differences in color between Mark ii and Mark iii?

[Christian_Stella]

Good news, Canon just announced yet another firmware update only days after their last one!

Firmware Version 1.1.3 incorporates the following improvements and fixes.

1. Fixes a phenomenon where being in the proximity of the camera and an Internet-enabled device may cause the user to complain.
2. Fixes an Internet phenomenon where exposure metering may change when using the top LCD light in underground crypts or tombs. Under these circumstances, the camera will now simply play a sad violin song through the monaural speaker and shut off for 3 minutes.
3. Reduces the Nikon D800's DxO score to 62.
4. All picture profiles are fully updated and now personally approved by Ken Rockwell for their increased vividness.
5. New interactive menu screen that lets you choose why you are returning your camera before shipping it back to us.

Thanks to all that are trying to help with this.

Snarky comments like the one here are pointless and make me think that those people don't own either of the cameras I am talking about.

Again thank you all who have had sincere and helpful answers and opinions so far.

Sorry, I felt that you were already presented with enough information to either tweak or return your camera by that point. I had already responded with my thoughts. I viewed your comparisons on 2 calibrated IPS monitors and I saw yellow shifts on the 5d2 and a magenta shift on the first 5d3 sample. Neither camera was perfectly neutral, but I definitely found the 5d3 to have done a better job on the outdoor picture, mainly because of less harsh highlights on the dog bone and the lack of the 5d2's yellow cast.

This is definitely a case of adjusting your workflow or equipment, as a new camera with new RAW decoders in Lightroom is never going to perfectly calibrate to your old camera.

I shot with the 5d2 from the week it was released and upgraded to the 5d3 on day 1. I shoot food photography for a living, which is highly color sensitive. Color-wise, I'm seeing a huge improvement in reds and oranges. I shot a whole cookbook for citrus on the 5d2 and I wanted to jump off a bridge because the camera would just blow out the color orange until it was simply a single-toned blob.

 

[Tracy Pinto]

mboss13 I think you should return those "faulty" 5D IIIs because I fear you are going bald. I had only looked at the skin tones (they looked very good) until you mentioned the hair region. The 7K will come in handy and maybe save more clients than getting the new camera's colors to meet your high standards.

 

[mboss13]

mboss13 I think you should return those "faulty" 5D IIIs because I fear you are going bald. I had only looked at the skin tones (they looked very good) until you mentioned the hair region. The 7K will come in handy and maybe save more clients than getting the new camera's colors to meet your high standards.

Glad you added your 2 cents.....way to respond to the issue. I think you should run for president, since you truly have a way to answer a serious issue.

Don't be jealous though, one day, you too will own a 5D Mark iii.

 

[Tracy Pinto]

Actually I have one and find your postings very interesting. I also would like to visit your photo web site.

 

[cpsico]

So we got lucky and secured two Mark iii bodies from Amazon and received them at the end of March. At least we thought they would be a great replacement for our Mark ii bodies.

Now, after noticing a difference in color, we wanted to make sure and ran some tests. There is a definite difference in the color that we are getting. Skin tones look way too red. I am at loss, and registering here to see if anyone is experiencing this? I am highly hopeful it is something in our settings, but we color balanced with both white and gray cards and all the shots come like this.

Did you shoot in neutral and process the same? Picture 2 has more contrast slightly more saturated color but excellent skin tones. I really don't see a problem

 

[Ryant]

From what I have read people are trying to help you understand that color on a camera is complicated. Please take a moment to look at this link on the front page of canon rumors that talks about testing a lens.

Jump to the section that has five pictures side by side done with five different 5d 2 bodies. That says:

Autofocus accuracy is an interaction between the camera (every copy of which is slightly different) and the lens (every copy of which is slightly different). Get over the fact that your camera is perfect because it is perfect with some other lens. Below are 5 focus checks done with the same Canon 85 f1.2 on 5 different 5D Mk II bodies, for example (look at the number 4s to see that no two are exactly the same).

http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/how-to-test-a-lens/

Note that each picture has a slightly different color cast. Every LCD monitor has a slightly different color cast as well. Every picture you take even of the same scene can have a slightly different white balance. Also I assume you print your pictures? Every printer has slightly different color. Nothing your using is perfect. My monitor at work is a 1500 dollar monitor sitting next to a 800 dollar one. The both are pro grade ips monitors. They shipped with drastically different color. You must calibrate them. The standard way to calibrate photos is outside the camera. If you refuse to acknowledge this you won't be happy even with another 5d 2. You can ship back your. Amerasian ten times but that is a waste of time. You also should not calibrate to what you see on a monitor but you should calibrate ultimately to your printer.

