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Archive 2016 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom

  
 
skid00skid00
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


I decided I needed to calibrate my Canon 5D3's colors in Lightroom. So I purchased a nice, inexpensive color chart, and took a few exposures outside. I soon realised that it's very difficult to eye-calibrate a sun-illuminated color chart while comparing on-screen colors to a room-lit chart (even when that chart is lit by a Solux lamp).

It took a while, but I realised that if I'm looking at a screen, it would be a good first step to actually photograph the screen, and then compare it's colors to, well, it's colors. Here's what I did:

1. Create a color patch image. I wanted the fully saturated primaries (RGB) and the in-between colors. I also included darker patches of these colors. You can get these by keying one of [255 224 192 160 128 96 84 32 0] into your software's color selector. I used [0 40 83 126 169 212] for a variety of grays.
2. Photograph it in a dark room, while significantly unfocused (or the sharply-focused RGB screen pixels will cause problems).
3. Import the image to LR. Set the white balance and brightness.
4. Pick the *closest matching* Camera Calibration/Profile:. In my case, this was the Adobe Standard profile. (I spent many hours calibrating Canon Camera Faithful, Neutral and Standard. In the end, after step 6, the Adobe Standard profile and calibration was closest).
5. Adjust the Red, Green and Blue Primary Hue and Saturation. Note that when you adjust one saturation, the other colors are affected. I don't have tips for this, you just have to work through it. You will need to adjust in small increments, and iterate several times.
6. Adjust the 'HSL All' panel controls to fine-tune the colors.

While Adobe and your camera are calibrated for a pleasing appearance, you might want a more literal interpretation in some cases. I seem to prefer my landscapes with this literal calibration more than the presets.














Feb 23, 2016 at 10:25 AM
butchM
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


Why not just use the fee Adobe DNG Profile editor? Simply shoot an image of a Color Checker chart in the lighting conditions you work in most and a couple of clicks later you have a Camera Calibration profile that works great in Lr/ACR.

With a little work, the editor makes it possible to match color (or nearly so) in Lr between different bodies ...even different brands.

I have been doing this for years. When I buy a new camera, this is the first task, create new profiles.

For Mac:

https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5493

For Windows:

https://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/detail.jsp?ftpID=5494

And here is a PDF Tutorial



Feb 23, 2016 at 10:58 AM
skid00skid00
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


Butch,

The full color checker chart is $90. I can't justify that to myself.

One thing I've noticed is that my method seems WB-agnostic. Just did this yesterday, so I may notice more as time goes on.



Feb 23, 2016 at 11:07 AM
butchM
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


skid00skid00 wrote:
Butch,

The full color checker chart is $90. I can't justify that to myself.

One thing I've noticed is that my method seems WB-agnostic. Just did this yesterday, so I may notice more as time goes on.


The method I offered is also WB agnostic.

The color checker chart is $69 new ... you can find used ones for much less ... even borrow one from a friend for no cost at all. You don't need the full size chart, you just need to fill the frame with the chart.

Eyeballing color 'calibration' with out of focus home made charts is really a shot in the dark.

The key here is ... using your method and saving as a preset ... any sliders you adjusted to achieve your starting point will be likewise adjusted for the individual images. This can create a myriad of problems later on down the pipeline when you choose to adjust individual images, it's possible to run out of slider before you achieve your goal.

With a true Camera Calibration profile, the color starting point is achieved under the hood ... all sliders remain at neutral settings for that camera offering the full range of options.



Feb 23, 2016 at 11:23 AM
skid00skid00
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
Eyeballing color 'calibration' with out of focus home made charts is really a shot in the dark.

The key here is ... using your method and saving as a preset ... any sliders you adjusted to achieve your starting point will be likewise adjusted for the individual images. This can create a myriad of problems later on down the pipeline when you choose to adjust individual images, it's possible to run out of slider before you achieve your goal.

With a true Camera Calibration profile, the color starting point is achieved under the hood ... all sliders remain at neutral settings for
...Show more

I don't know why you're pushing so hard for the chart... Suggesting that 'eyeballing out-of-focus' is a straw man. If we can't directly compare two side-by-side colors (out of focus-really?) then we have no business adjusting colors at all. And I'm absolutely certain I'll never run out of slider adjustment range. Going to 100 on any of them would be hideous.

If you don't want to|can't do it yourself, I don't have a problem with that. But the method I've proposed *works*, and I'm excited to share it with others, so that they can improve their colors. Your method isn't better, it's faster and more expensive. If you think it's better, prove it by displaying the color chart included in my OP, taking a pic, and showing it side-by-side like I did.

I won't even be offended if by chance it looks better than what I achieved.




Feb 23, 2016 at 11:32 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom



The full color checker chart is $90. I can't justify that to myself.


you can buy x-rite minicolorchecker for $20 all inclusive @ ebay = http://www.ebay.com/itm/291682724976

spectrally X-Rite Passport and various ColorCheckers are a little different but for the folks like you it does not matter anyways



Feb 24, 2016 at 12:43 AM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom



The color checker chart is $69 new

ColorChecker Classic that is... the poster was referring to Passport based on the price (new, dealer) he mentioned.




