Will Nikon ever get their color right?

[iflynething]

When photographing a red, green or blue object, the color is always off.

Red always looks.....well we have all taken a picture of a red object and have seen the effect.

With green stuff it looks turquoise

With blue things and purple, they swap. Blue looks purple and purple always looks blue.

Why is it like this. I think it's with every camera. Is there one where the colors are EXACTLY as you see them?

Michael

 

[Growltiger]

My camera works properly! Perhaps you are doing something wrong. There is no such thing as exact colour as it depends on human perception, but you can get very close.

I suggest you do the following.
1. Don't set your camera Picture Control to Vivid, set it to normal.
2. Calibrate your monitor.
3. The problem with red can be overexposure in the red channel. Reduce exposure for bright red subjects and adjust brightness in post processing.
4. Set the camera to sRGB. You may be introducing problems by not understanding correct processing of colour spaces.
5. Now take a look at a new JPG straight from the camera. If that looks better then you are doing something wrong in post processing.

Or is this a joke, given that you have a D3 and a D300? If it was true, don't you think people would have stopped buying Nikon cameras years ago?

 

[Oldman]

When photographing a red, green or blue object, the color is always off.

Red always looks.....well we have all taken a picture of a red object and have seen the effect.

With green stuff it looks turquoise

With blue things and purple, they swap. Blue looks purple and purple always looks blue.

Why is it like this. I think it's with every camera. Is there one where the colors are EXACTLY as you see them?

Michael

Short answer is NO. Each person sees color a little different. Your eyes and brain may see color slightly different than the next person. A camera sensor (any camera) sees what the mfg. tunes it to see based upon some formula they think is what the average person would see.

Best way is to change it slightly in pp to what you saw.

Dwight

 

[Anthony747]

Try one of these: http://xritephoto.com/ph_product_ov...d7221d0703fe&gclid=COWEy5bK-6gCFYje4AodPFmgTA

 

[Bob Coutant]

What do you see when you look at a Macbeth color chart?:smile:

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Electromen]

Try one of these: http://xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?id=1257&catid=28&tab=videos&_kk=macbeth%20ColorChecker&_kt=98de7276-5566-42a4-ad35-d7221d0703fe&gclid=COWEy5bK-6gCFYje4AodPFmgTA

I agree with using the XRite ColorChecker Passport and Lightroom3 to produce custom camera profiles when shooting RAW. It also corrects WB.
My color is dead on.

 

[Slaphead]

I use Nikon and I don't get anything that I consider as severe as you're saying.

Most of the time if I get a serious shift in colour it's generally because I've
managed to blow one of the RGB channels. I had a situation like this where I blew the blue channel. A deep colour at the borderline between blue and purple was coming out as a light cyan on the camera LCD. A check of the histogram showed the blue channel over exposing. However putting the RAW into Aperture brought the colour back in to believable realms again - not exactly as I'd seen it, but close enough for my purposes.

Your eyes have the widest colour gamut possible. Eveything else, sensors, monitors, and especially printers, is a compromise that will, with the technology available today, never produce exactly what you see.

 

[Jonathan F/2]

That's funny because I think Canon colors look like a fluorescent light is shined in every photos. All bland and washed out!

Case in point:

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/samples/eos7d/

 

[nipprdog]

When photographing a red, green or blue object, the color is always off.

Red always looks.....well we have all taken a picture of a red object and have seen the effect.

With green stuff it looks turquoise

With blue things and purple, they swap. Blue looks purple and purple always looks blue.

Why is it like this. I think it's with every camera. Is there one where the colors are EXACTLY as you see them?

Michael

Sweet!!!!

Does this mean I can now sue Nikon for not adjusting all of my camera bodies for my 'red/green' color blindness that you and I have????

We can sue based on the;

http://www.ada.gov/

:biggrin: :biggrin:

 

[Electromen]

Sweet!!!!

Does this mean I can now sue Nikon for not adjusting all of my camera bodies for my 'red/green' color blindness that you and I have????

We can sue based on the;

http://www.ada.gov/

:biggrin: :biggrin:

Is that really necessary? Or is it meant as a bad joke?

 

[gekhang]

4. Set the camera to sRGB. You may be introducing problems by not understanding correct processing of colour spaces.

why this? adobe RGB 1998 has a wider range of gamut....

 

[iflynething]

My camera works properly! Perhaps you are doing something wrong. There is no such thing as exact colour as it depends on human perception, but you can get very close.

I suggest you do the following.
1. Don't set your camera Picture Control to Vivid, set it to normal.
2. Calibrate your monitor.
3. The problem with red can be overexposure in the red channel. Reduce exposure for bright red subjects and adjust brightness in post processing.
4. Set the camera to sRGB. You may be introducing problems by not understanding correct processing of colour spaces.
5. Now take a look at a new JPG straight from the camera. If that looks better then you are doing something wrong in post processing.

