New D90, green tint on people photos

<p>Hi,<br>

I just got a new D90. Had a D80 before with no problems. I have found that most of the pictures I take of my children have a green tint to the faces area, noticable where there might be shadows. I am using the SB600 bounced off the ceiling, and have tried 3 different Nikon lenses: 17-55, 18-105, and 50 1.4. For test purposes, I set the camera to auto, set all lenses to 50mm, and took 3 pictures. All 3 show a greenish/yellow tint in the face area.<br>

I never had this problem with my D80. Any ideas on how to fix this? I cannot return the camera, as I have over the maximum allowed shutter activations for a return.<br>

Thanks.</p><div></div>

<p>Try adjusting your white balance.</p>

<p>On my LCD monitor (not calibrated), the green tint you mention is hardly detectable.</p>

<p>What lightings do you have on the ceiling? Even if the bounced flash was the main light source, the existing light could affect the color balance to some extent. Fluorescent lights can add greenish tinge especially when the camera detects the functioning SB600 and automatically adjusts the WB accordingly.</p>

<p>Another possibility may be that the baby in this particular picture is surrounded by lots of green things which might have reflected to the baby's pretty face.</p>

<p>Did your D80 really have no problem under exactly the same condition? There can also be slightest difference of WB tunings between D80 and D90.</p>

<p>I can't see the tint on the parts of the baby that are not being partially illuminated by light reflecting off the green and yellow and orange toys. Try shooting a gray card using your current setup and see if it's not quite gray. If not, then either make an adjustment to the white balance of the flash setting preset to make it warmer or colder, until shooting a gray card gives you proper results, or do a white balance preset of the scenes you are shooting using the same gray card (which is the surest way to get good white balance in tricky or mixed lighting).</p>

<p>Stephen, are you suggesting WB on the monitor or the camera?<br>

Pics are taken under regular incandescent lighting.<br>

Funny thing is, now I am seeing this picture on a different computer, and it isn't noticable. But all my D80 pictures were viewed on the same computer and monitor that I see the green D90 pictures. No green on any of the D80 pictures.<br>

I figured this was a bad example due to the color of the toys. I have plenty of other pictures away from colors that show the same tint on the faces. Now that I don't see it on this computer, I assume it is something on the other computer or monitor. But why only the D90 pictures and not the D80 pictures?</p>

<p>You picture looks perfect on my monitor (also not color calibrated). FWIW I find that bounce flash typically enhances saturation. If you don't like the look, perhaps reducing saturation in your picture controls or when doing post processing will correct the problem for you.</p>

<p>Do the pictures print correctly or do they print looking green as they do on your monitor.</p>

<p>Pic looks fine to me, too, on my humble little MacBook internal display.</p>

<p>One thing to know... mixing flash and flouro lights can result in some really nasty stuff...</p>

<p>I cant see the green tint youre referring to either. My monitor was calibrated recently using the trusty Spyder Express. </p>

<p>Okay, thanks for all the responses. I have not tried printing anything yet. I guess it is some combination of my software and monitor, as I do not see the problem on my work laptop.</p>

<p>My monitor is calibrated and the picture looks good to me. But you have to be careful when bouncing a flash off a ceiling that isn't a neutral color as it can give the image a color cast. Also the flash can't alway neutralize floro lights.</p>

<p>I was thinking the camera, but after your further comments, it sounds like the monitors might be slightly different, or even, as suggested, the bounce may have introduced a slight color shift. Flourescents can be a bit of a challenge when mixed with other light sources.</p>

<p>What wb-seting are you using? It should be A and not flash. According to manual in A the camera calculates the wb from the pre-flash and the ambient light.</p>

<p>I can see what Jason is referring to. There's a slight yellow-green tint in the shadows under the eyebrows and along the lower right jaw. Probably due in part to the reflected light from the toys.</p>

<p>Also the right forearm is slightly pinker than the forehead. So in comparison the face may be perceived as slightly more yellow-green. But only Jason would know how the baby's true skin color should appear.</p>

<p>I see this type of problem fairly routinely using bounce flash. The color is only as good as the surroundings, and white walls in residences are seldom true white. They're usually "eggshell", "bone" or other slightly warm, off-white tint.</p>

<p>While a custom white balance can help I'll suggest an alternative. Not everyone is interested in or needs complex solutions to simple problems. If you're looking for quick edits to the overall photo download and try the free trial versions of the various <a href="http://www.pictocolor.com/"><strong>iCorrect programs from PictoColor</strong> </a> . Of all the programs I've tried they make the most intuitive, user-friendly stuff for overall corrections of people photos, landscapes and scenics. It's particularly easy for quickly getting pleasing skin tones in candid photos and casual snapshots of our family and friends.</p>

<p>I've attached three variations of Jason's photo with possible edits. Again, without knowing the baby's true skin color these are just guesses. And, just as with color film photography, it's difficult to get all colors in any photo completely accurate, so there's always a certain amount of subjectivity regarding what makes for pleasing colors.</p>

<p>The top version was done in my creaky, ancient copy of Jasc Paint Shop Pro 7, using both global (overall) edits and some selective retouching of the yellowish shadows under the left eye, the chin and jaw line.</p>

<p>The middle version was done with PictoColor iCorrect EditLab. It's a multi-step process that's similar to those do-it-yourself kiosk front-ends to Fuji Frontier printers commonly seen at most minilabs these days. It starts out automatically suggesting an overall color correction based on available neutrals (in this case, assuming the window trim is fairly neutral), then a global adjustment to levels (showing a histogram for reference) and finishing with a point-and-click skin color fix. Just point to a representative section of skin, click and based on a default setting the color is automatically adjusted. It's also possible to adjust the default for the skin color setting to suit just about any skin color. It's slightly pinker than the Jasc PSP7 edit.</p>

<p>The bottom version was done with PictoColor's Portrait program, pretty much a three-click process for white point, black point (both of which can be skipped if desired) and one click on a representative section of skin. In this case, I deliberately chose to click on the yellowish shadows around the jaw to show how a simple program can be fooled into overcorrecting. So the baby's skin in this case is probably too pink. Clicking on the forehead would have produced a more neutral result, but would not have corrected for the yellowish shadows around the eyes and jaw.</p>

<p>All of the PictoColor processing is much quicker and easier to do than to describe. The workflow for the EditLab program is good for zipping through lots of photos in a session. While not a substitute for a good white balance in the camera, it's a handy way to quickly and efficiently fix the inevitable problems that result from mixed lighting where no single custom white balance will address every problem. And while it's not intended to be used on raw files, it works well on JPEGs and TIFFs. Perhaps not the best solution for "serious" photographers, but for tweaking our favorite snapshots it works very well.</p><div></div>

<p>My monitor is calibrated and the photo looks correct. It has perhaps an ever so slight tint but it's hard dto tell and maybe because, I'm guessing, you've got compact fluorescent lighting?</p>

<p><em>I cannot return the camera, as I have over the maximum allowed shutter activations for a return.</em></p>

<p>Is this a return policy or warranty terms?</p>

<p>Return? Why return? There's nothing wrong with the camera.</p>

<p>

<p><em>Return? Why return? There's nothing wrong with the camera.</em><br /><em></em><br />My question concerns the OP's comment on the consequence of the number of shuttuer activations. The anwser is the same whether there is something wrong with the camera or not. If you know the answer. please feel free to share.</p>

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