Flat field correction in Lightroom

[Bill_Evans]

Bill, per my post below, it's working for you because you're putting the LCC first. The good news is you don't have to shoot it first; it just has to be first in the catalogue.

Gotcha, thanks.And by batch processing do you mean running a selection of images with different LCCs? Like the way LR does batch processing with stacked HDR Images.

 

[rdeloe]

Gotcha, thanks.And by batch processing do you mean running a selection of images with different LCCs? Like the way LR does batch processing with stacked HDR Images.

Before the updates in 2025 I could arrange dozens of pairs of scene images with corresponding LCC frames, select them, and run FFC. As long as the order was the same (i.e., LCC first or last for every pair), LR figured out which one was the LCC and corrected them all properly.

With 14.2, that feature is broken. The LCC frame can only be in front, and you can only do one pair at a time. Thankfully you can start the next pairs without waiting for the previous ones to finish, so if you have FFC assigned to a hot key as I do, it goes quickly.

 

[Bill_Evans]

Before the updates in 2025 I could arrange dozens of pairs of scene images with corresponding LCC frames, select them, and run FFC. As long as the order was the same (i.e., LCC first or last for every pair), LR figured out which one was the LCC and corrected them all properly.

With 14.2, that feature is broken. The LCC frame can only be in front, and you can only do one pair at a time. Thankfully you can start the next pairs without waiting for the previous ones to finish, so if you have FFC assigned to a hot key as I do, it goes quickly.

What's a little odd, probably redundant with Adobe, is that they don't do batch processing for FFC like they do with HDR merge. Where you can batch process stacked images. It seems like with their need to have the LCC first they would let you stack the images that go with each LCC and then FFC all the selected stacks. I could see, for me, a pretty efficient workflow where I was able to auto stack based on time and then batch the LCCs. But no, it's one at a time.

This thread has been super useful and quite timely. Thanks.

 

[rdeloe]

What's a little odd, probably redundant with Adobe, is that they don't do batch processing for FFC like they do with HDR merge. Where you can batch process stacked images. It seems like with their need to have the LCC first they would let you stack the images that go with each LCC and then FFC all the selected stacks. I could see, for me, a pretty efficient workflow where I was able to auto stack based on time and then batch the LCCs. But no, it's one at a time.

This thread has been super useful and quite timely. Thanks.

It's been a very useful thread to me too Bill. Thanks for chiming in. I think your post may have planted the seed that motivated me to try again.

It used to work exactly as you describe. I'd organize all the pairs of files that needed FFC in the right order, select them, and run the process once. Unfortunately, they broke it and that doesn't work anymore.

 

[glaiben]

I'm getting ready to head to Joshua Tree next week and have not done any FFC for a few months, so wanted to test it before departing (Hasselblad raw 3FR files, MacBook Pro M1/OS 15.3.1, LrC 14.2). Single FFC works fine, regardless if the LCC image is first or second in the pair. With batch processing, I was able to process 3 image pairs (real photo first); all 3 real images processed fine. However, the LCC images for pair #1 and pair #2 were converted to DNG's and were even across the frame. The LCC for pair #3 remained as a 3FR file and was unchanged. The screwiness of LCC #1 and #2 might have been triggered by #2 being a virtual copy of #1.

Plan to test more later this week.

...gregg

 

[SrMphoto]

I'm getting ready to head to Joshua Tree next week and have not done any FFC for a few months, so wanted to test it before departing (Hasselblad raw 3FR files, MacBook Pro M1/OS 15.3.1, LrC 14.2). Single FFC works fine, regardless if the LCC image is first or second in the pair. With batch processing, I was able to process 3 image pairs (real photo first); all 3 real images processed fine. However, the LCC images for pair #1 and pair #2 were converted to DNG's and were even across the frame. The LCC for pair #3 remained as a 3FR file and was unchanged. The screwiness of LCC #1 and #2 might have been triggered by #2 being a virtual copy of #1.

Plan to test more later this week.

...gregg

If the LCC file was converted to DNG, then the modified LCC will correct the non-LCC file, resulting in incorrect correction. That is what I have observed. Can you confirm?
The correction of LCC and non-LCC files is a bug in the batch-processing of FFC. I convert pairs only and avoid batch processing.

Have a good time in Joshua Tree. I hope they can keep it open, as National Parks are in disarray.

 

[SrMphoto]

LCC wisdom from Phase One manual:

A new LCC reference image needs to be created if you change any of the following parameters:
• Use a new sensor / lens combination
• Change the Focal Length
• Change the Aperture
• Adjust the Shift (X and Y)
• Adjust the Tilt or the Swing
• A change in the direction of the light in the scene
• Change the focus distance (less important, see below)
Changing the focus distance should only have a minimal impact.

Changes to the shutter speed or ISO value will not have any notable impact on the creation of an LCC.

For best possible image quality, we recommended that you shoot the LCC reference image in the same lighting conditions as the target images.

They also write:
Saving a created LCC profile as a Preset is a great way to be able to quickly apply a Lens Cast Calibration to several images.

 

[dchew]

According to this YouTube video (The LCC Tool in Capture One Pro 7 | Phase One), C1 requires the same ordering as Lightroom when doing batch LCC correction: LCC must be adjacent to its image, either before or after. The LCC tool in C1 is more powerful than in Adobe. Unfortunately, C1 does not work with Hasselblad files.
The problem with creating a library of LCC files is that they vary with the shift amount, focal length, aperture, and focus distance. That is a lot of variations. How are people handling that? Do you carry a notebook and write down every shot's data?

That is not correct. I can grab an LCC from anywhere and apply it to any image, regardless of relative position. I can apply it to multiple files at once. Of course, these are not HB files

Dave

 

[Geoff]

Just to expand on Dave's comment, In C1, once the LCC file has been processed, you can copy and paste it to apply to any image, simply.

 

[SrMphoto]

That is not correct. I can grab an LCC from anywhere and apply it to any image, regardless of relative position. I can apply it to multiple files at once. Of course, these are not HB files

Dave

I wrote, "when doing batch LCC correction." In batch correction, e.g., three image/LCC pairs, the order is important. See the video at 3:00 (or 2:20 for the beginning of batch processing) , and here is the dialog saying that the order is important (the file must be left of LCC).

 

[SrMphoto]

Just to expand on Dave's comment, In C1, once the LCC file has been processed, you can copy and paste it to apply to any image, simply.

That requires knowing at least the focal length, aperture, shift/rise/fall, and tilt amount. That is a challenge when that information is not stored in the EXIF.

 

[alexfth]

I am having a lot of problems with LCC in LrC. In Adobe's tutorial (https://www.getdpi.com/forum/index.php?threads/adobe-dng-flatfield-lcc-for-lightroom.40584/), Adobe writes that it can apply batch corrections when properly ordered. Instead, it starts from the end, uses the previous image as LCC, and converts both LCC and non-LCC images. Has anyone solved that issue?
Also, when selecting an image and its LCC individually, it works most of the time, except that sometimes it converts the LCC frame using the non-LCC frame.
This is with Hasselblad 3FR files.
I know that one solution is to use Phocus instead of LrC.

Using both RAFs and 3fr and while I never had problems with the RAFs even doing batch corrections, with the 3fr its failing most of yhe time. When trying batch corrections, it does the inverse correction you describe, when picking individual files it works mostly, but with strong cast the result is bad, like overcorrected from magenta into green…The same file comes out much better when corrected in Phocus, but the software and especially the LCC process are just a pain in the a….will try the DNG workaround for the 3fr.