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EOSHD Pro Color for Sony Cameras - a fix?
  • No one much praises Sony colors. But, many Sony cameras have multiple settings that can alter the color and look in camera. There are literally thousands of combinations, so finding one that pleases is difficult and time-consuming. EOSHD Pro Color is a list of in-camera settings to make Sony color have the pleasing look of Canon color (which many praise). It is not a Lut. The in-camera adjustments are thus made prior to compression, and can be much more precise and perhaps less degrading than those made in post using 8bit highly-compressed video. So, here is a video shot with those settings. The main subjects are flowers - nature's color palette. There are greens, blues, reds, oranges, whites, yellows. And no color-correction was done in post. This is also my first cat video.

    Oh, and even though this was a hothouse and I was shooting for a hour or more, the camera did not overheat.

  • 16 Replies sorted by
  • Wow - its definitely a "fix" ;) like buying pre-chopped carrots from the grocery

  • No, the analogy would be organic versus non-organic carrots. And then the grade in post would be Carottes Braisées au Beurre. :)

  • @markr041

    Do you have some color chart?

  • A color chart would be useful for checking color accuracy. This stuff is explicitly about creating "pleasing" colors, which, to judge, requires real subjects. This is thus just about whether one likes the look and whether one sets the look in camera or in post, right?

  • A color chart would be useful for checking color accuracy. This stuff is explicitly about creating "pleasing" colors, which, to judge, requires real subjects.

    I did not ask if colors look pleasing. I asked about chart.

    As it is possible to just check that this settings are actually doing by shooting color chart using original ones and this.

    Andrew and science normally live on different planets entirely. Hence is can be some fun to watch.

  • Ah, I see. By viewing the chart we can see what the settings change and we can have a better understanding of what is going on and even, maybe, why the colors are pleasing.

  • Ok. Shots of a picture of a color chart on a computer screen. First clip is Standard, second uses the EOSHD Pro Color settings. Both clips set for white balance using the chart's white square and the exposure was equalized based on a histogram using Vegas Pro 14. The camera used was the RX100 IV.

    Yeah, the color chart colors look better (more pleasing) using EPC.

  • Doesn't appear to be much more than a gamma curve, saturation boost and a blue shift... the real problem with Sony cameras has always been yellowish and plasticine skin tones. The Blue shift would compensate for the yellow... but does skin still look waxy and artificial? That would be the true test.

  • EOSHD Pro Color is not some mysterious LUT. It is an explicit set of camera settings, so there is no need to guess what it does. And, no, it is not just a shift in the gamma curve, a saturation boost, and a blue shift. The authors says: "Every single colour channel is tuned – red, blue, green, even yellows individually and magenta." And a lot more than that (since I had to make all the changes). And yes, seeing what the settings do to skin tones or anything in the real world is perhaps more useful than looking only at a color chart. But one of the explicit aims of the settings is "Skintones, faces and people given a more flattering treatment."

  • Ok, here you go - a video with lots of faces, using EOSHD Pro Color:

  • @markr041 What WB settings did you use? The suggested Color Phase and WB adjustments tend to lean towards magenta, but your video is pretty neutral. Was it just a different WB, or did you also alter the Color Phase from the EOSHD settings? Or was it the full EOSHD settings, and then corrected in post?

  • I followed all the in-camera settings exactly, including the WB shift. But I used auto WB, with the shift. For a number of clips I corrected WB in post, only using a white reference in the shot.

  • @markr041 Thanks for doing these tests. I found them useful. I'm using the EOS Pro Color as well, but with the saturation, contrast and phase dialed down.

  • how does it actually work? Is it just a pdf containing settings you put in manually? Or is it a file you install in camera by copying it over to the SD?

  • A pdf containing settings.

  • I would avoid Reid's Pro Color like the plague. Reid demeans customers who purchase his settings and make inquiries; he continually refuses to reply to those who give feedback on his website; and he's even deleted posts by users experiencing difficulties. In fact, Reid is an opportunist who takes advantage of the widespread ignorance about Sony colors - a lack of knowledge perpetuated by online trolls as well as YouTubers with no idea what they are doing. Here's a brief post about my own experience shooting with Sony, Sony's colors and charlatans hawking overpriced picture profile settings.

    https://jonpais.wordpress.com/2018/11/24/sony-a7-iii-phuong/