Color: is Nikon superior to Canon ?

[digitaldog]

Yes, that's just the start of the problems.... Hue errors are perceived as much more an issue than saturation errors, and luma errors are very hard to spot. However, Delta E ab does serve as a very good starting point to begin tweaking from. It is indeed common practice it seems to alter the saturation to pump up the colours, and make the image pop. And yes, when calculating matrices, often some colours accuracy is weighted more than others so as to get "important" colours more accurate at the expense of others. It's a fun game to play, and quite fraught with subtle details.....

Graeme
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As an FYI, this is quite interesting and I'm beginning to do some tests with this target:

[a href=\"http://www.wilhelm-research.com/istar/index.html]http://www.wilhelm-research.com/istar/index.html[/url]

Powerful CIELAB based, full tonal scale, comparative image analysis software with simplified single-number or two-number reporting of results. Developed by Wilhelm Imaging Research, WIR i-Star also provides comprehensive analysis of image appearance differences with specific colors, including critical human skintone colors, or with user-selected pictorial "regions of interest" in both color and black-and-white photographic images.

[Ray]

To get back to very simple basics, when I did a comparison between the D3 and 5D some time ago in Bangkok, the first thing I noticed when I converted the RAW images from both cameras in ACR, was the obvious difference in color and hue in 'as shot' WB.

For the purpose of comparison, it was not difficult to get the color and hue very similar by equalising the temperature and tint in ACR. There was never an exact match, but globally it was close.

[Graeme Nattress]

As an FYI, this is quite interesting and I'm beginning to do some tests with this target:

http://www.wilhelm-research.com/istar/index.html
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=212839\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Thanks. I'll take a read and a look!

Graeme

[ejmartin]

How much of the issue is at the input end and how much at the output end?

I can see arguments for both.  The example was given of use of different paper at the output end, changing reflectivity will certainly affect the spectral content of the image.  There is also the lighting and other viewing conditions; device profile, etc.

At the input end, the spectral transmissivity of the color and IR filters and the spectral response of silicon combine to yield color matching functions for most digital cameras that are quite different from those of human vision (as was discussed in a thread not too long ago about whether raw defines a color space), leading to substantially different metamers and color response, which as Bill pointed out could produce a difference between different manufacturer's products.  Choice of optical coatings and other materials in lenses could also distinguish different manufacturers; I see that quite clearly between the various flavors of teleconverters I have.