Canon vs Nikon – Part 2 – Color Balance
I had an opportunity to test out how the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV and Nikon D3s render color especially in difficult light conditions. I photographed the scene by setting Nikon’s Picture Control to Neutral and Standard. I also photographed the scene using Canon’s Picture Style Neutral and Standard settings.
Nikon D3s @ Standard Setting 3000K
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV @ Standard Setting 3950K
Nikon D3s @ Neutral Setting 3250K
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV @ Neutral Setting 4000K
You will notice in the captions that I have indicated the settings I used. I have included the Kelvin rating as this is what the camera recorded the scene at. I had no part in the adjustment of this setting.
All of the images were shot at ISO 3200. I found that the Canon recorded the images slightly warmer than I would have liked. However, the images from the Canon were certainly usable. Exposure from both cameras were spot-on. I did not have to make any exposure compensation for all of the images.
In a situation like this, it really helps to have the option of shooting with the Silent Single Shooting mode on the 1D and Quite Shutter Release mode on the D3s. Both of these cameras make quite a racket when the shutter button is pressed. In Silent or Quite mode, the shutter is only cocked when you release the shutter button. There is a dramatic difference in the sound level. It helps to ensure that you hold on tight to all of your accessories. The lens hood on the Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens fell onto the wooden floor as I was changing lens and rather than bouncing once, it bounced a couple of times. That sort of defeated the whole purpose of the silent mode!
* All of the photos were shot in RAW, then imported into Lightroom 2 before the images were resized in Photoshop CS4.
** Camera settings.
Nikon D3s : Picture Control @ Standard setting / Active D-Lighting @ Low / High ISO NR @ Low
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV : Picture Style @ Standard setting / Auto Lighting Optimizer @ Low / Highlight Tone Priority disabled / High ISO Speed Noise Reduction @ Low setting.
hmm…it seems that the colour on the canon might be too warm. the yellow/orange light parts on the left of the photo is almost clipping.
i’m sure your lens hood probably woke everyone up in the meeting there.
Yeah.. that lens hood sure woke everyone up! Yes, Canon does tend to record images slightly warmer. So long as you are aware of it, you can adjust your white balance manually to compensate. In this case, I was not so concerned about the image being warm… it was important that the overall atmosphere of the scene was captured.