Sony A700 Oversaturation and Reds

[marc_g4]

<p>Just bought a used a700, always wanted one, coupled to a used Minolta 28-85 Beercan for now.<br>

Two things I noticed about the camera so far. When I shoot landscapes, in the landscape mode, greens seem to be oversaturated to me. When I adjust in Photoshop and decrease the green saturation, then I lose some sharpness.<br>

Is there a setting that would yield more natural colors? I tried shooting in Aperture Priority, and that seemed to be better. Some people have suggested that I use the Deep Setting.</p>

<p>Secondly, whenever I take a picture of a red car, the camera whether in JPEG or RAW translates the color more towards orange. I have read several reviews that stated that the camera has a tendency to do this. Is there a setting to compensate for this color misinterpretation? If I use Photoshop, and lower Hue down to -10, then I get the color I want.</p>

<p>Suggestions would be appreciated as I am on a learning curve with the camera.</p>

 

[james_f6]

<p>Do a reset to factory defaults in the settings, if it was second hand maybe someone was playing around with settings. And did some colour shifts. Thus the reset will put all those settings back to default.<br /> Also I never worry about picture modes, You want to shoot landscapes, then put the camera lens around F11 and use low ISO.<br>

As for the second issue, does the car look red on the LCD on the camera, could it be your monitor? That said some camera's seem to do this, I cannot recall having the issue on my A700, will have to check.</p>

[parv]

The only time I have problem with red color (did not look for problem with other colors) is due to light itself (sunrise, light of discontinuous spectrum) and/or over- or underexposure. FWIW, I take images in raw format in "Neutral" mode with -1 or -2 of contrast, saturation, sharpness, etc. to be adjusted later.

 

Here are some (I could not exclude the non-Sony A700 images, so pardon the extraneous images, e.g. the red Chevrolet or the white Studebaker): in particular ...

 

- some blossoms of "red cockspur coral" are overexposed in light of the rising Sun, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/3255835012/;

 

- tiny bit overexposed red top is the one with female athlete with brace on the left leg, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/4957507669/;

 

- red foam appears red-orange due to the fluorescent light, http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/3163037084/

 

... and, color red seems ok to me of ...

 

- Kia Soul: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/5320529956/;

 

- cherry: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/4614600441/;

 

- clothing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bitteralmonds/4553467029/.

[parv]

Correction: I was thinking of white Chevy with dark red tail light where I rot Studebaker (front) which is actually red. Both of images still were not taken with Sony A700.

[marc_g4]

<p>James the red of the car looked orange on both the camera lcd and my computer monitor. Had to adjust hue by -10 to bring the image closer to the actual red.<br>

A review indicated that the a700 suffers slightly from the orange red issue.<br>

I was wondering which camera setting gives the most actual color rendition i.e saturation -1 or -2 in P, A, S, M, or just shoot raw and use the same settings and do pp.<br>

It is obvious that the Scene settings are biased in one direction or another. Someone even suggested shooting SrGB or Adobe but I think this will complicate things. I like shooting JPEG to save time.<br>

Parv thanks for the examples but yours seemed closer to actual red than mine.</p>

<p> </p>

[ant_nio_ferreira]

<p> Shoot both Raw and JPEG; Doing so, if something is wrong with the jpeg image, you can correct it using photoshop using ACR.</p>

[marc_g4]

<p>I fiddled with some of the settings, and found that turning DRO off, and using a Creative Setting of Vivid or Standard, with Sharpness +1, +2, gave me a closer approximation to the actual red.<br>

I now believe that DRO, although good for quick shots is better off turned off being that it can be biased in making a determination.<br>

For awhile, until I get more proficient, I will shoot DRO off and use P,S,A or M with the occasional adjustment to Saturation and/or Sharpness.</p>

<p> </p>

[parv]

Marc, could you possibly provide offending examples with EXIF data intact? Have you ruled out, or accounted for, exposure problems?

[marc_g4]

<p>parv, once I turned DRO off, I found my colors to be more truthful to what I was viewing in the finder, at least to me anyway.<br>

Being that color is subjective, I would say try turning DRO off, and use the settings of Vivid or Standard and see if you notice any difference.</p>

 

[paul_de_ley]

<blockquote>

<p>Shoot both Raw and JPEG; Doing so, if something is wrong with the jpeg image, you can correct it using photoshop using ACR.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Like Antonio writes, you really want to shoot Raw. Aside from color fidelity issues that may arise from in-camera jpeg settings, the a700 really likes exposing to the right and then you'll want to start with a raw file to get maximum scope for bringing out the nuances of the image in post. Also, check if yours came with the last firmware version = v4, and <a href="http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/model-home.pl?mdl=DSLRA700&LOC=3#/howtoTab">update it if necessary</a> from sony's website.</p>

[marc_g4]

<p>I have experimented further and have found that my a700, when shooting JPEG, most accurately renders red when I shoot using the Vivid Setting with Saturation set anywhere from 0 to -3.<br>

When set on Standard, red resembles orange to me, even if I adjust Saturation.<br>

If you look at these photos of the infamous red car that I have been shooting as my test subject, all four except the first render the car red as I basically see it outside my window. Each is shot Vivid -3, -2, -1, and O.<br>

The photo that renders the car orange is the Standard setting. DRO is off entirely, and I shot each at A priority f/11.<br>

I think DRO now has nothing to do with the color rendition.<br>

The car is also sitting in the sunlight.<br>

What I do not understand is how Vivid more accurately renders Red as opposed to Standard in this instance? See the images and judge for yourself.<img src="http://s28.photobucket.com/user/whistlebird/library/" alt="" /><br>

Ideas or suggestions?</p>

<p> </p>

[parv]

Where are the images to see ourselves, Marc?

[marc_g4]

<p>Had trouble uploading.<br /> <br /> Here are the links in order:</p>

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</ul>

<p>The Orange Color in Standard Mode</p>

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</ul>

<p>Vivid Mode</p>

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<li>

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<p>Vivid Mode Sat -1</p>

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<p>Vivid Mode Sat -2</p>

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<li>

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<p>Vivid Mode Sat -3<br>

<br /> AWB is on, ISO 100, Aperture Priority F/11, DR0 Off, Sharpness +1 for each, JPEGS.<br /> <br /> I just do not understand why the camera has problem with the Red until I turn on Vivid Mode.</p>

<p> </p>

[parv]

Thanks, Marc.

 

Man, car in that "Standard" mode image is very orange (to state the obvious). The image also looks paler, more yellowish (than "Vivid" ones) overall. Note that, besides higher exposure (about 1 stop), the color on the side of the car (not lit by direct sun light) looks similar enough across all the images.