Today’s Question: Is there any reason not to apply the Lens Corrections adjustment using a profile to all photos? It seems to produce good results, but is there any risk in applying it universally?
Tim’s Quick Answer: I consider it perfectly safe (and generally good) to apply a profile-based correction using the Lens Corrections controls, and in fact I apply that adjustment to all photos during import into Lightroom Classic. The same adjustment is available in Camera Raw in the Optics section on the right panel.
More Detail: The profile-based corrections available with the Lens Corrections adjustments in Lightroom Classic or the Optics section in Camera Raw or Lightroom provide the option to apply corrections for distortion and vignetting based on profiles for individual lenses. My testing has demonstrated that the results are helpful the great majority of the time, and so I am comfortable applying the adjustment to all photos.
Keep in mind, of course, that Adobe does not provide a profile for every single lens possible. However, they do offer support with profiles for a great number of lenses from most manufacturers.
In Lightroom Classic you can apply the profile-based correction by turning on the “Enable Profile Corrections” checkbox on the Profile tab of the Lens Corrections section on the right panel in the Develop module. If you’re going to be saving a preset based on the adjustments you’re working on, such as to apply the preset to photos during import, you can select “Auto” from the Setup popup.
In Camera Raw you can enable the correction by turning on the “Use profile corrections” checkbox. Note that presets are available in Camera Raw as well, so you could create a new preset that includes the Optics adjustments and any other settings you prefer to update from the defaults, so that you can quickly apply that preset to images later to help streamline your workflow. You can also apply the adjustment (or a preset) to multiple images in Camera Raw by first selecting all current images from the filmstrip.
Note that while in most cases the profile will be set automatically based on the lens indicated in metadata for the photo you’re adjusting, you may sometimes find that the profile doesn’t get selected. In that case you can generally resolve the issue by simply selecting the correct manufacturer from the Make popup. If that doesn’t set the profile you can select the lens from the Lens popup and also select the specific lens profile from the Profile popup.
