Lightroom, RAW and Maxxum 5D

[Argonaut]

I just saw a post on the alpha board about LR settings for RAW - does anyone have experience with LR, RAW, and the antique but still excellent Maxxum 5D?

TIA

[Dr. Harout]

Would you be more specific please?
If you're shooting RAW then LR or ACR are maybe the best to process.
Settings depend from the specific situation you're shooting, from the ISO setting and much more, even the lens counts.
And welcome to the forum.

[Argonaut]

More specific. Well, I can deal with the lenses, so let's leave that out. I am interested in the settings that concern RAW imports to LR from a 5D. WB Auto. Natural light. Contrast, color saturation and sharpness all at zero (the default). Let's also limit the ISO to 400 or below.

I have to say I am not upset with the RAW conversions I've been getting without customizing the profile. Perhaps no changes are needed, but I don't know. If any customization would speed up the workflow or make for better results, I'd love to hear about them.

[Dr. Harout]

Before installing the firmware 4.0 on my A700, I used to shoot with "Vivid" setting. After the new firmware I changed the settings on my camera to "Standard", without altering the changes in LR/ACR 4.6.
In those RAW processors I always leave the "Clarity" at +8, "Vibrance" at +20, "Saturation" at +2, Recovery is always set to a minimum of 17, Contrast is set to high levels, at least 60, Brightness is set to 0 and so is exposure. Sharpness (Details) is set to "Default", and if I have to sharpen a bit, I do it in Photoshop.
But, as I said, parameters differ from lens to lens. E.g., I use most the 50/2.8 macro and 16-105, thus parameters differ greatly (for example, in the latter I have to use an exposure setting of -0.15 and brightness to +30 or so, or exposure +0.30 and brightness 0.
Unfortunately there aren't saving systems for different lenses (or there might be, which I'm not aware ).
One more point, I am still learning, so would be glad to hear about corrections.

[bfitzgerald]

I use LR.

Overall, I think it's the only piece of adobe software, that really grabs me..PS is not needed for me. I think it is very useful workflow wise, though I don't really delve into the deeper stuff, bar the adjustments..

Works well for the 5d, my few pet peeves are:
ACR applies some base level NR to RAW files, I think other software packages do a better job in some cases
Nothing at all distortion wise, or perspective, is a BIG downer for me..and I am puzzled as to why adobe have cotton in their ears, at the least some basic barrel/pincushion is needed, even a manual slider. Also rather handy for film scans too..being non destructive, is a nice way to work. (LR 2 increased the max file sizes over LR, aka dimension wise)

Aside from that, it's a very good program, some nice pre-sets..and well worth the ask IMO