5d Mark ii colour vs 5d mark iii and others

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Hi I have had both these cameras and in time sold them both. I loved the colour from the 5d mark ii, really was disappointed with the colour from the 5d mark iii. I felt as if it just looked flat and boring, and i find this kind of thing is very hard to match again in post production. I moved to a different brand but sometimes i feel like i very much miss the 5d mark ii and its lovely skin tones and colour, something i feel the mark iii lost. I also found the 5d mark iii files to handle exposure pushing far worse than the 5d mark ii. This seems bizarre to me. But ive tested it many times now on old files and the mark iii seems to band far worse and show crappy shadow noise worse than the mark ii. Am I alone in this. I know many mark iii owners will be quick to defend the mark 3 but i was left feeling very much that they had improved high iso at the expense of dynamic range or something. and autofocus was better but meh, give me those tones back.
 
Are you shooting RAW?
If so what picture style?
Are you sure you're comparing like for like settings?

Find it hard to believe as I've owned both
 
yes shooting raw, so picture style isnt relevant. I find the mark ii colours warmer but its more than that, they just look better full stop, to me. its not just a case of warming in post though, the whole tone is different.
 
I feel the same about the MkII when compared to the MkI although I mainly use the former for its additional modern features.

Maybe you just get used to a particular look although the old MkI to me produces really excellent colours, hard to describe, but best I can manage is more natural and less cartoon like
 
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I feel the same about the MkII when compared to the MkI although I mainly use the former for its additional modern features
i would agree with you there too. i feel the whole 5d range has degraded in tone as its gone along. the 5d mark 1 beats the 2 and 3 under iso 800 imo.
 
To say that with any confidence, you would need to shoot the 5D2 and 5D3 side by side, both colour calibrated the same, same scene, same lens, same aperture and focal length, same everything. I've done that, and while I wasn't looking specifically for colour changes, there was no immediately noticeable or significant difference IMHO, and the cameras were both at factory defaults, ie not colour calibrated.

That's not to say that there aren't subtle differences, but there will be much more variation in natural light, changing with time of day, weather, and throughout year. And certainly between different lenses, too. Artificial light, including flash, will throw everything out.

Suggest giving colour calibration a try using an X-Rite Macbeth ColorChecker to match both cameras. That will give as neutral a result as possible, then tweak to taste? Also google colour calibration.

http://xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?ID=1192
 
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To say that with any confidence, you would need to shoot the 5D2 and 5D3 side by side, both colour calibrated the same, same scene, same lens, same aperture and focal length, same everything. I've done that, and while I wasn't looking specifically for colour changes, there was no immediately noticeable or significant difference IMHO, and the cameras were both at factory defaults, ie not colour calibrated.

That's not to say that there aren't subtle differences, but there will be much more variation in natural light, changing with time of day, weather, and throughout year. And certainly between different lenses, too. Artificial light, including flash, will throw everything out.

Suggest giving colour calibration a try using an X-Rite Macbeth ColorChecker to match both cameras. That will give as neutral a result as possible, then tweak to taste? Also google colour calibration.

http://xritephoto.com/ph_product_overview.aspx?ID=1192

As usual, nailed it in one post, having had the 1, 2 and now 3, to the op if this advice is followed you may change your opinion...
 
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