Jim Schemel wrote
Its a shame that Adobe CS5 color output for the NEX is really bad, because you have so many more adjustments at your disposal with it.Whereas the IDC software from Sony produces much better / accurate colors but the raw editing options are limited,
Have you considered downloading a trial version of Capture One 6 from the Phase One website?
I prefer C1's colors to those of ACR and there's all the adjustment options you could want.
Jeff Kott wrote: Jim Schemel wrote
Its a shame that Adobe CS5 color output for the NEX is really bad, because you have so many more adjustments at your disposal with it.Whereas the IDC software from Sony produces much better / accurate colors but the raw editing options are limited,
Jim Schemel wrote:
Thanks for the feedback.Its a shame that Adobe CS5 color output for the NEX is really bad,
What is bad with colors/5N and CS5? I am no color guy but I have been very pleased with the results (I shoot RAW and then do Bridge-ACR-PS sequence in CS5). Although I guess the vast majority of my images are taken with Contax G's, could that be the difference?
I think you're doing fine with the new cam, what exactly are you doing (if anything) with the color levers? I guess you shoot RAW (?) and pass images through ACR first. I rarely touch color levers there, but beware that moves with e.g fill-light, recovery and seemingly subtle changes with vibrance can produce unwanted color effects in later PP stages.
Finally image goes into PS and there (for me) I may use the color balance if I find the image having some clear tint in any direction. A house rule here is never touch the saturation (and very seldom vibrance) within PS. I usually find colors as intense as I want them to be, but again even though I doubt it, could it be the Zeiss glass?
EDIT: BTW -Love the still life shot of the yellow thing on planks a couple of pages back. Great shot (incl colors)!
...cont'd: looking at the colors on top of this page they arent very poppy, looks a bit like "low color resolution" on the iPad screen I am using now. We know that the sensor is very capable so I wonder if it could be the FD glass - or simply the weather and overall lighting conditions. A key move is to adjust levels in PS, although it's essentially a luminousity manipulation tool it also strongly affects the colors. Curves is a more advanced alternative to Levels, but personally I am too lazy to use that.
Jim, I agree with Wilhelms guess that one factor might be the FD glass which simply has lower color saturation (and contrast) than the Zeiss glass you're used to. Probably the profiles in the converter play an important role, too, but if you want to mimic the color rendition of your Canon, do tests with the same lenses if you have an adapter.
Here's a screenshot to illustrate my point: Canon FD 50 1.8 @ about f5.6 on the left, Zeiss 35-70 3.4 @ about f5.6 and 50mm on the right, same lightroom settings, both with NEX 5n: http://www.paintingwithlight.de/FilesEx/50ercolor.jpg
The differences between the lenses are less pronounced with indoor shots and less backlight involved btw. The Canon 50 f1.8 is otherwise a fine lens with a technically bad but interesting rendering wide open and stopped down to f2.8 and more it is very sharp and on par with most recent 50mm lenses. I used this lens as my main lens for over 20 years back in the analogue days and am happy to give it a revival on the NEX.
I am sure that glass is playing a role in what i am seeing.The shot of the yellow yoke and wood floor was taken with the Canon 28 FD in very even light and stopped down quite a bit.I believe the 28 FD is a better lens than the 50.
Thanks to all for the feedback.
Wilhelm - i always shoot raw and convert in ACR its only after the conversion from RAW to JPEG and then i upload to flickr the colors look not so good.
I just uploaded another photo to flickr - all looked good right to the end and then the color changed as it was ready to send to flickr- is it possible that flickr is somehow changing the color of the file uploaded?
Jim, I believe you may be using the wrong color profile. Ie it's set to Adobe RGB in manipulation, this is a common problem particularly when using ACR. Please check your setting when exporting from ACR to PS, I bet it says Adobe RGB?
(it has nothing to do with Flickr, it's just that almost all web browsers expect sRGB)
When in ACR, click the text below the image, it should say something about the color profile and bit depth. In your case it probably says Adobe-something now? A dialog appears where you can set it to sRGB. Click ok and close ACR. Next time you open it should say sRGB and nothing else. If so you should be all set.
(I do this only once when setting up a new computer, last time was a year ago hence a bit rusty memory)
A nice evening in Seattle today
I processed the file on my new Macbook Air, the screen is not the greatest,
so it might be a bit off. But it's really fast, CS6 works perfectly fine on it.
