Originally Posted by
DanK
I don't understand these sorts of comparisons. Given a particular image and picture style, an in-camera jpeg has specific characteristics, for example, a certain degree of sharpness, which is determined by the firmware's fixed processing algorithms. An image that is postprocessed from a raw file, regardless of the software, dimply doesn't have these fixed characteristics. The depth of the blacks, the amount of sharpening, the color balance, etc. etc. are whatever you choose to make them. The initial rendering by the postprocessing software isn't relevant; it's just an arbitrary starting point.
As Manfred's comment suggests, raw processors typically start by adding no contrast, either no sharpening or only a small amount of capture sharpening, no noise reduction, etc. That's by design: the user can add it these things as desired. If a photographer finds that an in-camera jpeg looks better than his or her edited raw capture, the issue is the photographer's postprocessing, not raw vs. JPEG.