MRPin1963 wrote:
Thanks for the tip; I'm kicking myself for overlooking this one.
I've tried it and it does help, but not as much as I expected. Maybe I'm just too focused on sharpness, but the difference between monitor outputs in both Capture NX-D and ACR is, indeed, noticeable.
It is obvious that the sharpness data are contained in the NEF file, but, for some reason, ACR does not access them. I tried the latest NEF codec from Nikon, to no avail, so I'm still stumped.
So far, the only thing that works is taking all the ACR sharpness adjustments (amount, radius and detail) almost to the max, which I fear my compromise overall image quality a bit. Maybe it all comes down to whether one likes a slightly blurry image better than a slightly noisy one, or vice versa.
You shouldn't have to use max settings in the Details panel, that would produce an awful result. I've never used more than about 50 strength, and usually use radius between 0.5 and 1.8, and detail between 15 and 30.
How are you judging sharpness? Is it the preview in Camera Raw, Bridge, or the resulting conversion in Photoshop?
Are you using a zoom of 100% in Camera Raw (or one of the pre-set alternatives, like 66.7% or 200%), where sharpness is conveyed best? Do you have preference set to apply sharpening to 'all images'?
Just to check: have you reset workplace settings to default (all unchecked)? Have you tried resetting Camera Raw defaults? Do you have details masking set to zero?
The Nikon NEF codec only applies to Windows applications which use it, like Photo Viewer. It's irrelevant to Adobe software.
I would argue that in-camera sharpness settings aren't considered important in a Raw workflow, and are best ignored by Raw converters. It's basically a proprietary instruction for the camera's image processor (or manufacturer's software application) set before capture. The idea behind Raw processing is to make these decisions after capture.
The significance here is that it affects the sharpness of the NEF's embedded image preview. If you have in-camera sharpness set to 'high', it will influence the appearance of both the embedded preview and the default rendering in View/CaptureNX. Maybe this is why you think Adobe's rendering is too soft?
I tend to use a higher sharpening default than Adobe's. But, as said before, I would never go above 40-50.