S-50 disappointment

[baglowj]

Hi, all,

I am grievously disappointed with my Canon Powershot S-50. It will simply not reprodcue the colour purple! A purple shirt invariably turns blue.

I've tried the white balance adjustments, but the camera just appears to have this major defect. Anyone else notice this glaring problem?

Sincerely,
John Baglow

[phidong]

Hmm.. I haven't had that problem at all? Perhaps its your monitor, or does the shirt appear purple in the display as well?

[Swat2]

John,

Not having notoced the problem before, I just ran a test.

I dug thru my wife's closet and found a definitely purple sweater. I laid it on a bedspread that has some navy and light blues, and took a flash photo with my S50.

Result: In the LCD, the purple duplicated EXACTLY, and was well differentiated from the blues.

I would think that if it duplicated perfectly in the LCD, then your problem must lie in the color balance of your monitor. Just out of curiosity, I'm going to download the shot into my iMac and see if the color changes. If it does, I'll post another message.

BTW, after 2 expensive Sony's and a G2 (still have), I just LOVE my new S50!!!

Good luck! Don

[5 Type]

If you have a Color printer handy, you can try to print it (I know there may be calibration problem here).

If you want to be 100% sure.... Get the picture printed (i.e. wallmart or else).

You can also send me the picture : jslessard@ifrance.com I'll tell you if I see it purple or blue. Or send it to a friend.

Or try this search on google : "monitor calibration" you'll find sites & software to calibrate your monitor and see the colors as they will appear on a print.

Or, if you have photoshop, open the picture, use the color picker and clik on the "purple color" and give us the RGB or CMYK color settings...

Hope it helped a little.

[5 Type]

I have received your email.

Here's the picture
http://pages.infinit.net/p5type/shirt.jpg

From what i see.... this look Pretty Purple to me.

Exact RGB : 48 / 36 / 86.

I think your monitor might need calibration.

Others, what do you think about this.

Take a look at this :
http://www.hex2bit.com/products/product_mcw.asp

[baglowj]

Wow! Thank you for that, and I'll re-calibrate the monitor, which shouldn't have needed it, being a plasma 17" beauty. What I don't understand, of course, is that I'm viewing what you sent on the monitor and it now looks purple!

However--my Canon printer is faithfully reproducing the blue that the monitor presently shows. Odd, eh? In fact, that printer, asked to print Microsoft Word purple (fonts, etc.) invariably produces a muddy brown.

See,s like eveything's out of step but my camera! :) But thanks, because I liked the S-50 so much that it would have been a shame to have discovered a flaw.

Best,
John Baglow

[stopbath]

The purple of the shirt that your eyes see, may not be reproducable by the CCD just because the way the CCD and eyes work are different.

Although this is a film based web page, it may help explain why some colours are just never the same once you photograph them (film or digital.)

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/e73/e73.jhtml

[piper]

I had (and still have) the same problem with my S45. The problem extends into the Gx series Canons. Search the forum for "purple" and you'll see what I mean.

I found it to be a white balance problem. If I am shooting purple flowers I check different WB settings until the LCD purple most closely matches the object. Unlike others I have found the LCD shifted purples match what gets saved and what shows up on your monitor or print.