1DS vs 1D Mark II vs 1DS Mark II -- color inconsistencies

[AlbertP]

I've not yet had two Canon Pro digital cameras with color characteristics that were identical, or even close. And I'm talking about matching color even when custom white balanced under identical lighting situations. The pictures of a 1D I had way back when were plagued with a green cast, even when shooting raw and color balanced. I managed to dig up a custom color profile that was floating around the web to improve the situation somewhat, but there was always a color cast of some kind.

The cameras after the one 1D had better color, IMO, but color has always been different among the models. The only one I have never used firsthand is the 1DS Mark II, but from what I've seen on the Web, its color characteristics are different from those of its predecessor.

Does anyone agree? Essentially, this makes working with two bodies of different classes quite difficult from the postprocessing point of view. I've not found a satisfactory solution for obtaining photographs that are identical from one body to the next. This may not be such an issue for some types of photography, but for product photography, when color fidelity is of great importance, it can be.

The solution for me is to adopted different workflow for each camera, something that is inconvenient and annoying, but I put up with it. Does anyone experience something similar, and, if so, what you do about it. I see, by the way, the same problem with lower-end Canon cameras and Nikon cameras of different models. That is, the D60's color characteristics were and are very different from the 10D's, and that's different again from the 20D.

This has to stop. Someone should invite a Canon rep to this forum so that we can hear something definitive.

[Jay Farrell]

I notice that too, I use a 1D Mark II and have my 10D as a backup. The M2 took a lot of getting used to, as far as tonal curves, color balance, better saturation...at first I thought skin tones were too red, but I later realized that many images from my 10D were too greenish. I only trust kelvin or custom wb. The "dummy" wb modes have bitten me in the butt a few times, the good thing is with RAW and Photoshop CS that is easier to correct. It's strange how different your results are from camera to camera.

[photosbymorgan2]

I believe the differences are the same as you would find using different types of film.

I believe that each new model that comes out is tweaked to try and give the photographer more of what they have requested. Some people like velvia and others may like Kodachrome. It is hard to create a camera that is just right for everyone and that is why they give you the ability to adjust the settings so you can set the camera to the style you like.

[martinp]

This will always be an issue otherwise you'd be expecting Canon to lock in the response curve of the D30 into the DSLR line of the future. That's never going to happen. If you need consistency between your bodies the simple solution is to build or have built a custom profile for each.

[jwind]

In the past 6 months I've used a 1ds and 2 different 1ds Mark II's ( and viewed Images on the same monitor)-- There was color inconstancies from ALL three. The 2 Mark II's were close but the 1Ds looked to be about ~200K cooler.