Feb 24, 2016 at 12:45 AM
butchM
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


skid00skid00 wrote:
I don't know why you're pushing so hard for the chart...


Because it is a well-known industry standard that offers less than 0.01% variance.

Suggesting that 'eyeballing out-of-focus' is a straw man. If we can't directly compare two side-by-side colors (out of focus-really?) then we have no business adjusting colors at all. And I'm absolutely certain I'll never run out of slider adjustment range. Going to 100 on any of them would be hideous.

Good for you! Your method is based upon your superior perception of color. My method is based upon computer software's ability to go by the actual numbers, not subjective observation to establish a known staring point with much less opportunity for human error.

If you don't want to|can't do it yourself, I don't have a problem with that. But the method I've proposed *works*, and I'm excited to share it with others, so that they can improve their colors.

The matter of 'improving' colors is purely subjective. I have been 'calibrating' or more accurately ... profiling ... color devices long before the advent of digital photography or even the use of computers in photographic imaging. I started out working in the offset pre-press industry over 40 years ago. I have a modicum of experience on what works and what can stand the test of time.

Your method isn't better, it's faster and more expensive. If you think it's better, prove it by displaying the color chart included in my OP, taking a pic, and showing it side-by-side like I did.

Why would I use your method or your chart when your method can only produce a Develop module preset and not a new Camera Calibration profile?

I won't even be offended if by chance it looks better than what I achieved.

My profiles look fine because I can see value in a $69 color chart ... when folks are spending $2,500 for a camera body and consider a tool that costs the equivalent of a spare battery prohibitive? Makes you wonder where their priorities are.

I purchased my chart over 15 years ago and have used it to profile well over 3 dozen cameras including my own and my staff. I have also lent the chart to many other local shooters over that time. I didn't appreciate the price back then either. But ... just as any other equipment, it paid for itself many times over to use as a target included in establishing shots in the studio and on location and when Adobe released the software for camera profiling ... I was glad to already have it it on hand.

What good is paying top dollar for the best cameras, lenses, computers, software we can afford? ... etc. etc. ... then we arbitrarily eyeball the color calibration? My time is money. The price of the chart is one of the best investments I have ever made and an extremely valuable tool.

All I did was offer a proven alternative to create a true Camera Calibration profile that can be set as default in both Lightroom and ACR and behave as any of the included profiles keeping all the Develop module sliders at default. My method also allows for creating matching color across multiple cameras with very little effort.

If an established alternative method intimidates you. Fine. Other forum members may like to hear about more than one method and decide for themselves.



Feb 24, 2016 at 10:52 AM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
Because it is a well-known industry standard that offers ___less than 0.01% variance__



absolutely not, variances for certain patches are above 1 dE2K... plus Adobe DNG PE or X-Rite OEM software do not allow you to supply your own measurements of the target... you need software like dcamprof




Feb 24, 2016 at 12:46 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
My method is based upon computer software's ability to go by the actual numbers


again - you need a software that actually allows you to use the actual numbers (spectral measurements of your own target - and on top of that it is not easy thing to measure... spectrophotometer can drift... you need to do several measurements and average and make sure that there were no significant drift) ...




Feb 24, 2016 at 12:48 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
and when Adobe released the software for camera profiling ... I was glad to already have it it on hand.


so that you did not ask yourself what target data Adobe put inside it ... for X-Rite Passport ? for ColorChecker Classic - which version of it ? because X-Rite (after GmB was acquired by it) did change pigments several times and different versions of CC Classic have different spectral response... granted you can get a profile where greens will be green and blues will be somewhat blue - but if you are after any precision then using software that does not allow you to submit custom target data is quite strange ...



Feb 24, 2016 at 12:52 PM
butchM
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


exdeejjjaaaa wrote:
... but if you are after any precision then using software that does not allow you to submit custom target data is quite strange ...


Photographing your monitor (by the way ... is your monitor 100% color accurate to a pure scientific standard?) ... with an intentional focus blur is a more precise, scientific procedure?





Feb 24, 2016 at 01:00 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
Photographing your monitor


we are talking about creating "camera profiles" using software (like Adobe DNG PE or X-Rite OEM software) that does not allow you to use the actual target measurements... and then it is not a simple task to actually measure the target, even when you have a spectrophotometer... and then it is not that easy to make the right shot of the target, even when your target is quite matte as CC Classic / Passport vs SG or god forbid DC.




Feb 24, 2016 at 01:23 PM
butchM
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


exdeejjjaaaa wrote:
we are talking about creating "camera profiles" using software (like Adobe DNG PE or X-Rite OEM software) that does not allow you to use the actual target measurements... and then it is not a simple task to actually measure the target, even when you have a spectrophotometer... and then it is not that easy to make the right shot of the target, even when your target is quite matte as CC Classic / Passport vs SG or god forbid DC.



