Vivid Reds makes pictures look unreal

[Ardy]

Hi All, whilst replying to the EM1 question below it reminded me that an annoyance I have is that although I have set my camera on 'Natural' the reds come out so vivid it makes the image look strange.

I took a picture of a parrot in my front yard last week and the red was so dominant it totally ruined the shot and I deleted it. I have noticed in the past problems photographing red Rhinopius and the colour is so dominant.

Tried to upload an image but could not get my head around it. Used to be simple on the old system.

Anyone else noticed this?

 

[mattia_v]

A few options:

1. Shoot RAW, adjust in post (white balance or fiddle with the HSL sliders in the red). The RAW processor will determine the color results, Lightroom tends towards the flat, DxO warmer in default settings.

2. Shoot JPG and adjust in post (slightly less control, but still)

3. Adjust the saturation setting in-camera to get JPG files more to your liking. I can't look up how for you right now (my E-M1 is elsewhere), but I'm 99% certain the picture modes can be tweaked in terms of saturation and sharpness at least.

Also, is the overdone red the same on all monitors? And have you got a monitor that's properly calibrated?

 

[Ardy]

Hi Mattia - I do shoot in RAW and do post fiddling. Still doesn't look right.

 

[mattia_v]

Hmmm. Looks good to me, but I'm using a phone right now. Anywhere you could host a RAW file for download, so we can play around with it?

 

[Ardy]

Funny going back to the RAW file it actually looks better than this. I reprocessed it and saved it (jpg) without any adjustments and it looks better but still 'blows' out in places.
Can't post a RAW file it is not an allowed file type but this is the new jpg with no adjustments.

This is the original EXIF info. Forgot I took this on my previous E520.
Filename - _7291256.ORF
ImageWidth - 3720
ImageLength - 2800
BitsPerSample -
Compression - 1 (None)
PhotometricInterpretation - 1
ImageDescription - OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Make - OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.
Model - E-520
StripOffset - 655360
Orientation - Top left
SamplesPerPixel - 1
RowsPerStrip - 2800
StripByteCount - 8365341
XResolution - 314
YResolution - 314
PlanarConfiguration - 1
ResolutionUnit - Inch
Software - Version 1.1
DateTime - 2009:07:29 17:43:52
ExifOffset - 266
ExposureTime - 1/80 seconds
FNumber - 20.00
ExposureProgram - Manual control
ISOSpeedRatings - 100
ExifVersion - 0221
DateTimeOriginal - 2009:07:29 17:43:52
DateTimeDigitized - 2009:07:29 17:43:52
ExposureBiasValue - 0.00
MaxApertureValue - F 2.00
MeteringMode - Multi-segment
LightSource - Auto
Flash - Flash fired, Compulsory flash mode
FocalLength - 50 mm
UserComment -
FlashPixVersion - 0100
ColorSpace - Uncalibrated/Unknown (-1)
FileSource - DSC - Digital still camera
CustomRendered - Normal process
ExposureMode - Manual
White Balance - Auto
DigitalZoomRatio - 1.00 x
SceneCaptureType - Standard
GainControl - None
Contrast - Normal
Saturation - High
Sharpness - Hard

Maker Note (Vendor): -

 

[Ryan B.]

Odd thought. P'raps the Rhinopius is very red but your conception of it is altered by red absorption at depth--though that doesn't explain the parrot....

 

[gert7to3]

Late to the thread, but you have your camera saturation level set to high (the second setting from the bottom). This might be the reason your reds are too rich. Olympus cameras' chip sets seem to be more sensitive to reds.

 

[Ardy]

Christ! HOW COULD I MISS THAT!! Thanks a lot Gert I will change it immediately.