Micro 4/3 Am I alone? Struggles with new Oly sensor

wt21

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Am I the only one that struggles with the new Oly sensor?

I cannot get the colors in a way that I like. I don't remember not liking the old sensor colors. The old sensor lacked inky blacks, and lacked DR, but I don't remember not liking the colors. Maybe my expectations were just lower?

On the new sensor -- it happened with the OMD and now my EPL5 -- it just seems that there is a magenta hue I cannot get rid of. It flares up into aweful pf, but in general, it seems to have this hue. I've tried the huelight profile. That has helped a bit, but it's still not quite where I want it. B&W is fine, lenses are good, I'd prefer an in-built VF in an RF body, but could live with what the EPL5 is, but this color issue is making me think of dropping m43 altogether :(

Is it just me, or does anyone feel similar about the new sensor?
 
I don't have one, but a quick Google search shows that there are Oly users complaining about a magenta cast. Weird.

Are you using Photoshop or LR? Can you try a different, non-Adobe editor?
 
I only really have LR. And iPhoto, I guess.

Yeah, I should have Googled for it, lol. Sometimes I turn to you guys first!

I'm a RAW shooter, btw. I also Googled "Fuji magenta cast" and got a few complaints about a Fuji blue-cast. I guess there's no pleasing photographers! (though there are far fewer Fuji color complaints than Oly color complaints -- at least in terms of Google hits)
 
Well, I did look at a few examples of the Oly pics with a magenta cast, and it's definitely there. One thing I noticed is the users were processing with Adobe, which prompts me to wonder if the issue is somehow an Adobe RAW conversion one.
 
Well, I did look at a few examples of the Oly pics with a magenta cast, and it's definitely there. One thing I noticed is the users were processing with Adobe, which prompts me to wonder if the issue is somehow an Adobe RAW conversion one.

Well, I can try iPhoto, which I'm assuming would use the same converter as Aperture.
 
You know, the more I think about it, I wonder if you aren't on to something with LR. I was testing jpg vs. raw the other day, and prefered the jpg output, but I'm so prone to exposure and WB miscues that I need to shoot RAW. But if I am liking the jpg output better, than it is the converter/settings. I wish I could crack the code in LR, and make an import profile. The huelight profiles aren't doing it for me.
 
You're not alone on this one, I too am regularly having to put in extra work to control the issue, especially when it shows up in its ugliest form in flare.
Irrespective of which lens I use, Pana or Oly, it's there but is at it's worst with the P7-14 i guess due to the crazy wide angle perhaps.
Lens flare per se isn't a bad thing in my book, I quite like it in fact....but when that flare is a very distinct magenta/purple then i don't really dig it....yellow/orange flare is quite nice and works well with warm light and a low sun...magenta is just damn difficult to work with.

Its the only complaint I have with the otherwise fine sensor.
 
I can go through a few thousand images I have taken with the E-M5 and find a only a few instances where I can see some colour casting as a result of a direct light source in the image. The worst offender shown here is the first couple taken with the Olympus 9-18mm. I won't make comment about the Panasonic 7-14mm.

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...but I can also find examples where it doesn't occur.

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If I have one issue with the E-M5 sensor it is its tendency to oversaturate colours, even in raw files. I ended up making some adjustments in the HSL tab of my E-M5 Lightroom preset to get rid of those awful Olympus sky blues and to try to make the colours a bit more natural like my Samsung NX200.
 
I'm with Nic, any odd color casting I get is when pointed into a light source. Pointing into a light source opens up a whole can of worms with most any camera ... even film. So I don't have any hard feelings if the sensor reacts oddly when over-powered by a light source.

Gary
 
In Nic's 2nd to last picture, are you guys OK with the color of the water there? Or the color of the sky in the one above that? I see purple there :irked:

edit: I'm going to the Caymans in April, and am planning my travel gear, so this is a real issue for me, lol.
 
This is the panel in Lightroom to mess around with to get colours to your liking.

HSLPanel_zps7bcaf063.jpg
 
Don't forget also the Camera Calibration panel. It may offer a more repeatable way of manipulating out colour cast problems.
In essence its a bit of the adobe raw converter made accessible in lr
 
Thanks all! What I opened up my post was with -- I cannot get the colors to where I want them. That includes fumbling around with the sliders, etc. Was wondering what others thought. Even in Nic's posts, there's a lot of purple, so clearly messing with the sliders still didn't help. Or maybe, as Nic pointed out, you get two choices: Cyan or magenta, lol.

I'm also considering trying Fuji instead, with the X100, for my trip to the Caymans. See if I like working with those files any better.
 
I have and E-M5 and E-PL5 and I can't say as I've had any problems compared to my several generations of Nikon sensors in DSLR's or other micro four thirds cameras. I might be unconsciously processing it out since I'm usually just trying to get "my look" in a shot. But I can't say I've seen anything out of the ordinary with the cameras that I got. Maybe it's sample variation?

How can you oversaturate colors though in a RAW file? That would be a software processing issue to my way of thinking. The RAW image is just RGB data and I don't see how you could have that without affecting overall exposure as well.
 
These shots look like what anyone would expect when a camera is pointed at a light source. I wouldn't consider flare and color issues in those instances a flaw. I shoot raw, but haven't had any unusual problem. I tend to cool off Olympus's traditionally warm colors, but that's a white balance issue, not a color cast.

So, to answer the OP's question: I don't know if you're alone, but you would be if you and I were the last men on earth.



I'm with Nic, any odd color casting I get is when pointed into a light source. Pointing into a light source opens up a whole can of worms with most any camera ... even film. So I don't have any hard feelings if the sensor reacts oddly when over-powered by a light source.

Gary
 
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