.RW2 photos from Lumix TZ99 look washed out in RawTherapee

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Hey everyone, I just got my Lumix DC-TZ99(/ZS99) and I started taking RAW pictures with it. I’m used to dealing with .DNG pictures from my phone (XPERIA 5 III) on RawTherapee, so I thought it would be just as easy with the TZ99.

However, when editing them, the moment they finish loading (after double-clicking to open them in the editor, from the file browser) they get all washed out… It seems to be a colour profile issue from what I can see, but I’ve no idea how to fix it.

Applying different colour profiles (“None” or “Custom”) do change the colours but they do not reflect at all how the image is supposed to look (thumbnail for reference in file browser)

I never had to touch the Colour Management Tab before when dealing with the .DNG pictures from my Xperia.

I am able to “un-wash out” the pictures to recover some colours but I loose a lot of color depth and detail (I use “Colour Appearance & Lighting - Chroma” and “Haze Removal”)

The “IIYAMA” colour profiles you see are just for my external monitor.
Thanks in advance for any help

EDIT : opening the .RW2 in the Windows 11 Photos app also makes them all washed out (after waiting half a second), but the thumbnail in File Explorer stays correct. If I open a picture, let it get washed out after a second, then close and open it again, it’s back to having good colors, until half a second later when it gets washed out again, etc…

EDIT 2: not only does it make them washed out, but it also seems to apply some kind of distortion correction

[1] The selected thumbnail in the file browser on top of the screen is how the picture is supposed to look like.
[1] The selected thumbnail in the file browser on top of the screen is how the picture is supposed to look like.1919×1199 3.04 MB

[2] The second after I open it in the editor view (double click), it gets all washed out, and so does its thumbnail preview.
[2] The second after I open it in the editor view (double click), it gets all washed out, and so does its thumbnail preview.1919×1199 2.34 MB

[3] My "Colour Management" tab. Selecting "None" makes it worse.
[3] My "Colour Management" tab. Selecting "None" makes it worse.303×647 17.6 KB

[4] The available color profiles after clicking on "Custom". None of them gives the proper colours
[4] The available color profiles after clicking on "Custom". None of them gives the proper colours995×775 33.7 KB

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Do you have the Auto Match Tone Curve feature turned on?

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image
image971×134 6.36 KB

Hello :slight_smile:
I do, it seems to be default, since I never changed it.

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Disabling it just makes the image a bit darker, but it’s still pretty washed-out
: /

image
image1919×1199 669 KB

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Make sure “Tone Curve” is checked underneath “Colour Management,” if you’re able to. That might get you closer to what you’re looking for. Also, in the Exposure tab, it helps to click on the “Auto-matched Tone Curve,” if it’s not already.

Another thought: Look for a Custom Colour Profile for your camera. There is a way of obtaining the Adobe version by using a free version of their .dng converter. The instructions are in the forum here somewhere.