Compensation: Auto
Color Mode: Ia (sRGB)
Saturation: (0) Normal
Hue Adjustment: 0