D700/Nikon Colors

[ricleo]

Hi Guys,

I've come from the Canon camp, and i'm using the D700 currently.

I like the ergonomics and speed of the D700 so far, but something that i can't really get used to is the colors for skin tones as well as scenery landscape shots.

The colors seem too "yellowish"

i've started using the "Fuji Superia Real" picture control setting and i like it for the skin tones, but the picture controls for "landscape" and "vivid" from nikon all seem too yellowish still. Tried the "Velvia" one and the colors look better but still too yellowish.

So i'm here to ask you guys whats your fav custom picture control settings for portraits and for taking colorful landscapes?

I'm asking from a JPEG perspective as I do not like to shoot RAW while on holiday. Easier file size management while travelling. At the risk of flaming (please don't!), i must say i really liked the "portrait", "faithful" picture styles of my previous canon 5D1 & 5D2 for skintones, and "landscape" mode with saturation boosted up for scenery shots.

So, will appreciate if anyone can help give guidance on getting better colors from JPEGs.

[Big Kahuna]

You can try Std or Portrait...it should give you more natural color

[Gunjack]

Try to get the White Balance right first. Then try "neutral " setting. Or decrease the saturation a little in portrait mode. I find the colours of the D700 a bit too saturated for darker skin asians, but looks fine on fair skin, so set the saturation accorddingly.

[u2nofear]

any sample picture ? I'm using portrait mode, look abit yellowish ..then i boost up ISO above 640 , can get more abit cooler skin..

[yyD70S]

Three ways:

(a) shoot raw

(b) if JPEG, use Neutral PC
(b1) nail the WB (preset for me)
(b2) contrast +1
(b3) hue -1 (this really helps to rid the green/yellow tint)

(c) if JPEG, use DX2Mode1 PC
(c1) nail the WB too

P.S. for me, DX2ModeI works better on potraits compared to Neutral

just me $69

[agape01]

I agree... shoot in RAW.

RAW brings out much more details than JPEGs. Sooner or later, you'll realize that you should have shot in RAW for your vacation images.

Btw, I too came to nikon from canon and that is a huge learning curve for me.

[cteckwee]

I believe TS would not want to process a few thousands of RAW pics taken during the vacation. Maybe the TS can try load custom curve so that the contrast and saturation is lower?

[JacePhoto]

I think you r right. I usually toogle between standard and vivid I.

[tomcatf]

Shooting RAW is still the best, NX Capture 2 can touch-up / save the photo...

My recent trip to Hokkeido was a test to photo taking skill... WB is much affected by the snowing weather, and many shoots were taken during the move/on the vehicle, ..

[K3N]

Try using standard picture control. Then modify your auto white balance to bias it with added Blues and Magentas. Try something like B3,M2. I think Canon's AWB favours colder wb while Nikon's favours warmer wb.

[K3N]

You might want to try the D2x mode picture control as well. I think it has toned down greens and yellows.

[Ansel]

Dear TS,

Theoretically, if your pictures always turn out too yellow for you, try doing a bit of WB finetuning by moving 1 or 2 notches left towards blue. See page 144 in the D700 manual. That will make all you images slightly bluer, which may do the trick for you.

For me I like my images warmer, so it used to be "-2" in the D70 and D200 days, but the D700 seem to be OK as it is, which actually confirms your impression that the D700 tends to be slightly warm.

...Daniel

[jnet6]

Originally Posted by Ansel Dear TS, Theoretically, if your pictures always turn out too yellow for you, try doing a bit of WB finetuning by moving 1 or 2 notches left towards blue. See page 144 in the D700 manual. That will make all you images slightly bluer, which may do the trick for you. For me I like my images warmer, so it used to be "-2" in the D70 and D200 days, but the D700 seem to be OK as it is, which actually confirms your impression that the D700 tends to be slightly warm. ...Daniel

Manual white balance is one of the better way to control if you are comfortable to manually set and adjust when the situation change. right?

[Ansel]

Originally Posted by jnet6 Manual white balance is one of the better way to control if you are comfortable to manually set and adjust when the situation change. right?

Yes, absolutely! Manual WB is the most accurate and precise way. But my method is a "quick and dirty" way that is quick to do and undo

[jnet6]

Originally Posted by Ansel Yes, absolutely! Manual WB is the most accurate and precise way. But my method is a "quick and dirty" way that is quick to do and undo

ya, there are many ways to do it, it depends on the person using the camera.

BTW the Color mode III also works well for landscape too. not so yellow added to the green, have more punch in the green.

[Godzilla Invades]

No doubt the BEST way to correct your skin tones is by shooting RAW as there are so much more details if you intend to print it on a larger prints.

If you only want to shoot on JPEG, then you have to do manual adjustment via the camera WB dial. Either way, you have to adjust. There is no easy way out.

