Help me with D7000 skin tones

I've tried everything now. I've downloaded demo after demo of raw converters, I've downloaded custom curves for Picture control used Colorchecker to generate a custom profile for the D7000 using Adobe DNG Profile Editor. I've done EVERYTHING during these months with the D7000. And I keep getting lousy skin tones whatever I do.

To achive good skin tones you need: exactly the right lighting, exactly the right exposure and exactly the right white balance. Otherwise skin tones are horrible.

Here's an example. I know that the White Balance is a bit off (too mangenta and a tiny bit cold) and that it's a slightly bit overexposed. That is correctable but I still do not get decent skin tones out of this image, or pretty much any image with this camera. So I will provide you the raw file for you to download and tweak as you wish. Prove to me that it is possible to get credible skin tones from this camera. Because I can't. Here's a couple of tries:

Nikon Capture Portrait Profile





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Lightroom Adobe Standard (Really close to my autogeneratd custom profile from a colorchecker)





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Capture One Pro Standard





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And here's a link to the RAW-file if you wan't to help me.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27605059/Photo/Raw%20file.nef

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And here are two fast edits. Regard them as trials of my own:

What are you talking about? Is this a joke? What do you want in skin tones? It may be a matter of personal preferance, but I see nothing whatsoever wrong with the skin tones in this picture. I think you have gone so far into PP that you can't see the forest for the trees.

I'm in agreement with your comments...but I'm an amateur.

It will be interesting to see what better photogs say.

I don't think there's a reply you could get here, that the previous thread of yours couldn't answer.

FWIW.. I see an overcast day.. which 'usually' produces a blue light doesn't it? 'if' the auto WB doesn't do it for you, the photographer, you, select an appropriate setting to correct it.

I think the skin tones are realistic for the obvious conditions.. I like them.

Oh dear... roll on.

--
There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.' :'!':

I've shot portraits for 25 years, and I can't see a THING wrong with this given the lighting and exposure values. Not sure what you're looking for.

I keep hearing the D7000 has "bad skin tones", but frankly my portraits have been marvelous. People have remarked that the Canon's are better. I've shot the two side by side with the exact same lens, and I don't see that either.

Maybe I'm just old.

Craig49 said:

I'm in agreement with your comments...but I'm an amateur.

It will be interesting to see what better photogs say.

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Swedish Hambern said:

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I downloaded the original and noted you set a specific color for your white balance settings in auto. Interesting choice though the original looks much better than your re-do in LR on my monitor. Could your monitor need calibration? Your LR PP looks very chalky and pale to me, is that what the couple original looked like in that lighting? Looking at the road and building it's hard to tell.

skintone also fine to me. You need more contrast

Here's a more recent shot. Taken today. The set up is fool proof. My daughter in front of a window. In real life the light was really nice and soft. But through my D7000 the skin gets an yellow, green, pink... yes a really strange color that no one has on their skin. Here's a lot of examples of different renditions. Not one of them comes close to the real color. And it's IMPOSSIBLE to get it to look anything near it. You're again welcome to try for yourself:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27605059/Photo/Raw%20file%202.nef

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The first image was wrong... Here it is:

So you all think these photos shows okay skin tones? For real? I guess I will have no help from you then. And yes. I have a perfectly fine calibrated monitor on my Macbook Pro 2011.

Sorry, but this image is ok on my monitor, there are variations, but it's ok (of course the girls is oof, so that doesn't count, but the guy is ok.

Until you shoot two cameras side-by-side, same moment, and really show the problems that only you seem to see, your posts here are totally useless.

But maybe you are need of a different type of help, obssessiveness can be very destructive and I'm not joking. Think a bit about it, you could be out there enjoying your tools, put your priorities in the right places. It's ok to compare cameras and test them, but this is beyond that IMHO.

--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/

Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)

I haven't done this "copy another photo into my PP program and then repost it into the same thread" routine before, but thought I'd try my hand with the OP's shot. Here goes my attempt:





I would attribute the OP's dissatisfaction to overexposure and white balance settings on the D7000. I don't think the camera is at fault. DSLRs have a learning curve; a fairly steep one. Work on your exposure, which often means taking over your aperture and/or shutter control from the camera and driving it manually. Personally my DSLR experience has become much more satisfying since going manual.

These are from my D70 under identical circumstances, the same room, same sofa, same light though the window. Not perfect WB and a lot more noise, but the skin tones are A LOT better. Aren't they?

Swedish Hambern said:

The first image was wrong... Here it is:

Click to expand...

I'm not obsessing about this. I'm just trying to get the best out of my camera, or at least get it to take decent shots. For over ten years now I've been taking A HUGE amount of shots both professionally and for private use. And I've allways been satisfied with my results after I've tweaked my gear to my liking.

