So would I like a discussion. I'll start my workflow, you guys attack it as YMMV!
There is no universal default. The beauty of ACR is you process images to your TASTE. Camera makers DESPISE ACR because it takes their proprietary RAW formats, and makes RAW a commodity. I love it.
I save "sets" of default settings in ACR. A set will work on a group of photos shot in one environment, not in another. Bruce Fraser in his ACR book gives best advice I've studied
I find my defaults usually:
Adobe RGB Space (unless its a green/yellow landscape, then ProPhotoRGB)
sRGB results in too much color saturation clipping, too much photo infor lost. Can always convert to sRGB for web images later.
Exposure 0 always the start point.
Shadow 5, unless shot under flash, then 3-4, accidental over exp get 7-9, even 14.
Brightness 53 varies to 55-57 sometimes to bring up/restore midtones.
Contrast 47-62 DEPENDING ON THE LENS used and the lighting
Saturation 0 Always, unless to REDUCE red in soccer uniforms, etc.
Sharpening (only on Preview) 50
Luminance Noise 3-5 when shooting ISO 200-400, O when shooting ISO 100
Color Noise. Default of 25, unless photo underexposed and I'm pulling up shadows, then higher
Now what I think I oberve is that LENSES REALLY VARY IN IMAGE CONTRAST.
So, Instead of working ACR menu top down, I adjust Contrast before fine tuning White Balance. Since "Apparant Sharpness" affects Contrast I leave the Preview ONLY Sharpen to 50 before touching any image, the sharpening is 0 on conversion to TIF.
Another reason to adjust Contrast FIRST is that Contrast affects perception of Saturation. By boosting contrast, 99% of time I never touch saturation, avoid color errors, unless to REDUCE it to avoid "Color Saturation Clipping" in channels in outdoor high contrast settings. Any SATURATION increases are better BY CHANNEL done in PS. And I do not have to over sharpen the images later to get a pop.
Third reason to set Contrast first is that some of my lenses get the WB smack right every time, like the 70-200L and 17-40L. Other lenses, like 70-300 DO results in routine WB errors as does 24-70 L. Adjusting Contrast first assists getting the WB tuned RIGHT for the group.
Then I do WB, Exposure, Shadow, Brightness, etc. to taste.
I never boost saturation because I do not like dSLR photography to look similar to over sharpened, over saturated digicam images, and I shoot outdoors high contrast scenes where saturation is rarely a problem, and I do not like red skin, etc., etc.
I mean, photographers love the pop of Velvia, but the natural world does not look that way most days to me. Even Velvia lovers are better getting a PS Velvia Action than messing with ACR's brute Saturation slider. I just don't like the look. But, I don't shoot red cars, etc......haha
OH, and the classic Bruce Fraser restoring high contrast-over exposure setting: Reduce Exposure by whatever it takes to reduce highlight clipping -.25, -0.3, even -1.0, then increase Brightness Slider up to 70-80+ to restore highlights. It's one of ACR greatest features for high contrast outdoor photography.
Jack