I find the snarky comments entertaining. If you can't take a joke then you need to lighten up.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[Bosman]

I struggle with why a person would return two cameras because there isn't a yellow tint.

 

[Tcapp]

From what I have read people are trying to help you understand that color on a camera is complicated. Please take a moment to look at this link on the front page of canon rumors that talks about testing a lens.

Jump to the section that has five pictures side by side done with five different 5d 2 bodies. That says:

Autofocus accuracy is an interaction between the camera (every copy of which is slightly different) and the lens (every copy of which is slightly different). Get over the fact that your camera is perfect because it is perfect with some other lens. Below are 5 focus checks done with the same Canon 85 f1.2 on 5 different 5D Mk II bodies, for example (look at the number 4s to see that no two are exactly the same).

http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/how-to-test-a-lens/

Note that each picture has a slightly different color cast. Every LCD monitor has a slightly different color cast as well. Every picture you take even of the same scene can have a slightly different white balance. Also I assume you print your pictures? Every printer has slightly different color. Nothing your using is perfect. My monitor at work is a 1500 dollar monitor sitting next to a 800 dollar one. The both are pro grade ips monitors. They shipped with drastically different color. You must calibrate them. The standard way to calibrate photos is outside the camera. If you refuse to acknowledge this you won't be happy even with another 5d 2. You can ship back your. Amerasian ten times but that is a waste of time. You also should not calibrate to what you see on a monitor but you should calibrate ultimately to your printer.

I find the snarky comments entertaining. If you can't take a joke then you need to lighten up.

Cheers,
Ryan

+10

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

 

[briansquibb]

I find it worrying that people get so much on the defensive when someone has a different opinion and has to start making personal attacks.

When a thread is started with "I found this error and am sending back my camera" then on a forum the OP can expect people to come back with comments which are not always going to be supportive. I believe that most 'issues' are user error or lack of understanding so the collective experience of experience helps the poster. It is very fustrating when the OP rejects the advice with a rude and personal comment

 

[briansquibb]

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

Are you sure it isn't the printer not calibrated correctly?

 

[Ryant]

From what I have read people are trying to help you understand that color on a camera is complicated. Please take a moment to look at this link on the front page of canon rumors that talks about testing a lens.

Jump to the section that has five pictures side by side done with five different 5d 2 bodies. That says:

Autofocus accuracy is an interaction between the camera (every copy of which is slightly different) and the lens (every copy of which is slightly different). Get over the fact that your camera is perfect because it is perfect with some other lens. Below are 5 focus checks done with the same Canon 85 f1.2 on 5 different 5D Mk II bodies, for example (look at the number 4s to see that no two are exactly the same).

http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-articles/how-to-test-a-lens/

Note that each picture has a slightly different color cast. Every LCD monitor has a slightly different color cast as well. Every picture you take even of the same scene can have a slightly different white balance. Also I assume you print your pictures? Every printer has slightly different color. Nothing your using is perfect. My monitor at work is a 1500 dollar monitor sitting next to a 800 dollar one. The both are pro grade ips monitors. They shipped with drastically different color. You must calibrate them. The standard way to calibrate photos is outside the camera. If you refuse to acknowledge this you won't be happy even with another 5d 2. You can ship back your. Amerasian ten times but that is a waste of time. You also should not calibrate to what you see on a monitor but you should calibrate ultimately to your printer.

I find the snarky comments entertaining. If you can't take a joke then you need to lighten up.

Cheers,
Ryan

+10

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

At work our IT department uses the spyder calibrators. However we dont print anything we only calibrate because we try to match the color of our content as best as we can before sending it to the end user which can use any monitor to view our stuff. So even if the color is perfect the color can be wrecked if the user has a bad monitor or settings.

At home I have a crappy printer that cant print the colors I want and i dont have the space for a nice printer. If I understand it right, part of getting your printer to print better is to setup an ICC profile which there is no ICC profile for my printer. The Canon pixma Pro 1 has many ICC profiles and you can make custom ones. The ICC profile as I understand it converts the colors on your screen to what is best for that particular paper type and printer and helps you get a closer representation to what you want.

I like your site by the way Tcapp, do you do something to push the eyes to make them pop more? It seems like you saturate them slightly I kinda like it.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[Tcapp]

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

Are you sure it isn't the printer not calibrated correctly?

I use millers. Not my own printer... I wish I had that kind of equipment!

SO I need to calibrate to them. Like I said, its pretty close already, thats why I haven't bothered to do it yet, but it wouldn't be a bad idea!

