A test from today to see how various camera calibration profiles in ACR/Lr5.6 might affect color balance. Nikon D810 with AF-S 70-200 f/2.8G VR lens and B+W ND 3.0 (ten stop) filter for all photos. Mid afternoon sunlight (clear sky). Camera set to ISO 64, 14-bit lossless NEF, Processed in Lightroom 5.6. The same frame was processed four ways and output as a 100% JPEG in sRGB. Processing notes are in each frame.
i recommend you look at it in Photoshop and not your browser.
Ellis, something looks oddly muted in your Colorchecker for some reason. Colors seems more pastel and low contrast (Aside from the red cast off the B+W filter in first shot.).
There is that Adobe "Blue punch" too and I guess ACR is responsible for that. I'm not fond of using Adobe's ACR as first run out of the camera as it overlooks a lot of things that the camera can add (Dynamic Range), and it seems to me that Nikon's software works better for the first NEF read and than save as a TIFF file for me (unless I want a dramatic blue sky!). Then I can go to Adobe once Nikon has addressed the camera settings.
The following two images are the same NEF>JPG from my D7000 in daylight:
One is out of Capture NX-D (the freeware one labeled CapNX-D_A3_DSC1504C one), and the other is out of Adobe Camera Raw 8.6 (The ACR_DSC1504C one). What I noted was that there is the "Adobe Blue punch" over Capture NX-D, but the NX-D version shows more contrast as well as the better shadow detail in the dogs back too (Auto Dynamic Range perhaps that Adobe ACR cannot do?). The green neon lanyard strap is closer in NX-D too where ACR washes it out a bit. The plaster dog is actually more yellowish (dirty dog) than white too. I did leave the camera's WB tuning on A3, 0 for the Auto White Balance too as it images a bit cooler. I don't know if Adobe addresses that WB change either, but this is the same image dumped from NEF to JPG in the two editors.
Also, look at the lettering at the bottom of the baking soda box (Net weight 454 grams). ACR seems a bit fuzzy and blends the colors where NX-D separates them better.
I know there are 9 things ACR cannot do with Nikon's proprietary NEF files. They've been outline in this article:
http://photographylife.com/how-to-get-accurate-nikon-colors-in-lightroomAnyway, I would've expected your D810 to do better on the colors than displayed. Might be the first one is flare off the Colorchecker and it carried over to the others in post?
Also, someone asked about the "Lee Big Stopper" with film and corrective filter. Maybe a 81C or 81D and using 11 stops for the exposure? I know with the B+W the large format film shooters like a 80D (bluish). Then the lab might be a bit closer in correcting the ND color error.
SG
