1DX owners unite! Discuss and post photos!

Thanks Jef, very much appreciated. I'm going to go off to see where best to get the colour checker

nigpd wrote in post #15361081
Thanks Jef, very much appreciated. I'm going to go off to see where best to get the colour checker

My pleasure, I bought mine from Amazon

Ive got a Spyder Elite so went for the Spydercheckr variant. Looks exactly the same type of thing. £99 from WEX plus free delivery today.... result!

thanks again

I just ordered one and a Spyder Elite from Amazon.

I really need to fine tune my Dell screens, this has reminded me

rafster wrote in post #15361279
I just ordered one and a Spyder Elite from Amazon.

I really need to fine tune my Dell screens, this has reminded me

It made quite a difference on my Dell screens. Well worth having. Apparently it does the iPad too although I havent tried that yet

Nice, I may also try it on my plasma (Panny VT30B)

How long does it take? is it literally a case of hooking it up, letting it run, then make some adjustments until it reads good values?

How is your 1Dx and 400mm going? My 400 is on order from Canon, apparently will find out tomorrow a delivery date!

Yep, only takes about 10 minutes for the first full calibration then check calibration periodically only takes a couple of minutes. All I needed to do initially was to turn the brightness down manually and the software/hardware did all the other adjustments.

Ive taken the 1Dx out last week to an FA Vase footy game. Wow that 400 is mega. 2nd half the floodlights were on (a few candles more like ). I could only use the 1Dx at that light level so swapped the 70-200 f2.8 from the 7D on to it. To get 1/1000 I had to use ISO 51,200 even at f2.8! Still got usable shots though and good enough to go in the local paper, so all good

with the 400

Just a curious question....prefaced by the statement that I am not in any way an expert on the inner workings of cameras and this is not to discount your test and results but maybe offer a reason.
Coming from the film and video world, there's a trend where cameras are dumbed down color-wise to give the maximum dynamic range possible. Cinema Style. I used to shoot with calibrated video cameras and then as the 5D mk2 entered vogue, added that to my kit but always felt it was over saturated. My 7D was even more so. After researching, I gave the cinema style a try and it does exactly what it was designed to do. I have now switched both video cameras and DSLRs to this and the results are great. The catch is it requires color grading in post to look right. So in a nutshell, shoot for widest dynamic range, correct in post. More work but safer shooting to capture highlight and shadow detail.
Could your findings be along the same lines with the 1Dx? Shooting with this level of camera it's pretty much expected to use RAW and do work in post to tailor the image. Has Canon taken this idea and increased the dynamic range at the expense of having to tweak in post? There's no doubt it's creating some of the best images I've ever seen.
Also, since lighting conditions and color change with environment, are you creating profiles for outdoor sun and indoor lighting both tungsten and led/fluoro?
Thoughts?

I've always used a color checker in my workflow. Each time I do a model shoot, I set up the lighting the way I'd like it, take a picture with the model holding a grey card and the color checker at the same time...and then tweak in post. Color calibration is a pain, but, once it's correct, it just works.

Good examples up above, Jef. You can definitely tell in the green and blue colors (colours). I also believe it may have to do with the monitor, as well, which is why everything has to be calibrated from the get go, in order to get the best colors (colours) possible. Guess I've just been so used to it, that it never phased my mind...and this has been since the days of the 5D, 1Ds2, and now, the 1DX.

Simple tools to make things that much better. Now, the real kicker will be to look at the images in 3 browsers...IE, FF, and Safari. You'll notice that IE really sucks, FF is decent, and Safari shows everything as true as possible, since it's one of the only color calibrated browsers out there that I know of, for now.

