Hi All,
Trying to fine tune a few things here.
I always have my “Distortion” section turned on in PhotoLab so that the module and DxO can apply their smarts to fixing my images. That said, Nikon has an option (in the Photo Shooting Menu) called “Auto distortion control”.
Is it ideal to let Nikon do it’s own distortion fixes in addition to letting DxO do their thing, or should I shut that off on my camera?
Thanks!
Very interesting question ! I have a Nikon too but I never thought about this question.
Are you shooting jpeg or NEF files? I’m not a Nikon shooter but I’m pretty confident that your in-camera distortion setting only works with jpegs and has no effect at all on NEF files. It should be easy enough for you to test. Shoot raw and jpeg with the distortion setting turned on and view both in post. Of course you need to turn off distortion correction in Photolab before comparing the images.
Hey Mark, I think you are right! Only affects JPG files.
I think that vignette control is the same… I wonder if High ISO NR is the same way… Googling…
Only things that effect a rawfile (NEF in Nikon) are things which are effecting exposure like auto Intelligent Dynamic range, which often lowers exposure in three steps to 1 stop and change the contrast curve of the Jpeg to fit a larger DR in the image. (it underexpose so to speak) So this effecs also your rawfile’s exposure. I use Panasonics idyn. in auto mode to got some extra room in the bright things, (it helps to lower exposure bij 3 steps to 1 stop if it detect highlights/shadows max DR. (blown white is gone but shadows can be resolved with DxO) Handy help. 
Sometimes a AWB correction is also visible. (if you do a +2 amber its warms up the raw’s AWB)
Sometimes a camera setting can be read out like i resolution or color presets like vivid. So the raw developers application follows those cameramenu settings when you choose the camera body in the select list. (Don’t know if DxO does this don’t have a body in that generic list to test)
I submitted a similar question to DxO’s (very helpful) support team - with the answer being that we’re best to turn OFF any lens and/or distortion corrections in the camera’s settings.
Regards, John M
Why would it make any difference if those settings are not applicable to raw files?
Mark
maybe if you proces jpegs out of the camera?
Yes, for jpegs, but not if you are shooting raw.
Mark
The OP doesn’t state in its first post if he’s using only raw or Jpeg for processing So he could be using both.
Then it’s according to DxO support:
)The only JPEG processing i would be doing is the one’s from scenery menu which add things in the image that isn’t in the rawfile. Stars in candles, one color and B&W, panorama, that kind of stuff.
Peter
Hi Peter and everyone!
Yeah, I only shoot RAW, so this “problem” isn’t really one for me…
I also rarely edit jpegs other than as a favor to others (which happens more frequently than I like), or when I don’t have a raw file of the original.
Mark
I use Panasonic camera (m4/3 system), it means that information about distortions are saved in the RAW file. Lightroom uses such data for correction instead of its own. The same is true for some other RAW editors. Unlike this solution, DxO uses its own data (probably completely ignoring those from the RAW file) and in my opinion DxO corrections are more accurate.
it saves not only that, also some menu settings which is for Ooc Jpeg purposes.
And i think, as i remember wel, that rawfile distortion information does work only with panasonic lenses. Oly or others doesn’t. ( the full coupling isn’t there.)
I don’t own Oly’s only Panasonic’s so can’t test this theory.
think so too.
As far as I know, mixing the optics and cameras of Panasonic and Olympus works well, but how does the embedded correction work in the Panasonic + Olympus combination - I don’t know, I don’t have Olympus lenses, so I am also not sure. Anyway, in PhotoLab we always have solved the problem of distortion correction by our own DxO correction modules, even with “foreign” lenses as long as they are in the DxO database. Unfortunately, mixing the optics and cameras of these two manufacturers causes sometimes very serious problems when updating the lens firmware, although in theory it should work well.
I compared the embedded correction with with the one from PhotoLab and I can say that in the case of DxO it is practically perfect, while the “factory” corrects defects to a significant degree, but not to the end (I would say that in ~90%). By the way, I wonder why. 
i am not sure why eihter, maybe it has something to do with the lager angle they can visualize.
if i use a wa of fz200 , it’s lensstructure needs heavily correction, in sp7pro vs dxo there are two things which are visual.
1 vignetting is slightly visual in dxo.
2 the image has a wider angle in dxo.
So conclusion, it’s sensor output less cropped then the oocjpeg and sp7pro raw conversion.
dxo can only pull this off by maximalise the distortioncorrection. because the factory did a “easy way out” by cutting off the outer parts of the image to avoid vignetting and too much distortion on the edges of the image.
