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Ok I am getting a little frustrated!


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Ok so I am on assignment for my magazine here in DC covering the big day on the 20th - For the past 3 years i have had my 3 Canon 5D's, 35 1.4, 50 1.2, 85 1.2 and 135 2.0 as my everyday reliable set up - I worked out the quirks with the 5D years ago and still believe it produces one of the cleanest and close to film files out there - Newsweek bought me 2 DS Mark 3's last year and I hardly go near them as I hate the 'digital' color they produce and all to often the files need a lot of work.

Just over a month ago I bought a new M8.2 for behind the scenes work coming up next week with Barack Obama. Well I have just about tried everything I can to get a good file out of this camera! Even bought a brand new 28 and a Leica IR/Cut filter and still the color has this AWFUL magenta cast - people faces look PURPLE! The pictures resemble files from maybe 5 years ago with the early 10D's from Canon etc. I am shooting raw DNG files and using CS3 to process them (Files processed with Capture on software actually look worse) - what am i doing wrong people????!!! I would love some help because I don't want to become one of the 'naysayers' out there who shot with Leica's for years only to be hugely disappointed with the new M8.

Thanks so much from a grateful Leica fan in advance!

Charles Ommanney

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Really stoopid question without offense intended: You did set the lens recognition menu to UV/IR and you are using coded lenses? Maybe it would be a good idea to upload one of the offending files here and let us (maybe lesser photographers, but old M8 hands) have a go at them?

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I do not get these magenta skins and neither anyone I know, but we are all just amateurs so maybe we all do something wrong :D Since you are the professional works for a magazine that buys you 2 DS Mk 3's, does not you or somebody you know must be capable and have the proper gears to make a custom Capture One profile for your camera?

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I do not get these magenta skins and neither anyone I know, but we are all just amateurs so maybe we all do something wrong :D Since you are the professional works for a magazine that buys you 2 DS Mk 3's, does not you or somebody you know must be capable and have the proper gears to make a custom Capture One profile for your camera?

Or an ACR profile for that matter. The beta version of that software is available on the Adobe website.

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I do not get these magenta skins and neither anyone I know, but we are all just amateurs so maybe we all do something wrong :D

 

I realize that while there's always a possibility that the OP isn't entirely serious (no offense intended here either), I have to say that not everyone is necessarily thrilled with the M8's rendition of skintones.

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On the other hand the original poster could be a troll who was too dumb to realise that the 'purple problem' only affected certain fabrics, not the entire image.

 

Again no offense meant if this isn't the case..

 

Not strictly true Steve: LR very often imbues M8 files with a magenta tinge even when IR filters are used and the correct menu options set. I have taken to using C1 Pro 4 for that reason whenever I come across the issue.

 

T

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On the other hand the original poster could be a troll who was too dumb to realise that the 'purple problem' only affected certain fabrics, not the entire image.

 

The problem with IR is that all living things as well as certain fabrics reflect infrared, but to differing extents. The challenge then is to adjust the color balance of an image without posterizing or unbalancing those other parts of the image which are not reflecting IR to the same extent.

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On the other hand the original poster could be a troll who was too dumb to realise that the 'purple problem' only affected certain fabrics, not the entire image.

 

Again no offense meant if this isn't the case..

 

Yes, obviously this fellow must be a "troll".

 

Getty Images

 

Newsweek Magazine

 

By all means, put him on your ignore list.

----

 

Charles, you've already received some good tips. Make sure that the M8 is set to recognize the lens and filter and make sure that you are, in fact, using the Leica IR filters on your lenses.

 

Also, make sure your camera has the latest firmware. This problem gradually diminished most prominently with each firmware release. While it's not completely vanquished it rarely rears its purple little head with me.

 

Good shooting to you. Many here envy your assignment.

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Yes, obviously this fellow must be a "troll".

 

Getty Images

 

Newsweek Magazine

 

By all means, put him on your ignore list.

 

Not at all, I'm just suspicious that's all, I'd love to be proved wrong, really I would.

 

I googled the name myself, and have no reason not to believe there's a photographer with the same name as the poster.

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One other suggestion: Confirm that the filter is an IR cutoff and not a UV. I know this seems obvious, but it sometimes happens.

 

We use files from both Canon and Leica here and it's sometimes difficult to color match them when used in the same article, but it does work. Good luck.

 

Larry

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One other suggestion: Confirm that the filter is an IR cutoff and not a UV. I know this seems obvious, but it sometimes happens.

 

We use files from both Canon and Leica here and it's sometimes difficult to color match them when used in the same article, but it does work. Good luck.

 

Larry

 

That's what popped into my mind...

I am sometimes frustrated with skin tones, but generally I'm shooting under colored lights, so I try and chalk it up to that...

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Well thank you everybody! Sorry there seems to be some question of me being a 'troll' or that somehow I am not the 'real' Charles Ommanney (very lame for a serious forum) but I have found some help in your postings. Is the general feeling that CS3 does not do a good job with processing the M8 files then? Working under deadlines the Capture One software can be a bit slow - I edit and caption in Photo Mechanic and combining that with Photoshop is very easy...

Obviously I have set the camera correctly re; UV/IR on etc etc...

Charles

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Charles:

 

You also need to shoot DNG to get the best results. You should test to make sure Photo Mechanic is not affecting the color. Perhaps try a couple shots on different cards but do not ingest or edit one of them with PhotoMechanic and then compare to the shot on a card not uploaded or edited via Photo Mechanic to a shot edited in Photo Mechanic.

 

Make sure you have the latest firmware on the camera and the latest version of Adobe Camera RAW for CS3. I think it is 4.6.

 

Once you get the latest Camera RAW, you can fine tune the camera profile to help with the reds.

 

Robert

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Charles:

 

I just did a little test with one of my M8 files and ACR. When Camera RAW opens, you can select a camera profile by clicking on the Camera icon. I had the choice of Adobe Standard, ACR 4.4, ACR 3.6, Camera standard. In my case, the skin tones were best in this order:

 

ACR 4.4 Best

ACR 3.6

ACR Standard - Bad

Camera Standard - Worse

 

Robert

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