Oh, and for those that wanted the MS Codec to view thumbnails...MS has released a new one, which includes the 1DX. YAY!

http://www.microsoft.c​om …oad/details.asp​x?id=26829

yipDog Studios wrote in post #15361321
Just a curious question....prefaced by the statement that I am not in any way an expert on the inner workings of cameras and this is not to discount your test and results but maybe offer a reason.
Coming from the film and video world, there's a trend where cameras are dumbed down color-wise to give the maximum dynamic range possible. Cinema Style. I used to shoot with calibrated video cameras and then as the 5D mk2 entered vogue, added that to my kit but always felt it was over saturated. My 7D was even more so. After researching, I gave the cinema style a try and it does exactly what it was designed to do. I have now switched both video cameras and DSLRs to this and the results are great. The catch is it requires color grading in post to look right. So in a nutshell, shoot for widest dynamic range, correct in post. More work but safer shooting to capture highlight and shadow detail.
Could your findings be along the same lines with the 1Dx? Shooting with this level of camera it's pretty much expected to use RAW and do work in post to tailor the image. Has Canon taken this idea and increased the dynamic range at the expense of having to tweak in post? There's no doubt it's creating some of the best images I've ever seen.
Also, since lighting conditions and color change with environment, are you creating profiles for outdoor sun and indoor lighting both tungsten and led/fluoro?
Thoughts?

Can't comment on the everything you say because I've not tested the methods to prove it one way or the other, but what I can say is that the DR onthe 1DX is awesome and I don't see any deterioration as a result of camera colour calibration.

On the second part, yes, you would create a new profile for every situation if you want colour accuracy. The camera does a great job, but of course it has to strike a balance somewhere and you end up with a pretty decent average. But if you want to be 100% accurate you need to calibrate each time you shoot if you are in different light situations.

However, the handy thing is that if you do a corporate shoot and have to return multiple times, then you use the original profile and you get consistent colour across all your images and they look like they were all taken at the same time - cool

So here's another possibly stupid question...does the raw file take into account profile settings? I was under the impression that those were only imprinted on the jpg side. Which would mean processing the raw in post, which I have presets for different shoots and clients, is really doing the same thing.

On the video side of the DSLRs I don't have the option of raw so I've spent time creating profiles but if raw on the stills side is truly just the sensor info, the profiles shouldn't matter.

nigpd wrote in post #15361141
Ive got a Spyder Elite so went for the Spydercheckr variant. Looks exactly the same type of thing. £99 from WEX plus free delivery today.... result!

thanks again

I got this all wrong... I should be on commission

yipDog Studios wrote in post #15361513
So here's another possibly stupid question...does the raw file take into account profile settings? I was under the impression that those were only imprinted on the jpg side. Which would mean processing the raw in post, which I have presets for different shoots and clients, is really doing the same thing.

Yes, you are correct, RAW does not take profile settings into account, but jpg does.

When you open the RAW file you have the option ot apply the "Canon" profiles such as Standard, Faithful, Neutral and all those and then you have the white balance to contend with, but as I've already said, these work well but they're merely averages.

The passport colour checker is 100% accurate for the specific lighting conditions in which you find yourself. If you decide to use the standard profiles, which one would you choose if you were indoors under tungsten lighting with natural light coming from a large window? The standard profiles wouldn't come close to a colour match on this... you'd need a profile for that specific condition to be anywhere near accurate. And as for flourescent lighting, that varies so much depending on the types of tubes in use so I'd say a camera calibration is the only way in this instance.

rafster wrote in post #15361293
How long does it take? is it literally a case of hooking it up, letting it run, then make some adjustments until it reads good values?

How is your 1Dx and 400mm going? My 400 is on order from Canon, apparently will find out tomorrow a delivery date!

I have the X-Rite Colour Monkey. Hook it up, let it do it's stuff for about 2 minutes and that's it, all done automatically. I also have a Dell monitor. I bought the X-Rite colour Monkey because it also calibrates the printer as well as the monitor.

As for the 400mm on the 1DX, I haven't used it in anger as yet, only just bought it, but the prelimiary tests are fantastic. Focusses really well and quickly and the IQ is stunning and so is the bokeh; you will be very happy, I'm sure. I look forward to seeing your images, left me know when you post them