DIFFERENCES IN COLOUR QUALITY IN DIGITAL SLRs

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Rob P

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Robert
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Hi. I'm curious as to whether anyone else has an issue with colour rendering in new DSLRs. I have an old Pentax ist DL2 which is my first and only DSLR since giving up film quite a few years ago.

I have kept going with it, despite a few problems (menu only partially works, very poor battery life, erratic auto-focus - I could go on...) because I really like the colour quality of the images it produces. Photos have a depth and saturation of colour (almost slightly under-exposed) which I really like. Photos taken on my wife's and other family members' newer DSLRs always seem to appear washed-out and over-exposed. I appreciate one can fiddle with the settings both on the camera and afterwards which my wife does, though I frankly can't be bothered and it never quite works.

I know some of this is my personal preference for more dramatic shots which are possibly not really reflecting the scene I am shooting accurately.

Does anyone else have any experience of this? Can anyone recommend a replacement for my battered old Pentax (other than a second-hand but hopefully less battered ist DL2) which can produce a similar effect?
 
Hi and welcome to TP

On the surmise that you are talking about the JPEG files straight out of camera? There will always be some differences in 'rendition' based on each manufacturers "processing engine" in the camera. NB having said that ~ there was a time when the Pentax lenses were said to yield a different look to say Canon lenses!

So, if you and your wife were to shoot raw there is a greater chance that, depending on the editing software, you could get closer looking final images???
 
I think different cameras and lenses do render colours differently. For instance I love the colours out of an old Canon 24-105 f/4 mark 1 lens, on several different cameras, and I find the colours from the newer (and supposedly better) RF 24-105 f/4 on the Canon R just not as pleasing.

I also used to share shooting some sports events with my friend who shot on Nikon, whilst I shot on Canon. The colours were different. We could bring them into line by using the Colour Passport Checker.

I've also read on here occasionally, that people who have swapped from Canon to Sony, miss the Canon colour science.

I can't recommend anything as I think it is personal preference. Perhaps you could take an SD card to you local camera shop and try out some different cameras?
 
Thanks both. As you say, there are technical fixes, like shooting in raw or using a colour passport checker. I think I'm just lazy and like not having to do anything much in subsequent editing with my current camera. I will soldier on until forced to replace my Pentax, at which point I know I will have to work a lot harder to get the same results!
 
I have been through them Mill with different makes and models over the years and yes I do agree there is a difference in colour rendering between them . Trouble is it’s going to be hard to put your finger on what you actually are looking for . If it’s rich deep colours your after then look at Olympus and Fuji mirrorless .or find a camera shop that will let you put your own card into a few demo models
 
There are differences between a different camera of the same make and model. I calibrate my cameras and only take Raw so the bespoke calibration is automatically used for rendering the Raw file. This is not absolutely necessary unless you are a fashion, wedding or product photographer but having set this up once for each camera it is automatic so easy enough. When I first did this, my final images from my then Canon 5D Mkii looked almost identical to the images from a Nikon D300 which had been similarly calibrated. Prior to calibration the rendering from each camera was very different.

Dave
 
I much prefer my cameras to be flat, dull and very neutral. Then I can quickly and easily do whatever I want with the files. This would not be so if they came out vivid and contrasty. As far as I'm concerned the colour science of full frame Canons is fine (5Dmk3). The croppers are a bit too rich with their output.
 
Most cameras have built in profiles for adjusting the look of JPEG’s
e.g. Flat, vivid, faithful, landscape, portrait etc.. and a user custom profile where you can set it to your liking.
 
SDK^ said:
Most cameras have built in profiles for adjusting the look of JPEG’s
e.g. Flat, vivid, faithful, landscape, portrait etc.. and a user custom profile where you can set it to your liking.
Click to expand...
I think you will find the differences show up in the RAW files to
 
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