Getting Canon colours from a Nikon

Steelfish

Steelfish

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Joe
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Unfortunately I am colour blind and also find it difficult to describe colours effectively, but I can see the differences between a canon shot and a Nikon shot.

I prefer the colours that Canon produce, but i have no idea hoe to post process my Nikon shots to match the colours, or have my d90 produce colours like that in body.

Is it possible to do this? I use Aperture 3 for basic pp but also have access to Photoshop elements 9.

Any help would be much appreciated!
 
Hi Joe. There are so many variables. Make sure your monitor is properly calibrated. Then there is color space - SRGB, AdobeRGB, etc which affect the colors. Then there is the in-camera settings. See this from Nikon
http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/picturecontrol/other/approximation.htm
I've no idea whether/how Canon's picture settings vary from Nikon's, but I'll bet they do.

You can shoot RAW and then do it all yourself if you can compensate for your color problem. Otherwise, it will be trial and error with Nikon settings to get somewhere near what you would like as a .jpg. Have a look at
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&so...loGNDw&usg=AFQjCNGjpW2owYJQziFwy2sf-026idM1uQ
A good .pdf from Nikon Picture Control System - Create Images Exactly as You Imagine Them

We had a show of hands at our camera club a while ago - 80% said they had some degree of color blindness, and all of them were men!
 
I don't think I can help you much Joe, but I agree entirely with what you say. I chose Canon over Nikon as Nikons seem to my (male, marginally colourblind) eyes to give a green tinge. Canon's seem known to push reds (too) high. And Nikon colours seem more saturated to me. I think shots from 5-series and 1-series Canons look different too, which doesn't help.

As a simple first step you might try boosting reds (quite a bit), cutting greens (just a little) and desaturating.

Good luck, and if you find a solution please pm me reminding me to check this thread again!
 
If you really want accurate colour, or at least accurate starting place before adding warmth etc. Get yourself an xrite colour passport.

Every camera is slightly different, even two of the same model, and using the default calibration from adobe or nikon or canon just won't work as well. You take a shot of the colour checker using same light as you will shoot, then when you process the supplied software generates a profile based on the known colours in the checker. This vastly improves the relationship between colours and you also get your white balance spot on. Nice thing is even say a daylight profile taken weeks ago is a much better starting point even if you don't shoot the checker on that particular shoot.

It speeds up colour correction in post and gives you great consistency. I can't recommend this approach strongly enough if this is important to you.

You will need a calibrated monitor to make best use of this though. But if you're into digital photography you need a calibrated monitor if you want good results or you end up going in endless circles especially when you try to print.
 
Steelfish said:
I prefer the colours that Canon produce, but i have no idea hoe to post process my Nikon shots to match the colours, or have my d90 produce colours like that in body.
Click to expand...

Try desaturating your images a little for a start. I always find Canon colour rendition to be a bit subtler than that of Nikon. Nikon colours always look a bit 'cartoonish' to me (no offense intended!).

Cheers
 
highpriest said:
Try desaturating your images a little for a start. I always find Canon colour rendition to be a bit subtler than that of Nikon. Nikon colours always look a bit 'cartoonish' to me (no offense intended!).

Cheers
Click to expand...

The camera doesn't really capture colour, the sensor sites record light levels and the software decides what colour each pixel should be. But the result is the same, as you say the colours can come out quite different for different makes and models. It's not just colour, the manafacturer decides how much sharpening, curves, noise reduction etc. To apply. That's why shooting a Target and generating your own profile will give you the most accurate colour, you can't tell the difference between nikon and cannon colour if you do it that way.

I'd you use in camera jpg or the manufacturers profile, you are at the mercy of the engineers that designed the algorithms. Same goes for adobe lightroom, Apple aperture etc. The camera makers don't let them use the in camera profiles which is why the jpg preview on the lcd doesn't match the default jpg conversions done in third party software if you shoot raw and convert yourself on the computer.

A lot of people get frustrated and shoot jpg in camera so the final image more closely matches what you see on the back of the camera. I prefer to shoot raw and only use the lcd to check sharpness and use blinkies as a quick exposure check and to look for problem shadows and lighting ratios when using flash.
 
Steelfish said:
Unfortunately I am colour blind and also find it difficult to describe colours effectively, but I can see the differences between a canon shot and a Nikon shot.

I prefer the colours that Canon produce, but i have no idea hoe to post process my Nikon shots to match the colours, or have my d90 produce colours like that in body.

Is it possible to do this? I use Aperture 3 for basic pp but also have access to Photoshop elements 9.

Any help would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...

Hi Joe

That's a really tough one to contemplate as I'm not colour blind.:thinking:

It's interesting to know that you 'see' differences between Canon and Nikon though.

I use both and straight out of the camera (jpeg) I would say Nikon give it the beans and Canon keep it subtle.

When I moved from Nikon to Canon I was shocked at how bad everything looked. At first I thought I'd made a huge mistake but I soon realised that it needed a bit of savvy on my part.
 
Thanks all for some great replies. Think I'll do some experimentation this weekend. I like the sound of shooting raw in both - but primarily I guess I'll need to her to grips with the colour curves in Aperture 3.

I wonder if i can grab the curves of the Canon shot and simply apply them to the Nikon shots as a simple adjustment on import.

Thanks again for the great advice.
 
A wee bit of help here if possible, you suggest to the OP to ensure his monitor is properly calibrated, how do I do that.?
 
mj4456 said:
A wee bit of help here if possible, you suggest to the OP to ensure his monitor is properly calibrated, how do I do that.?
Click to expand...


You have to use a calibration tool. These days you can pick one up for a reasonable price that will work quite well. It sits on your monitor and measures the colours that the associated software displays. It compares the colours it is measuring to the colours the software is trying to display. It generates a profile that tells the monitor what to show so you are seeing the true colours trying to be represented.

It also helps with printing so what you see in screen matches what the print will look like.

Trying to do any of this without a calibration device is a lost cause I'm afraid.
 
Funny you asked this question I have been wondering the same or a while, my gfs got a Eos500d and I have a D90 love my camera and she even wants one now too but I do admit I like the warmth in the canon pics, and yes I see a big difference too!
 
Whenever I had a Canon (400D, 450D, 500D, 10D, 30D) they always seemed soft compared to any nikon I had. They have a stronger lo pass filter or something, and this affects the sharpness - I think.

Sent from my iPhone 4 using TP Forums
 
I always preferred the JPEGs that we got straight from camera from the Canon shooters...they did seem to exhibit warmer, richer tones, whereas the Nikon JPEGs were a bit flat by comparison.
You could argue the Nikon shots were closer to reality, whereas the Canon shots were 'enhanced' too much, I just know I preferred them.

This only applied to the JPEGs: shooting RAW seemed to make no difference, especially with the newer Nikons (post D3).
 
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