I use a Fujifilm X-T3, and LR’s RAW conversion has never been great for the X-Trans sensors. Recently Adobe added the Enhance Details function to LR which makes a huge difference for Fuji files - but is slow and creates a new DNG file.
I was wondering if my fellow Fuji shooters use the enhance details function on the scans and if it matters if it’s done pre- or post-NLP.
I haven’t tested this myself as I’m waiting for my first negatives to get back from the lab so I have nothing to scan. Super new to film shooting/scanning.
YES! For my Fuji XT-2, I feel like it makes a BIG difference. The grain resolves much more naturally (no more squiggles!) and even improves the color in details that was sometimes missing.
Here’s an example (blown up to 200%) I had posted to the private facebook group:
This is WITHOUT enhanced details:
Notice how the grain doesn’t look consistent… it almost looks like a close up of a painting with little brush strokes. This is especially noticeable in the eyes.
And here’s that same image but WITH enhanced details. Ahh! That’s better. No more paint brush strokes! The grain resolves very naturally. I can make out some eyelashes and eye detail that were lost in the original.
You can do it pre or post, but if you know you’re going to do it, it will save you a few steps to do it pre-NLP… Basically, as soon as I import a new batch, I’ll just convert all of them, delete the originals, and process the enhanced version.
BUT, if you want to do post-NLP, that’s fine too. Just note that when you make the enhanced version, even though it will have the same Lightroom settings as your original, it won’t have the special Negative Lab Pro metadata attached to it… so NLP won’t know that it is already converted, or what settings you had on it previously. You can sync those by using the “sync scene” feature to take all the metadata from the original and force it on to the enhanced version. Or you could reset the enhanced photo, and reconvert / edit from scratch.