 

[briansquibb]

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

Are you sure it isn't the printer not calibrated correctly?

I use millers. Not my own printer... I wish I had that kind of equipment!

SO I need to calibrate to them. Like I said, its pretty close already, thats why I haven't bothered to do it yet, but it wouldn't be a bad idea!

That is not so easy. Calibrating a monitor is straight forward - but to someone else's printer is more complicated - especially if they have more than one

 

[Tcapp]

Can you suggest a cost effective way to calibrate a monitor? I have a 30 in ultrasharp monitor. Cost over $1100, and supposedly comes factory calibrated to sRGB. Its not too far off, but prints are a little off. I've never taken the time to really calibrate it!

Are you sure it isn't the printer not calibrated correctly?

I use millers. Not my own printer... I wish I had that kind of equipment!

SO I need to calibrate to them. Like I said, its pretty close already, thats why I haven't bothered to do it yet, but it wouldn't be a bad idea!

That is not so easy. Calibrating a monitor is straight forward - but to someone else's printer is more complicated - especially if they have more than one

They have a calibration kit, which I got, that gives you a print and a digital file to match to each other. Its just that I dont always have the patience to adjust the monitors. All three of them. I guess i was just wondering if there was software to help calibrate?

 

[briansquibb]

They have a calibration kit, which I got, that gives you a print and a digital file to match to each other. Its just that I dont always have the patience to adjust the monitors. All three of them. I guess i was just wondering if there was software to help calibrate?

If they give you the icn file then you just add it to the monitor drver (Windows).No calibration software needed

 

[ramon123]

maybe your setting are wrong?

i've heard that the 5D Mark III performs better in this area.

 

[CowGummy]

I too would love to see the OP's wedding portfolio. I've been booked for a couple myself and as it's not what I usually shoot I'm trying to hoover up tips and tricks. Any chance of sharing a link?

 

[mboss13]

Not sure what my business website link has to do with anybody on here. If I wanted to include it I would have in my profile.

As for attacking me or my clients, it is really not neccessary. I have admitted that a regular client would probably not see anything wrong with their image. I admitted that perhaps I have gotten used to the look of the Mark ii. I also stand my point that the purplish look out of camera on the 5d Mark iii is not the look that I personally like, and it is not correct. I realize no camera is going to be color perfect unless properly calibrated. I must have gotten lucky with our Mark ii bodies as they both produce identical images that look right to me and look correct when printed (yes, there might be a slight yellow tint to them in some instances). I am not sending my Mark iii bodies back, as the LR profile fix really took care of my issue, which is what I was hoping for in OP. After I receive my color passport I will try to calibrate the cameras to a point where we get the picture close to perfect in camera. I am glad I was able to learn this information from some of the helpful individuals on this thread.

I appreciate the tips and help of the several individuals on this thread, but have no intention of posting my business link on this forum. As for those that feel the need to massage their ego, you were right, I was wrong. I am glad I was and don't have to return these awesome camera bodies. Also good luck to those who have not received one yet or can't afford one, as I suspect those are the people screaming the most on this thread.

Thank you

 

[BobSanderson]

what little graph thing do you have in mind? My feeling is you shouldn't have to do that on something worth $3500 but I am willing to try. As for clients, yes you are right, most wouldn't notice it, but my business isn't built on putting out portraits that I would be unhappy with. Again, with Mark ii body, non of this is an issue. As a business owner, I would have to say right now, unless there is a fix for this, the Mark ii is for me a better studio camera. There.

Quote from: mboss on April 24, 2012, 07:25:26 PM

You may be right. Perhaps I got used to that look, but I really like it, however our Mark ii bodies are beyond their expected lifespan and we have multitude of weddings contracted for the summer. It has always sold well for us with the look out of the Mark ii, not a lot of post processing. Either way I don't think the redness in blonde hair should be happening. Looking at fixing it. LR profile already did the trick. Now looking at getting it fixed and looking good out of camera.

These quotes are the reasons I was interested in your work as a busy business owner. It sounds like you are proud of the quality photos that allow you to earn your income and I would like to see the look that is selling and what you don't want jeopardize with the 5d III.

I am one that can afford a 5D III but I don't think I am really good enough to benefit from all it offers - I am happy for now with my 40D. I am waiting for the mythical 7D II to maybe take the plunge. At any rate, good luck with your upcoming wedding season and in retaining the colors that sell well there.

 

[briansquibb]

Not sure what my business website link has to do with anybody on here. If I wanted to include it I would have in my profile.

It is only us amateurs that are prepared to post as we dont have a reputation to protect