Sure it's a hassle to change your 3,000 shots of travelling photos but seriously speaking, if you love photography 3,000 shots is nothing. Sometimes I just leave it as as since it's holiday photos, I wouldn't bother much about the WB too much unless the overall look is too unbearable. I will only adjust some of my travelling photos via RAW if I think the photo has to be adjusted.

Some newbies and amatuers have this perception that a $4,000 camera will perform wonders(Not referring to the Threadstarter). So those who are going to buy a DSLR, please be prepared for it. Colours, brightness, tonality, contrast and so on can be adjusted to your own needs. Some people love to see warmer tones, some people prefer a cooler tones. Some love to see photos to be on the magenta tones but some prefer greener. There's a no limit what you can do to the photos you have taken.

Camera is a form of tool to record and capture an image. During the film days, we pay colour lab printers to print for us. They also need to adjust tones as well. Nowdays we have the advantage to customised our own colour adjustment via a computer using various photo editing programs before we print.

Like jnet mentioned, there are many ways to do it. At the end of the day, you choose your own path. If JPEG works best for you, by all means go for it. WB on ANY digital cameras (be it DSLR, Digicams or $40,000 digital backs) will NOT always gives you an accurate WB. Camera monitors are not 100% accurate but it's a good gauge to correct your WB to about 80-85%.

On Canon and Nikon tonality range, well as you mentioned one is a CANON camera and another is a NIKON camera. It's like comparing Cathay Pacific and SIA. You love to travel via SIA but you prefer Cathay Pacific because the ticket price is cheaper. Both fly to the same destination but different service, different food and different air crew.

All boils down on how to adapt on your new toy.

[selamatlzh]

Originally Posted by ricleo Hi Guys, I've come from the Canon camp, and i'm using the D700 currently. I like the ergonomics and speed of the D700 so far, but something that i can't really get used to is the colors for skin tones as well as scenery landscape shots. The colors seem too "yellowish" i've started using the "Fuji Superia Real" picture control setting and i like it for the skin tones, but the picture controls for "landscape" and "vivid" from nikon all seem too yellowish still. Tried the "Velvia" one and the colors look better but still too yellowish. So i'm here to ask you guys whats your fav custom picture control settings for portraits and for taking colorful landscapes? I'm asking from a JPEG perspective as I do not like to shoot RAW while on holiday. Easier file size management while travelling. At the risk of flaming (please don't!), i must say i really liked the "portrait", "faithful" picture styles of my previous canon 5D1 & 5D2 for skintones, and "landscape" mode with saturation boosted up for scenery shots. So, will appreciate if anyone can help give guidance on getting better colors from JPEGs.

Are the results the same if they are taken with your tamron lens ?

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by ricleo Hi Guys, I've come from the Canon camp, and i'm using the D700 currently. I like the ergonomics and speed of the D700 so far, but something that i can't really get used to is the colors for skin tones as well as scenery landscape shots. The colors seem too "yellowish" i've started using the "Fuji Superia Real" picture control setting and i like it for the skin tones, but the picture controls for "landscape" and "vivid" from nikon all seem too yellowish still. Tried the "Velvia" one and the colors look better but still too yellowish. So i'm here to ask you guys whats your fav custom picture control settings for portraits and for taking colorful landscapes? I'm asking from a JPEG perspective as I do not like to shoot RAW while on holiday. Easier file size management while travelling. At the risk of flaming (please don't!), i must say i really liked the "portrait", "faithful" picture styles of my previous canon 5D1 & 5D2 for skintones, and "landscape" mode with saturation boosted up for scenery shots. So, will appreciate if anyone can help give guidance on getting better colors from JPEGs.

I think it's a matter of getting used to. I find Canon gives be bluish tones which I don't really like. You can download the Portrait and Landscape Optional picture controls from here.
http://nikonasia-en.custhelp.com/cgi...wers.search_nl

It's unfortunate that Nikon replaced the D2X Mode I and D2X Mode III with the Portrait and Landscape picture controls because I simply love the rendition obtained with D2X Mode I for skin tones.

[ricleo]

thanks guys for all the replies.

i've managed to tweak the WB for auto,sunlight, cloudy, share, and tungsten to my liking in terms of the colors, helps very much in getting the colors to look right out of the camera.

fave picture controls are currently fuji reala and the fuji velvia, i will give the D2X mode III a try for landscapes

Agree on the benefits of shooting raw, but i really prefer the convenience of jpegs in terms of file storage and archival.

For the question from selamatlzh, the tamron only works on the canon 450d, so i can't comment on how the colors will look like on the nikon.

slightly off topic anyway, the reason i switched to nikon is because of this http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showp...98&postcount=4 , so click if you're interested to know why...

[garagez]

hi ricleo i've read the link .... hahaha can't say anything....

cheers