But with D7000 it's simply not possible. And my old Lightroom presets does not work, it simply looks horrible. There is no depth of texture in the skin tones, not even in B&W. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. But please tell me what. I'm eager to learn, but I've tried since november 2010 and are still struggling.

And I do not need any mental help at all. That's by the way really rude, such comments. Behave please.

rhlpetrus said:

But maybe you are need of a different type of help, obssessiveness can be very destructive and I'm not joking. Think a bit about it, you could be out there enjoying your tools, put your priorities in the right places. It's ok to compare cameras and test them, but this is beyond that IMHO.

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Swedish Hambern said:

The first image was wrong... Here it is:

Click to expand...

I managed to down load the first image before you removed it from your gallery. It appears you keep changing the WB to some arbitrary setting while in the first you left it alone and it did a very nice job. Could you post a pic were you think skin tone is correct. Jeff Revell is actually color blind but does a phenomenal job of compensating.

http://www.revellphotography.com/blog/

Perhaps you also have a "different" take on skin tones....that would explain the "correct" WB settings you use. Excellent composition here though.

Art Cooler said:

DSLRs have a learning curve; a fairly steep one. Work on your exposure, which often means taking over your aperture and/or shutter control from the camera and driving it manually. Personally my DSLR experience has become much more satisfying since going manual.

Click to expand...

Well... I've been using different DSLRs for 8 years now both professionally and for personal enjoyment. And it is a bit of a learning curve, but this has nothing to do with that. The camera simply can't render good skin tones. The skins are blotched with yellow, green and magenta on a orange base most of the time. And that can't be just user error. I'm providing you with the RAW files, look and try for yourselves.

Nice try though, the road, house and grass look somewhat convincing. The skin tones though don't. An orange base with a magenta color cast.

Please get one of the cameras you like for skintones. Ask a friend to pose for you for five minutes, shoot with it and the D7k, no need to be too careful, just do it and post first basic jpegs and then RAWs.

You keep posting a single image , or a bunch of disconnected samples from vaarious sources, some that you say are good and I found horrible, from the D70.

Then maybe we can debate it.

But forget, if you keep posting a single image, and saying it's horrible, no one really knows what you talking about, you are wasting your and our time.
--
Renato.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rhlpedrosa/
OnExposure member
http://www.onexposure.net/

Good shooting and good luck
(after Ed Murrow)

Yes, I'm changing the white balance. I change the white balance A LOT. Over and over again. I can tweak for several minutes without getting it right (to get good enough skin tones with the D7000 you have to get the white balance and exposure EXACTLY right). In the end you just have to settle with "good enough". Try for your self. I've provided you the Raw files:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27605059/Photo/Raw%20file.nef
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/27605059/Photo/Raw%20file%202.nef

I have SEVERAL different versions of these images... Still not ONE good enough. Sure you could open them up in Photoshop and tweak/paint on a decent skin tone. But I can't keep on doing that to every single shot I take.

Mako2011 said:

Swedish Hambern said:

The first image was wrong... Here it is:

Click to expand...

I managed to down load the first image before you removed it from your gallery. It appears you keep changing the WB to some arbitrary setting while in the first you left it alone and it did a very nice job. Could you post a pic were you think skin tone is correct. Jeff Revell is actually color blind but does a phenomenal job of compensating.

http://www.revellphotography.com/blog/

Perhaps you also have a "different" take on skin tones....that would explain the "correct" WB settings you use. Excellent composition here though.

Click to expand...

Swedish Hambern said:

These are from my D70 under identical circumstances, the same room, same sofa, same light though the window. Not perfect WB and a lot more noise, but the skin tones are A LOT better. Aren't they?

Swedish Hambern said:

I'm not obsessing about this. I'm just trying to get the best out of my camera, or at least get it to take decent shots. For over ten years now I've been taking A HUGE amount of shots both professionally and for private use. And I've allways been satisfied with my results after I've tweaked my gear to my liking.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Swedish Hambern said:

Swedish Hambern said:

But with D7000 it's simply not possible. And my old Lightroom presets does not work, it simply looks horrible. There is no depth of texture in the skin tones, not even in B&W. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. But please tell me what. I'm eager to learn, but I've tried since november 2010 and are still struggling.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

The above shots seem somewhat pale/cool to my eye. I think you simply have a different eye for color. Your old LR presets may not give the same results you expect with the D7K. This has been pointed out in the retouch forum. I would suggest setting your WB in camera to default auto in most cases, shoot raw, and come up with new LR presets that meet your needs. Good Luck. Nice capture of emotion BTW.

Mako2011 said:

Could you post a pic were you think skin tone is correct.

Click to expand...

Sorry... didn't see that. Of course I can. This is an example from my old D70 in the same sofa, same room, under very similar liighting. A totally different result. And, good skin tone. Not fantastic or perfect in any way. But good. What I would expect under these conditions