Lighroom and Nikon NEF files

Question

I have some questions about Lightroom's handling of Nikon NEF files, specifically the parts of the NEF files that Nikon has decided it is a brilliant idea to encrypt. I am using a Nikon D200.
How does Lightroom handle white balance in a NEF file? Has Adobe licensed the "mini-SDK" from Nikon, is the white balance estimated from the image data, or how is this done?
And what about the sharpening (and other data?) - how does Lightroom handle that? Is it always the same (by camera)? Can the default settings be customized?
I am also interested in knowing whether using NEF+JPEG enables Lightroom to use more of the image metadata, as white balance/etc is not encrypted in the JPEG file. Will using NEF+JPEG give me the in-camera settings for the data that is encrypted in the NEF file? I'd be happy to shoot RAW+JPEG with a small JPEG if it helps Lightroom with the in-camera settings.

Answer 1

To answer your question, yes, Adobe has licensed the mini-SDK from Nikon in order to get at the encrypted white balance info. Nearly everything else is encrypted and inaccessible and can only be accessed by Nikon software.
Ironically, all this has done is push me almost 100% in favour of DNG.
Shooting NEF+JPEG will not get you anything more, in terms of more available data. Technically a NEF image will have an associated in-camera preview that Lightroom replaces with its own previews (no one wants to see the actual raw data, which hardly looks like an image). Apparently there is a limitation with Lightroom such that identically named image files differing only in extension will not be imported properly, anyway. Check the archives of this forum.
The in-camera settings in the file are not useful for you unless you use Nikon imaging software.
I've pretty much decided the following:
- Shoot only raw, and let your camera and Lightroom generate the previews you need at the time.
- Create a camera profile for importing those raw files. Every camera responds a little differently.
- Either keep the raw files or convert to DNG for archival purposes. The arguments for and against this are easy to find elsewhere on these forums and on the web.
If you need to be able to tweak your NEF images on the computer as if you were tweaking the camera controls /before/ taking the shot, you have to use Nikon software. I personally see little value in this, but your kilometreage will vary.