correct (accurate scene referred) colors and pleasing colors are totally different. Nice skin tones are never "correct".
whatever...
Also, accurate colors are not achievable in a Bayer array sensor as indicated by this quote from DXO on their website:
DXO Color Measurements"The underlying physics is that a sensor can distinguish exactly the same colors as the average human eye, if and only if the spectral responses of the sensor can be obtained by a linear combination of the eye cone responses. These conditions are called Luther-Ives conditions, and in practice, these never occur. There are objects that a sensor sees as having certain colors, while the eye sees the same objects differently, and the reverse is also true."
This matter was discussed previously by Thomas Knoll on the Adobe Camera Raw Forum. I had theorized that if the CFA filters on the Bayer sensor had the same spectral characteristics as the human eye, color rendering would improve. He stated that such a match was not necessary for perfect color rendering but in so many words that only the Luther-Ives conditions be met. Since the filters are never linear, he concluded that some colors would be accurately represented and others would not. He passed no judgement on the merits of individual sensors. However, it is reasonable to assume that non-linearity differences in the CFA filters could result in differences in color rendering.
DXO on Colorblindness in sensors compares a Nikon camera to a Canon camera and notes a rather marked difference in color processing quality. Interested readers are referred to the link. Besides DR, some photographers may also be interested in color rendering differences among various dSRLs and MFDBs. These can be measured, but are infrequently discussed. DXO gives a metamerism index for each camera. It is 75.83 for the Phase One P65+ and 78.68 for the Nikon D3x. Another topic for us arm chair photographers to discuss.
