"Is Sony’s Color Science Really That Bad?"

[DanK]

Given all the discussion here about Sony mirrorless cameras (and my own interest in one), I thought this article from petapixel might be of interest.

[Abitconfused]

Seems a very credible article.

[pnodrog]

For a large percentage of the images I preferred the Sony rendition of colour. Slightly warmer skin tones and nicer tonal range in exposure.

Maybe my screen (laptop uncalibrated) or I am more in tune with Sony sensors...

I did not have the advantage of seeing the color checker results but on a quick look at the images they seemed acceptable and to use the term "that bad?" smacks of trying to generate a bit of journalistic interest rather than a truly researched comparison.

[Manfred M]

This article should hardly come as a surprise. This issue has been on the table for a number of years with people questioning why Sony cameras had inferior performance to Nikon cameras that essentially used the same sensor. It only goes to show that the sensor alone does is not what determines image quality; the sensor stack as well as the image processing circuitry all have an impact too.

Sony is not alone in this criticism. People have long been less than 100% happy with Fujifilm's camera performance. Skin tones are generally viewed as being good, but the results from other types of image making are not giving results that people are all that happy with.

The reasons for this are not all that clear as these are due to deliberate decisions made by both the camera and lens designers (yes the lenses do play a part). In the past, in the film days, certain films were chosen for specific tasks because of their colour performance for particular subjects or subject matter. Skin tones were more effective with certain films while landscapes were better with others.

Doing a custom camera profile seems to be at least a partial workaround, but that is only easily done when working with Adobe Camera Raw / Lightroom. I have read that they are possible with Capture One, but the process to create them is anything but straight forward.

[DanK]

Looks credible to me, although in most of the pairs, the differences are small. The color casts are more apparent in the zoomed-in images. I don't think evaluating these on an uncalibrated monitor is very informative. I suspect the differences would be minor in many applications.

I never paid much attention to this in the past because other than my tiny Lumix, all of my digital bodies have been Canons.

[rpcrowe]

This is simply my own opinion but, whenever I see an article illustrated with trashy examples like the first two images, I quit reading it and disregard anything that the author has tried to say.

How anyone could use images that are obviously several stops underexposed as examples of "Color Science" is not at all "Scientific"...

[Stagecoach]

This is simply my own opinion but, whenever I see an article illustrated with trashy examples like the first two images, I quit reading it and disregard anything that the author has tried to say.

How anyone could use images that are obviously several stops underexposed as examples of "Color Science" is not at all "Scientific"...

And with obviously different lighting behind the subject ..................

[DanK]

True, but the problems with color rendition in underexposed shots is still an issue, at least in my mind.

I don't have a Sony, so I can't check, but it would be a relatively simple thing do a few better tests--e.g., a pair of facial shots of a few people with different complexions under identical lighting.

[Shadowman]

True, but the problems with color rendition in underexposed shots is still an issue, at least in my mind.

I don't have a Sony, so I can't check, but it would be a relatively simple thing do a few better tests--e.g., a pair of facial shots of a few people with different complexions under identical lighting.

Dan,

So has the article or the discussion in this thread turned you against or for a Sony camera? This photographer, Manny Ortiz, has a Youtube channel and he is a long time Sony user. I've followed him for a few years and he swears by the camera but his criteria is far different from mine, in some of his videos he stated that he prefers to slightly underexpose most of his shots, in this link he has RAW captures available for download. I've downloaded and run through ACR and didn't see the off colors described the author of the article you linked to, but then again I have a particular way of editing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNjRS6ongt0

[DanK]

Not enough to influence me, but it adds a consideration I’ll investigate more if I get close to buying one.


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