This is a follow up post to my earlier post about getting a D4. With some cosmic coincidence, right after I return a D4 back to the ebay seller. I visited my local Seawood photo and found a good+ condition D4 in their shell and I happen to have enough store credit from a trade-in two months ago. So, I ended up with a much better condition D4 for less money. Now that I have a D780 and a D4 lying around, I decided to check how two cameras differ in color response to a scene.
I picked a scene with some clothing in it because there are enough colors in it. I use a Zeiss 50mm f1.4 zf.2 lens set to f4. The picture on the left is from d780 and the right is d4. I like the d4 picture better because the wall seems whiter, and the red and the blue clothes seem to have more punch. Although the orange cloths maybe too saturated for my taste. The d780 seems to be a tad more sensitive. Screenshot 2025-08-15 at 3.00.08 PM by mikeapexi, on Flickr
I know nothing about how to set color in lightroom, but I am really curious as how to set the d780 to have color similar to the d4?
I think there are a few factors in why theres a color difference. The D780 has a newer, BSI sensor where as the D4 sensor was a FSI sensor. Color science varies between them. You can always make your own Nikon Picture Profile, mod the colors to match whats coming out of the D4, but again this applies to JPEGs, not RAW. I noticed a color difference between my Z5 and Zf and Z6 III. The Z6 III, Z8, Zf colors are far closer vs Z5, meaning it takes more work to get the Z5 colors to look like the newer cameras vs older ones.
I would not call it color science, but the two sensors would require different profiles to look similar.
Did you profile the cameras with lens for each or use canned profiles?
Did you try a Nikon lens as well. Zeiss lenses generally have very good color reproduction, but Nikon sensors may be optimized for Nikon lenses (maybe even Nikon lenses produced at the time).
The second pair certainly look closer than the first. From your note, I take it you manually set the color temp on the camera. Maybe its just me, but I sense a very slight difference in exposure, the D780 being darker.
If you want to play a little more, pull each image into PS, and use the eyedropper tool to check some of the more neutral tone areas (switchplate, door, and glass on light). See if a simple Levels adjustment will bring the numbers close to matching. If that works, do the images look closer.
Taperwing wrote:
The second pair certainly look closer than the first. From your note, I take it you manually set the color temp on the camera. Maybe its just me, but I sense a very slight difference in exposure, the D780 being darker.
If you want to play a little more, pull each image into PS, and use the eyedropper tool to check some of the more neutral tone areas (switchplate, door, and glass on light). See if a simple Levels adjustment will bring the numbers close to matching. If that works, do the images look closer.
The D4 does use higher ISO and does look brighter. I do see between the two cameras, the response to blue has a subtle difference. I had taken a few outdoor pictures, trying to show the difference, but I forgot to select raw format for the D4, so I ended up shooting all jpeg with the D4. I will try to bring both cameras out again to shoot side-by-side when I got the chance.
The D780 is winning me over. I disagree the marketing proposition of this camera as a DSLR version of the Z6. I consider it as a premium compact DSLR. I wish it has a joystick. I found the weight and size are meaningfully smaller than the D850 that I want to take it out more. The Nikon DF maybe lighter, but I almost always attach an optional grip, so they weight identically the same, but I can count on the D780's focus accuracy. I enjoy having manual focus lenses on my D780.
The second sample looks much closer. When comparing photos of different cameras or lenses, make sure the white balances are adjusted to the same value in LR, you're using the same profile type in LR, and the exposures are similar. Otherwise, it's hard to make any conclusions about color differences.
If you find you prefer the auto white balance of the D4, you can probably tweak the settings on the D780 to render AWB close to the D4. I believe the setting "Keep warm colors" will do the trick, but I don't have a D780 to confirm.
