My new Leica Q puts a yellowish cast on everything except the DNG files; is my Leica Q defective?

[DavidReishi]

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I purchased the new camera last week at a official Leica Boutique.

 

When I look in the viewfinder, at the LCD display, or at an exported JPEG, indoor images have a yellow cast. The DNGs are acceptable, and some are even spot on in terms of color. But, as I said, I'm always seeing yellow in the camera, and on the JPEGS.  In fact, I've already had to accept losing the one feature that I really bought the camera for--the Wifi capability--since the JPEGS produced by it indoors in normal light are, because of their yellow cast, utterly unusable.  But even sacrificing JPEGS and using only DNGs, I still have the problem to deal with that the image I see in the camera (yellow) is different from what it's capturing.

 

I've started to think that my Q is defective, so I hope to elicit some feedback from other Q owners. Does your Q do the same thing?

 

Here's a sample shot. The first image is from the DNG file, with the saturation increased but the relative colors intact. It's pretty much spot on relative to how the scened looked to my eyes. The second image is the JPG straight out of the camera...which is also how the image looks on the camera, both in playback and shooting mode.

 

 

 

 

 

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[wda]

The big unknowns are actual colour temperature indoors and your WB setting. How about daylight outdoors?

 

Regarding your pictures, the result is easily rectified in post-processing.

[Remy Fasol]

Ne suffirait il pas de régler la balance des blancs en auto ?

[Zipy2691]

Rémy meant to say: wouldn’t it be easier to adjust the white balance in automatic ?

 

Yves

Edited December 23, 2017 by Zipy2691

[DavidReishi]

I've gone through all the White Balance settings. I've manually changed the color temperature. I've shot a white-card. But the yellow cast persists.

Yesterday I tried an indoor shot with no artificial lighting, only sunlight coming in, and the yellow was still present in the JPG in comparison to the DNG.

I've found that I can remove the cast satisfactorily in Photoshop, but this doesn't remove the problem that I'm always seeing a yellow cast in the camera. I thought, maybe I can simply change the camera's JPG setting to monochrome and just see B&W in the camera when I'm shooting; but should I really have to have such a limited experience with a camera that's new?

[marcg]

In what country are you based?

[DavidReishi]

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U.S.

[DavidReishi]

Here's a shot from just now. No artificial lighting, only natural light coming in from the window. The first is from the DNG, the second is the JPG. And again, it's not so much that there's a difference between the DNG and JPG, which is bad enough, but that I'm always seeing the yellow-cast version in the viewfinder!

 

 

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[LeicaR10]

David,  If the problem persists, I suggest you take the camera back to the Leica Boutique and let them sort it out.  Be sure to take your unedited images with you.  The store should simply exchange the camera if they can't determine/resolve the issue with camera settings.  

r/ Mark 

[HighlandK]

The other thing to bear in mind is that you cannot expect an EVF or LCD to produce entirely faithful colour reproduction, although you would hope not to have a strong colour cast. Moreover you cannot expect unprocessed DNGs to look the same as JPEGs which by definition have been processed in camera whereas DNGs await your processing to taste. However that might not be your issue.

[frame-it]

really ?

The other thing to bear in mind is that you cannot expect an EVF or LCD to produce entirely faithful colour reproduction,

[wda]

I see nothing wrong with the whites on the dog's coat. Is your monitor calibrated?

[HighlandK]

really ?

Well it has certainly been my experience that I never rely on either for absolute accuracy of colour output or exposure. As to the latter the histogram is much more reliable.

[DavidReishi]

I see nothing wrong with the whites on the dog's coat. Is your monitor calibrated?

 

The cast isn't so noticeable in the dog's fur, but it is in the floor and the box, and the scene generally. Look at it in comparison to the DNG. 

[DavidReishi]

The other thing to bear in mind is that you cannot expect an EVF or LCD to produce entirely faithful colour reproduction, although you would hope not to have a strong colour cast. Moreover you cannot expect unprocessed DNGs to look the same as JPEGs which by definition have been processed in camera whereas DNGs await your processing to taste. However that might not be your issue.

Well it has certainly been my experience that I never rely on either for absolute accuracy of colour output or exposure. As to the latter the histogram is much more reliable.

 

I think you definitely can expect at least an LCD to reproduce the colors of a scene faithfully. My three year old iPhone virtually always does.

[Maarten]

Try to downtune the colour saturation of the jpeg's.

The second picture looks a bit over-saturated to me.

Maarten

[DavidReishi]

Try to downtune the colour saturation of the jpeg's.

The second picture looks a bit over-saturated to me.

Maarten

 

Thanks, Maarten, I did try that last night and thought I had maybe hit upon the solution. But it simply caused the images to turn a lighter yellowish cast. They looked light lemon yellow with the JPEG saturation set on low.

[Donzo98]

I must say... the DNG's don't look too bad to me.

 

Maybe it's the small size... but I don't see much of a problem.

 

Any further updates??

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[frame-it]

did you do a factory reset ? and updated the latest firmware ?

 

if its still yellow, then send the camera back with example shots..when others have not had this problem why should you compromise with an expensive camera ?

 

your dealer should replace it or take care of shipping to Germany

 

 

 

I've gone through all the White Balance settings. I've manually changed the color temperature. I've shot a white-card. But the yellow cast persists.

Yesterday I tried an indoor shot with no artificial lighting, only sunlight coming in, and the yellow was still present in the JPG in comparison to the DNG.

I've found that I can remove the cast satisfactorily in Photoshop, but this doesn't remove the problem that I'm always seeing a yellow cast in the camera. I thought, maybe I can simply change the camera's JPG setting to monochrome and just see B&W in the camera when I'm shooting; but should I really have to have such a limited experience with a camera that's new?

 

Edited December 27, 2017 by frame-it

[erudolph]

I think you definitely can expect at least an LCD to reproduce the colors of a scene faithfully. My three year old iPhone virtually always does.

FWIW, the LCD on my Type 246 has a decided sepia cast to it.  I discussed this with the dealer at time of buying and decided I'd keep it rather than wait for an exchange.  I think my problem was not an isolated one.  Of course it was easy to see because the images were b&w.