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Dissatisfied with the colors


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Hello all,

A question from a quite new M8 user. I'm often dissatisfied with the colors I get, especially with grass and leaves that come out more yellow-brownish than I like. Maybe even more pronounced in cloudy weather. It has been discussed here before, but some of the threads are old and maybe outdated?

Manual and Auto WB doesn't make a big difference. I use a coded Summarit with original UV/IR filter and open the DNG files in Capture One 6.2 using the M8 Generic UV/IR profile. Save as TIFF 8-bit and sRGB color, and then work with this file further in Photoshop Elements 8.0 (adjust levels, remove color cast, convert to Jpeg....etc.)

 

Is there a simple way to "standardize" this workflow so that I can come closer to the colors I want? Should I use the saturation and hue sliders, for instance? and what value/amount? Are there alternative color profiles I can use in Capture One besides the two M8 profiles that came with the program? I'm glad to hear what others have found out, especially those who use Capture One to make TIFF files.

My monitor is not professionally calibrated but I feel it is quite correct, as the Jpegs from my Olympus E-PL1 seem very good (and Olympus is known for good colors stright out of camera :) )

I know the M8 needs more work to get it right, but all say this is possible. I love using the camera, and pictures are incredibly sharp even with sharpening disabled (as I use).

from Geir

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Bit surprised at what you're saying as the usual effect of IR-cut filters on grass and foliage is green oversaturation generally, at least in wet regions. I wonder if your monitor plays a role in your problem. Would you have a picture to display?

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Thanks for reply, lct. I should mention that in some situations the colors are quite good. It may have something to do with wrong WB in some cases.

I'm also used to looking at my Olympus JPEGs on this monitor, so it may have something to do with what you are used to see. Maybe the Leica colors are more correct for all I know, just that they don't please me that much?

And it may be the monotor. Here is a photo with what I see as "wrong greens" (and oversaturated) and the same I have tried to adjust in PSE more to my liking (redused yellow saturation with -25)

I haven't ordered any prints yet, that's the next thing I should do, I guess.,,,

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Looks like green oversaturation caused by IR-cut filters at first glance. My usual tip is -40 green saturation and +20 green lightness but you might wish to adjust those settings to your tastes and Norwegian (?) greens.

Edited by lct
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Hi Lcam11 ( Geir )

 

As Steve implies it is very difficult to discuss the colors over the grid because our screens are not necessarily identically calibrated.

The way I see it, on my screen, the first image is absolutely fine. Remember that this year we have had a very rainy and wet summer across southern Norway, it will cause the green color of all trees and plants being more saturated. ICT mentions just that.

If the day is very heavily cloudy, it will usually also make the colors more saturated in an image.

On my screen it looks as if the KARCHER pressure washer has lost too much of its yellow color on the bottom picture. The first picture is probably the most color correct after all.:)

 

Regards

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Thanks for all replies, guys. I'm more "relaxed" now and sure I will sort it out eventually. I was out with my M8 today (partly sunny, partly bright cloudy and dry) and colors were just fine. Not that much grass and trees in todays pictures, though.

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Bur you should be working in 16 bits and Adobe RGB or Prophoto RGB to get optimal color results, now you risk color shifts and posterisation. And calibrate your monitor otherwise you are just guessing.

And yes, Jamie Roberts has some very interesting profiles for the M8.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks, jaapv. Where can I find Jamie R.'s profiles? Are they for C1.?

 

Hi,

 

Yes, the M8 profiles are for C1; they're ICC profiles. You can get them here, and if you search the forum, there's lots of information about how to install them so C1 can see them:

 

http://private.james-roberts-photography.com/M8/m8_profiles.zip

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I haven't ordered any prints yet, that's the next thing I should do, I guess.,,,

 

Ordering prints adds yet another variable. There is an excellent chance they will come back with somewhat different colors than seen on your monitor. That can occur because the printing service applied color corrections to your images (making them look "right" to the operator), or because your monitor is uncalibrated so the images that look right on your monitor come out "wrong" in the printing service's color managed workflow.

 

I get the most accurate prints from the service I use by specifying that no corrections be made to my images. But giving that instruction requires me to have a properly calibrated monitor and access to the printer profile for the printer used by my service. If I do my part I get prints exactly like the images I submitted. But it all starts with a calibrated monitor.

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Thanks! I will try it out..... Are they intended for shooting without IR filters, or doesn't that matter?

Geir

 

There are no profiles that will allow you to shoot an M8 without IR filter. Postprocessing may mitigate the color shift somewhat, especially if you know how to use LAB, but it is very difficult to correct all the way ( well, double or triple processing and layer masks perhaps, but that eats time...) So it does matter. Use those filters.

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