Hi,
I am considering using NLP for converting camera scans from my color and b/w negs.
I usually use Capture One for editing, but I have an “old” LR6 license, which I tend to use just for converting with NLP. Unfortunately my digital cameras are not supported by LR6 and I thought of converting the RAW files to DNG prior to importing in LR (as Nate suggested here).
Does this make any sense at all? Does this workflow promise to produce satisfying results?
What are the settings in NLP: do I have to set the source to digital camera or maybe Vuescan DNG?
I searched this forum and the net for any clues, but couldn’t find any.
Maybe it is just a completely stupid idea 
Many thanks
Karsten
Hi Karsten, welcome to the forum.
The easiest way to find out if it works in the first place, is to simply try it.
Does it make sense? Only you will be able to tell. Some considerations/alternatives might help find your decision. Here’s a selection, simply add your criteria think things through before investing 
and 
.
- Get an alternative raw developer with built-in conversion (RawTherapee, maybe others)
- Convert manually in Capture One or Lr (can be done more or less easily, but is slower than NLP)
- Get an Adobe subscription including timely support for new cameras (check if yours is supported)
- Other
Alternative developers
I’ve tried RawTherapee with its early conversion support. RT is open source and feels rough around the edges and I was not really getting on with it very well. Check it out here.
Manual conversion
Easy for black&white. Needs some getting used to and takes some time and exercise to master with colour negatives. Results can get quite good and can be attained with reasonable effort with newer film emulsions, older stuff can be hard to convert. Make a few presets for initial conversions.
Adobe subscription
Who likes these? Some do - because subscriptions provide some of mind (+) with a premium (-)
NLP provides comfortable conversions with fairly good results, nevertheless, I have colour negatives that take a lot of fiddling with NLP, in spite of all the magic it has built-In. I’m looking forward to the new release that should be available soon.
Manual can get you something like this:
Conversion from Kodacolor negative film that sat in a car for a few months in 1987 during an Australian summer before finally getting developed. Check out the tone curves.
Thank you for your suggestions, Digitizer!
Honestly, I don’t like editing very much, so I hoped for NLP to give reasonable results with minimal effort.
I will test it with DNG’s and different settings. If I can get good conversions, I will share my experience here.
I will surely give RawTherapee and its Film Negative tool a try. Thanks for the tipp!
Karsten
