Raw-DNG troubles

[shutterbug]

Hello!

I have a few problems with RAW to DNG;

1. the DNG outputs are exactly 1/2 stop darker than the original files. This happens regardless of whether "Adjust Brightness" is enabled or not. The RAW images have a perfectly consistent brightness, still the DNG is definitely darker. I tried changing settings in the Raw development settings

but

2. Raw development settings seem to be bugged as well. I've changed the RAW codec, closed the window and now I can't open it again and the application is very sluggish. Closing and reopening does not help, neither does deleting the "Helicon" folder in user/library/Application Support/.

Is there a way to reset Helicon Focus in MacOS? I've found some info for how to to it on Windows but I'm on MacOS and haven't been able to find the shortcuts.
Which RAW renderer/codec is recommended?

thanks in advance!!

[Catherine]

Hello,

Helicon Focus should not alter the exposure of your images, most likely it's the Adobe DNG converter doing that. You can verify by opening the Adobe DNG converter manually, converting your raw file and inspecting the resulting DNG file in different programs.

We haven't heard about simply changing the codec causing such a problem, it's puzzling, but you can reset the settings by opening the Preferences dialog and pressing Cmd + Alt + Shift + W.

We recommend using the Adobe DNG converter (which is the default).

[shutterbug]

Thank you so much for the shortcut!! that worked like a charm!

You're absolutely right, it seems that it's actually the camera manufacturer who's at fault as they intentionally underexpose the image to preserve highlights - and that gets compensated later on in the RAW editor but the Adobe DNG converter doesn't seem to add that data to the DNG during conversion.

[Catherine]

That's unfortunate. I wonder if there's a way to bring this issue up with Adobe. At the very least, they have active forums where it can be discussed with other knowledgeable users.