Canon tonal balance

[allegretto]

was going through my LR catalog and eliminating duplicates. I know, I used the program for it but it doesn't catch nearly all of them. Lots of manual labor involved

going through the files of many cameras I have used over the years and it is interesting to see how the different ones render colors and balance. Virtually all photos are in RAW format.

what jumped out at me was how lovely my  old Canon 1Ds II rendered skin tones. Really striking. I realize that it's just my opinion, and that Canon is somewhat disliked by many here. But compared to M8&9, several Nikons, various Olympuses it was just "better" to my eye. Only the Sony RX-1 came close and honestly, it wasn't as good to me.

Looking to buy another Canon body/lens or two just for portraiture. Do all Canons share this balance? Was thinking 6D to save some $$$$ for glass, but will step up to a higher-end model if someone here really knows Canons and sees what I think I'm seeing in these files tells me different

As always, thanks in advance for your time/knowledge.

[Ellis Vener]

 First make sure all of the cameras have an updated process (like 2012) specified in the calibration pane and are using the same "profile " like Adobe Standard.  There are color rendition differences between various Canons, sometimes slight, sometimes not.

[nemophoto]

I've owned every 1D-series camera Canon has produced. I know exactly what you're talking about. I do, though, feel the 5D Mark III and the 1Dx (I own the latter, and have used the former) yield smooth skin tones. (I'm a fashion shooter, and actually greatly prefer the Canon skin tones over many of it's rivals.) Of course, much depends on what you software you use for your conversions.

[TMARK]

It looked better with tungsten than strobe, better in natural light than strobe.  Color seperation was sometimes odd, high contrast edges blew red WAY to quickly.  There was lots of magenta/red bias.  Never the less, I loved the 1ds2.  I liked the 1ds3 even more, and the renders nice skin.

[hjulenissen]

First make sure all of the cameras have an updated process (like 2012) specified in the calibration pane and are using the same "profile " like Adobe Standard.  There are color rendition differences between various Canons, sometimes slight, sometimes not.

It might also make sense to use something like the ColorChecker Passport for profiling each camera under a few different light conditions. I found that none of the color profiles supplied by Adobe made my Canon 7D look "neutral" for saturated man-made reds once I had calibrated my monitors and figured how to use paper-manufacurer supplied printer profiles (before that I was totally lost).

-h

[allegretto]

I've owned every 1D-series camera Canon has produced. I know exactly what you're talking about. I do, though, feel the 5D Mark III and the 1Dx (I own the latter, and have used the former) yield smooth skin tones. (I'm a fashion shooter, and actually greatly prefer the Canon skin tones over many of it's rivals.) Of course, much depends on what you software you use for your conversions.

very pretty people there, Nemo. Striking juxtaposition too. I'd trade a lot of equipment for some style and creativity...!

Everything I read tells me that aside from body materials and AF points, the 6D is a baby 5DIII. Coming from B&H today w/ 24-70mm but I think I'll return that lens and get a 24-105 f/4 IS instead. The zooms that top out at 70 can be frustrating, always seems I need 20mm or so more. Tempted to get a couple Zeiss primes in manual focus too. Which lenses do you find most useful for your fashion work?

[nemophoto]

Thanks for the compliment, Allegretto! Of the two lenses, I'd personally stick with the 24-70, especially if it's the 2.8 Mark II. Even the f4 would be my preference. I'm a CPS member (and have been since 1982) and try a lot of different equipment from Canon. I never really cared for the 24-105, but that's my personal experience. Other's may argue otherwise. I actually have a good copy of the 24-70 Mark I. For my work I use that lens, also the 50/1.2, 85/1.2, the 135/2 and the 70-200/f2.8 II. Of those, I use the 85/1.2 and the 70-20 0by far the most. Many years ago, when long lenses were the rage in fashion, you couldn't pry my 300/2.8 from my hands. I still love that lens, as old and but sharp as it is, but styles change...