Leica Q Color Matching With Panasonic GX8 + Nocti

[seppling]

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Hi Everyone,

 

Received my Q earlier this week, and absolutely thrilled with it so far. I've not been so enthused to take photos as I have been when picking up this little gem. It renders beautifully and is pretty disarming to people, so I find I get a nice natural portrait. I'll be sure to publish some photos in the photo thread soon.

 

I wanted to share my efforts to align colors of the Q with my GX8 + the PL Notcticron. Since these two cameras render color very differently, it was definitely going to be necessary for work in which photos will be side-by-side (weddings mostly). I'm pretty happy with about an hour of work put in today -- some slight differences I'm not sure I'll be able to amend, but shouldn't be noticeable to most in regular shooting conditions.

 

Let me know what you think!

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After color calibration + stylistic changes.

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[Leica Guy]

After color calibration + stylistic changes.

Would you be willing to explain a little of the process you used? Thanks

[SonomaBear]

I also have cameras with differing color dynamics BUT I shoot raw with everything except phones. Upon import into Lightroom, the alignment to my preferences is easy. The color checker is quite valuable.

[seppling]

Would you be willing to explain a little of the process you used? Thanks

**EDIT** I should make note that the top image is the GX8 and the bottom is the Q. Though, that was probably easy to see due to focal lengths.

 

Sure thing! I used an X-Rite ColorChecker Classic card and downloaded the X-Rite software that comes with it, which is capable of automatically processing DNG files and creating a DNG profile for your camera (all very automated, and extremely user-friendly).

 

I took the photos in the exact same lighting (early morning sun), with similar settings (f-stop 2.8 & auto white balance) Once the DNG profile was created for the Leica Q & GX8, I opened Lightroom, and there was now the new profile under the "Calibration" tab (I can also have these set upon import to LR).

 

I lined both photos up side-by-side and began adjusting, as the updated camera profiles were now closer, but not an exact match due to WB and a multitude of other factors. I then began adjusting the HSL (hue, saturation, luminance) of each color of the Leica Q photo to better match the GX8 (pure preference).

 

Once I got both about the same, I applied my stylistic filter (LKO) and again adjusted colors to match as closely as I could.

 

One thing I found -- the GX8 and Q interpret white balance very differently, and this creates some complications from the start. I now have my custom profiles set to Auto WB and will adjust to my taste, should I need to.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions about the process!

Edited January 21, 2018 by seppling

[seppling]

Updated profiles. Very slight adjustments to the greens to be slightly more luminous and more cyan.

 

Q first:

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GX8:

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