Lightroom Raw process 2003 v 2012

[Wayland]

Following on from the thread "anatomising" my Morte Hoe shot I thought I would see what difference running the image through the new "Process 2012" Raw converter in Lightroom would make.

Here Once again is the original file with some noise reduction and mild input sharpening as applied by default.



For comparison here is the old process 2003 conversion.



And the new process 2012 output.



Now we have the old finished result.



And the new finished result.



I'm not sure yet about the new version. I may have overcooked it a bit but I can tell that there is a lot more juice in the file and the lens aberrations are much better controlled.

There was some colour fringing on the edge of the rocks that was a swine to deal with in the original but hardly present at all in the new file.

[Colin Southern]

My biggest issue with it is that it appears to add in a truckload of fill light by default. I've had a quick play with it, but have to say, I'm "uneasy" about it so far.

[Wayland]

It would appear that process 2012 was designed to integrate with HDR files but maps LDR files in a similar way.

Like you, I have my reservations.

Intriguingly I find it handles the files from my 6D far better than files from my 5D

I first got to grips with RAW conversion after reading Bruce Fraser's excellent book on the topic. I really miss his clarity amongst the writers that discuss the new process. Nobody seems to have nailed the workflow in the same way for me somehow.

I do feel a bit like an experimental chimpanzee moving the sliders around on the new converter at times.

It would be interesting to hear how people tackle the new controls. I used to go straight for the black and white points on the old process but that doesn't seem to be the best start point on "2012"

I've tried various workflows but haven't found a reliable, intuitive method yet.

[Glenn NK]

The major improvement that I've found of 2012 over 2003 is that I can recover shadow detail that could not be recovered before.

This does not mean that one should always bring up the shadows or lighten them as much as it is possible, but the ability to do so is there if required or if it suits the aesthetic requirements of the image.

Glenn

[Wayland]

It's noticeable how much better the "Clarity" slider works as well.

The old one used to leave you with horrible halos that didn't show up until further down the editing line.

The new process seems much better so far.