This blog is my attempt to keep track of some of the things I learn along the way, with my Canon 7D, G12 and accessories. All images copyright Brad Calkins, not to be used without permission (or purchase). I do not attempt to monetize my blog, other than to promote my stock photo portfolio on Dreamstime.







Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Profile your camera

Since I got my GF-1 I've been bothered a bit with trying to get consistent color between it and my DSLR (Canon 40D).  While I don't really expect an exact match, I do find that I like the color on the Canon better, and the Panasonic seems a bit off.  Skin color especially seems tricky to get right with any of the built in presets for white balance and 'film style'.  I tried profiling it in Lightroom today and below is the result.  There is quite a different in the individual color patches and how much more saturated they render now.  Looking forward to doing the same with my SLR and comparing them with some real shots.  First up is the original / default profile, second is profilied from a target...  Decide for yourself :)  Definitely less of a difference on the blog than directly compared in Lightroom.

3 comments:

Luis Santos said...

On the 2nd I can see more light on the background and less on the fore.. Opposite of the 1st :) I prefer the second :)

Eric Côté said...

I prefer the 2nd too. How did you profile it?

Have you heard of the X-Rite Color Passport? (http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?pageid=141&utm_source=xrite.com&utm_medium=homepage-banner&utm_campaign=joe-brady). I read some good reviews on it and I'm trying to decide if I'm ordering one. It sure looks great on the little video but I wonder how it performs in real life. Any expericne on your side of the country with that?

Brad C said...

As a matter of fact, the XRite is exactly what I was using to profile. My experience so far is that it works wonders with a camera that isn't as supported in Adobe - my GF1 falls in the camp of only supporting the 'Adobe Standard' profile. There is a very visible difference when you capture the checker in the same light you are shooting. With my Canon I'm already happy with the color, but this should make it more consistent with my GF1. Works great in Lightroom, except the DNG export default to a version you can't import into the Colorchecker software (so I export as v4.6).