Or is this a joke, given that you have a D3 and a D300? If it was true, don't you think people would have stopped buying Nikon cameras years ago?

I use no in camera processing. Neutral, no sharpening, no contrast adjustment. Nothing. I also use Adobe RGB for the wider display gamut

I am for real, though

What do you see when you look at a Macbeth color chart?:smile:

An organized rainbow!

Michael,
Am not being rude, a significant proportion of the male population are to some extent color blind, have you checked your color vision using a professional test?

As others have intimated, whilst strictly speaking you can't achieve perfect color representation, nearly everyone can learn how to produce photos that all except the most critical consider to be fine and a good representation of the original scene.
It all depends upon good technique and reasonable care from image capture to final rendering (and all steps in between), though.

You are exactly right, although I had a color check and full exam for my flight physical about a month ago.

I agree with using the XRite ColorChecker Passport and Lightroom3 to produce custom camera profiles when shooting RAW. It also corrects WB.
My color is dead on.

I use this whenever I can and set white balance. I also have custom profiles to both the D3 and D300, but I"m not talking about white balance. I know that it had alot to do with color of the image. I'm talking about you have a blue object, and it looks turquoise.


~Michael~

 

[soxOZ]

Maybe you can post an example that closely represents what you are experiencing in colour shift and also a link to a full size version to check and see if everybody else is seeing what you see... Just a suggestion...

 

[Mike__B]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Electromen
I agree with using the XRite ColorChecker Passport and Lightroom3 to produce custom camera profiles when shooting RAW. It also corrects WB.
My color is dead on.

I use this whenever I can and set white balance. I also have custom profiles to both the D3 and D300, but I"m not talking about white balance. I know that it had alot to do with color of the image. I'm talking about you have a blue object, and it looks turquoise.

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Another vote for the XRite ColorChecker Passport and Lightroom3 for getting the colors correct not just the white balance. When you take the first shot in a given situation, do the colors you see from that profile match the Passport on screen - mine are quite good on screen but not quite the same in print and this can be verified by soft proofing in Photoshop due to the color gamut limitations. I'm sure someone on here can better explain this as I am rather limited in the understanding of color profiling. Maybe if you were to post an example photo of the passport for comparative purposes someone could gain some insight to your color differences and offer help - just a thought.

 

[camerapapi]

Show me a camera that shows reality and I will eat my hat. Do not look for perfect colors, you are not going to see them. Photography is not reality.
Some colors are better reproduced than others and they can even be tweaked with software or in camera. I find my D300 to render pretty accurate colors when Picture Control is set to NEUTRAL, other settings could require fine tuning.
Colors in photograph are also a personal matter. I like the Kodachrome colors while others love the Velvia look. Ken Rockwell lives on VIVID colors.
Learn to set your camera to the colors you like and prefer. Just remember that a calibrated monitor is a must.

William Rodriguez
Miami, Florida.

 

[Growltiger]

why this? adobe RGB 1998 has a wider range of gamut....

1. Because if you display an Adobe RGB image using software that doesn't support colour management then you see the wrong colours.

2. Because most monitors and printers only work with sRGB, and if they are given Adobe RGB images they display the wrong colours.

There have been large numbers of people seeing incorrect results (usually excessive saturation) because they don't understand how to correctly process wide gamut images. Many people are simply told by a friend to set their camera to Adobe RGB becuase it is "better", and problems follow. If you don't have a comprehensive understanding of the subject, it is best to stick to sRGB. The OP did not reply to my comment about sRGB, it could be part of his problem.

 

[Max Archer]

I find that the colors in my RAWs look horrible on import in Lightroom or ACR, in a similar way to what's being described. In my case, it's completely down to the standard Adobe color profile, and changing the color profile to "camera standard" almost always fixes it. It might be worth seeing if that would help in your case.

 

[trenchmonkey]

Wow, I came over from 35 yrs with Canon BECAUSE OF THE COLORS
Take the time to learn your body/adjust appropriate settings/etc.
Every one is different but infinitely adjustable to taste. Put in the time, dude.
Salable shots SOOC for me, but it just didn't happen overnight. :biggrin:
You may want to give D2X Color Profiles I and III a try, rocks my D3 big time!

 

[iflynething]

I switched to Adobe from sRGB. The issue to me has ben there all along. It's not that big an issue, I'm just wondering why it happens.

Camera is set to neutral, profiles are loaded to ACR 4.4. Monitor is calibrated. White balance is set. Unless I were to change the white balance drastically, it won't change the actual color or an object.

~Michael~