No, we are talking about comparing methods to achieve consistent and pleasing color. Not 100% accurate color. That goal is truly not possible by any method. I offered an alternative to your method that has been tried and proven for nearly a decade.

Who said it was necessary to involve a spectrophotometer in order to incorporate the Adobe DNG Profile Editor software?

If you are so concerned about a spectrophotometer why are you promoting 'calibrating' you cameras with a RAW capture of your monitor? Sure you can create a chart that is set to offer a specific RGB color value for a swatch ... but is your monitor displaying that color accurately to the point you can relay on that data to be rendered in a manner to match real world usage?

I could see if your main interest in photography is screen captures ... but in the real world this is of little use when photographing anything other than computer displays. Capturing a target image for use in the DNG Profile Editor is not nearly as difficult as you portend. It's rather quite easy. Certainly no more difficult than capturing an image of your monitor.

While there may indeed be some variance between CC charts ... the difference is not so great as to be incapable of achieving a sound starting point by which you can season to taste based upon the traits of the specific sensor at hand and then season to your own personal subjective case. ... resulting in a true Camera Calibration profile and not an arbitrary Develop module preset.



Feb 24, 2016 at 01:44 PM
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


Butch, you've lost it. It's really sad to see you pushing this into an emotional breakdown.

Please stop.

I hope the quiet readers out there might try this out, and see if there's any substantial differences.

As for me, I went thru several/many thousands of images last night, and the only ones that didn't look right to my eye were of the undersides of overflying geese, whose brown feathers had a green tint. It IS possible that that was because they were illuminated by the grass, and I had pushed the shadows pretty hard. But in this case, I found that using the Camera Standard profile produced more of the look that I expected.



Feb 24, 2016 at 02:15 PM
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


exdeejjjaaaa ,

Thanks for your insight. Things that I hadn't thought about..

I did actually start out measuring my DGK Digital Kolor Pro target with my i1 spectro. It reports numbers in LAB, so I had to hunt down a converter, and then the sRGB numbers didn't seem to make sense, and I gave up that idea...

I tried to use the DGK with the DNG profiler, but it's looking for specific colors in specific corners, and can't otherwise be adjusted.



Feb 24, 2016 at 02:19 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


butchM wrote:
No, we are talking about comparing methods to achieve consistent and pleasing color.


well if you are not after getting close to the accurate data then by all means continue to use whatever you use....


butchM wrote:
I offered an alternative to your method that has been tried and proven for nearly a decade.
.


I think you mix me with somebody - I am not the topic starter ...

butchM wrote:
Who said it was necessary to involve a spectrophotometer in order to incorporate the Adobe DNG Profile Editor software?
.


apparently you have difficulties with reading... it is not necessary if you just want to create some profile, but if you after getting close to the accurate data then you shall use the software that allows you to use the actual measurements of the target... Adobe DNG PE does not... software like dcamprof does... that simple.



butchM wrote:
If you are so concerned about a spectrophotometer why are you promoting 'calibrating' you cameras with a RAW capture of your monitor?
.


again - I am not the topic starter...bother to reread who was posting what

butchM wrote:
While there may indeed be some variance between CC charts ... the difference is not so great as to be incapable of achieving a sound starting point


certainly you can achieve some starting point where greens are green and blues are somewhat blue... if that is your goal... but the topic starter also can achieve what is some starting point where greens are green and blues are somewhat blue

what I am talking is not about your taste or adjectives like "good" or "bad", but how far in dE2K (or any other similar metric that actually has some foundation behind it) you are from the measurements...



Feb 24, 2016 at 02:21 PM
exdeejjjaaaa
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


skid00skid00 wrote:
Things that I hadn't thought about..
.


I can assure you that things that most of people do not think about (me included) are a lot more than you can even imagine

skid00skid00 wrote:
I did actually start out measuring my DGK Digital Kolor Pro target with my i1 spectro.


please note about the drift = here is the topic : http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=108238.0

your shall exercise a great care when using spectrophotometer and test that you are not drifting much - there I posted some graphs showing how bad things can be if you just casually grab spectro and start using it to do target measurements ...


skid00skid00 wrote:
It reports numbers in LAB


no = spectrophotometer reports data as spectrum, it is your software that shows cieLAB/D50 - use a different software or different settings and you shall get spectrum which you then can convert to lab, etc

skid00skid00 wrote:
I tried to use the DGK with the DNG profiler, but it's looking for specific colors in specific corners, and can't
otherwise be adjusted.


don't use DNG PE = learn dcamprof

http://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/dcamprof.html
http://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/photography/camera-profiling.html

and get X-Rite target - they are the least bad ones





Feb 24, 2016 at 02:28 PM
butchM
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


skid00skid00 wrote:
Butch, you've lost it. It's really sad to see you pushing this into an emotional breakdown.



I assure you I have zero emotion invested.




Feb 24, 2016 at 02:33 PM
butchM
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · A simple way to Calibrate your DSLR in Lightroom


exdeejjjaaaa wrote:
I think you mix me with somebody - I am not the topic starter ...


My mistake.




Feb 24, 2016 at 02:34 PM
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