# Presets not working with Nikon D4S DNG files



## bennyisles (May 29, 2017)

Recently rented a D4S for a test drive. Loved it until I tried to use my usual VSCO B&W presets on the NEF converted to DNG files, first in Lightroom 4.4 (I know, dinosaur). Upgraded to CC and the same issue persists, just awful, light grey black and white preset end result when the D800 DNG files still come out great. What have I missed? Tearing my hair out. Cheers, Ben


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## Johan Elzenga (May 29, 2017)

Presets are just a bunch of settings. So look at the settings in the Develop module and see what they are, why they don't come out as expected and what you need to change to improve it.


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## bennyisles (May 29, 2017)

Thank you Johan, however I am already aware of that. I was hoping for a more informed answer, to my question. 
The settings have not been changed the only change has been the files uploaded from 4Ds not the D800. As a test I have taken a studio image using both cameras, same in camera settings. Following this I have even synced an edit from a DNG D800 file in develop mode with the uploaded 4Ds gallery and the 4Ds files have a different result still. 
I am interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this and if they found a fix.


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## Linwood Ferguson (May 29, 2017)

There are some things in presets that are not possible to apply to some cameras, for example if the preset contains camera profile data, and the target profile is not present on the system. But that said, it should not keep the rest of the preset from being applied.

I think what Johan is saying is -- it really ought to apply.  It's hard to give a more informed answer without some more symptoms to indicate what is going on.  

Can you tell if ANYTHING is being applied?   E.g. start with everything zeroed (use reset all), then apply the preset.  Does anything at all change?   Any sliders move? 

My GUESS is that it's being applied, but it has some setting(s) that are not working, or working differently than expected.  It may be necessary to look to see which settings work, and which do not, individually in the preset to see what is happening.  You can read the preset by opening in a text editor; it looks a bit arcane but if you stare at it a bit it will be fairly obvious.

You might also just remove a variable and apply to the NEF's, not DNG's (should not matter). 

I have a D800 and D4, and presets work fine; I've also taken images from a friends D4s frequently, and no issues, my same presets work there.  So this is not normal behavior.

One other thought: Are you applying them manually, or expecting them to default in some fashion?  Camera level defaults could play a role in what preset is applied.  But I assumed from the first message you were manually applying the preset? 

One other thought for experimentation: Apply to a D800 image, then sync that develop setting to the D4s setting -- what happens?   It should move all the same items over (check "ALl" when syncing), just as though the preset was applied.

Presets are just develop settings; if it isn't working, you should be able to tell (albeit tediously) which develop setting is not working -- all, one, etc.


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## clee01l (May 29, 2017)

Third party presets are developed for specific cameras and RAW presets don't work for JPEGs  and vice versa.  You can't expect a preset developed for a Nikon RAW image to produce the same results on a Canon RAW image.  Apparently these VSCO presets aren't tuned for the D4S.  Any preset generic enough to work for different camera brands are IMO to general to be useful.  This is why I eschew the use of any and all third party presets. They are not worth the money that you pay to get them.


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## bennyisles (May 29, 2017)

Thanks Ferguson, I'm waiting on VSCO to get back to me. I managed to find a few leads in various forums from 2 years ago with colour profile issues concerning the Nikon 4D and VSCO however nothing about the BW. I've had these since 2013 and made quiet a lot of personal adjustments in that time. I'm wondering if it's a camera profile compatibility thing and I've missed an update download. After spending more time playing I've managed to get close to my original editing look and just saved as 4Ds version for the future. It's a good bandaid for now. Cheers for the trouble shooting, it was worth seeing if someone might mention something I had overlooked.


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## Linwood Ferguson (May 29, 2017)

bennyisles said:


> Cheers for the trouble shooting, it was worth seeing if someone might mention something I had overlooked.



An consultant I know had the concept of a "Cardboard consultant".  He said most of his visits, the customers found their own path to a solution by just explaining the problem to him.  He was going to just have a cardboard cutout of himself made and use that, instead of travelling.

It always helps to just talk things through, even if the person you are talking to has no clue.  I'll always volunteer to be clueless.


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## Johan Elzenga (May 29, 2017)

What I was saying is that presets are just a bunch of settings, so they are not camera specific. The only thing that could be different is the chosen camera profile. Maybe the presets installer even installed a specific profile for the Nikon D800, which obviously isn't applied to the D4S because it isn't available for that camera. You can only find out by checking the settings and see what is different and what is not. So yes, that was my cardboard cutout giving you advice.


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