Color Science: Canon vs Sony

So do you get red faced even just with good single malts? I have my favorite Scottish malts: one hidden gem many don̢t know about is Bunnahabhain (unusual Islay that’s not that peaty and has a lot of character). I know there are Japanese single malts that are good, but I don’t know how to get into them (reviewers like ralfy haven’t gotten into them). Any recommendation there?

Just a follow up for the people that voted:

A is the Canon
B is the Sony

I would like to revisit this test with an A7iii or A7R3 and different lighting (studio, and more varied natural lighting) at some point.

It's tough to judge "color science" on one shot.Shoot a whole basketball game or similar perhaps indoor sports where lighting conditions constantly change and then post the results.Yes I shoot a 6d and a Nikon D750 and a fellow local sport shooter I know shoots a Sony A9 and IMHO the Canon colors are so much better than the Sony-along with the Nikon.For all the criticism against Canon I believe they have the best "Look" or color science followed by the Nikon then the Sony.To each his own I guess.

rogue.guineapig wrote in post #18772647
Just a follow up for the people that voted:

A is the Canon
B is the Sony

I would like to revisit this test with an A7iii or A7R3 and different lighting (studio, and more varied natural lighting) at some point.

Thanks, interesting. I preferred A and thought it was Sony. I like both Canon and Sony but just so happen to own a Sony right now because as a portrait shooter, the superior eye AF is more important to me than Canon's color. Besides, I have got it down to where shots of my Sony look nearly identical to the ones off any Canon I have used. I shoot JPEGs but I think this would be even less of a deal to those shooting RAW, you can change colors quickly and easily with RAW profiles.

Well I have a Sony A7iii for the next 12 days with a MetaBones IV so... some more A/Bing is in the works!
And yes, I definitely want to side-by-side the two in different lighting situations...that's a must!

elitejp wrote in post #18765246
Im still going to shout canons color science is the best. Just be sure to tell me which picture was shot with canon so that i know which picture i like better

I don't know if it's best, but I can say I enjoy the color. And I am also concerned about JPG and RAW.

But sometimes I find "color science" or "what looks best" means less than how does an image look compared to what the person or scene actually looked like.

It's an interesting discussion, but why does it really matter? At the sensor level both cameras gather about the same data. Then the people take over. The RAW data has an in camera profile assigned - some of which you can control and some of which relate to your defaults. When you use ACR or Lightroom to import the image, new profiles are assigned. They may be based on your camera's selection, or default Adobe profiles, or Adobe's interpretation of your camera profile. White balance is an interpretation of RAW data and similarly varies - daylight can be whatever color Adobe or the photographer wants. The ambient light - and the reflection of light off surfaces in the area - all contribute to color and white balance. If you have a specific color tint you want, the HSL panel can be used.

Throwing a wrench in the works, newer cameras constantly tweak the way color is processed. As you add color depth different colors are impacted. The color depth of the newest cameras is greater than older models.

The images here are sRGB - or possibly well under sRGB on a laptop. Would it make any difference if you viewed the images on a different monitor or using a different color space?

At the end of the day, you can choose whatever color you want for skin tones. There is an art to choosing color and desired skin tones. I won't refer to it as perfecting skin tones because it is really a matter of conditions and choice.

The place I would really struggle is using both cameras for an event - like a wedding. There are good reasons to use two different brands. To present images to a client, I would want the color of skin to be consistent. So I need to apply a camera specific profile to one or both images to make them look the same or nearly the same. And that is to my taste - and the client's taste may be slightly different.

So maybe a better question - given the skin tones of the two images are different and you want them to be the same - what adjustments are needed? Are there specific tools that help?