S30 and Colours

[oldjohn]

Hi,

I've just bought a Canon s30 (my first digital camera) and I'm somewhat puzzled by the way it handles dark blue and purple colours. They all turn into a light -sometimes - washed out blue. It happens when you look through the LCD screen, on the PC monitor and on the printouts. I've tried several things (white balance, Vivid program, etc) but none of it worked. The purple flower (stark mix of blue and red) remains blue and the blue checkers in a red/white/blue costume are all light blue instead of dark. I took pictures of a colour chart with purple in it and it also turns out blue.
It is kind of irritating to see this happening. I'm trying to find out if other S30 owners recognise this, or if it is a specific problem I have with my camera.

Regards,
Edwin

[Rustle]

That's very strange. Sounds to me like it might be a defective camera, since you've tried a number of settings. I haven't noticed the same problem with my S30.

Russ

[mikey]

hello edwin

purples & blues of all shades are very true with my s30 - no problems noticed & no need to manipulate settings whatsoever. perhaps as ross suggested it's a camera defect.

good luck

[dwillar]

Could it be something like the flash washing out the colors. My S30 gives great blue colors, but I have noticed washout with some flash shots.

[iandnor]

My S30 is fine on blues and purples too.

[jim9tan]

Hi OldJohn,

Got the same experience with a S40. I think the S30/40 & G2 have very pure primary colors, but do sometimes fail in representing mixed colors.

I noticed that light purples can turn into vivid blues and dark purple acquire a reddish cast. Unfortunately, I don't have the technical knowledge to offer a theory of what the camera is doing.

[jim9tan]

Hi,

Update. Just took a picture during dusk of a pink purple flower. In auto WB, it look blue. But, in Flash WB the camera recorded the correct color. I guess the FLASH setting lowered the color temperature. Possibly, the UV reflection off the flower may have fooled the camera.