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Camera SMI ratings

Started Aug 21, 2015 | Discussions thread
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Mark S Abeln
Mark S Abeln Forum Pro • Posts: 19,546
Camera SMI ratings
7

Every so often, someone asks about camera color accuracy, and as far as I know, the only metric which describes this sort of thing is the Sensitivity Metamerism Index, or SMI; it’s a part of ISO standard 17321 and is described here.

Usually, higher SMI numbers are better, but this test does absolutely nothing to evaluate automatic color balance or the accuracy of presets, which in my option is the primary factor that goes into good color, at least for JPEG output. Also, this measure does not tell us what colors are good or poor, nor does it measure anything outside of a very limited dataset. This metric tells us nothing about pleasing colors versus accurate colors.

An interesting discussion on this metric can be found on this thread from 2014:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/53048063

This table lists the 50 highest rated cameras from DxO with regards to SMI. This table lists two DxO values for SMI: D50 for daylight, and CIE-A for incandescent; typically, both camera accuracy (as well as camera calibration) changes for each type of light source.

SMI D50,SMI CIE-A,Model name

88,81,Canon EOS 1000D, DIGITAL REBEL XS or Kiss F

87,82,Sony Alpha 900

86,83,Sony Alpha 230

85,84,Nikon D60

85,84,Nikon D40

86,82,Sony SLT Alpha 65

86,82,Sony SLT Alpha 77

85,83,Sony Alpha 330

85,83,Nikon D40X

84,84,Nikon D70s

84,84,Nikon D70

87,80,Canon EOS 50D

86,81,Olympus E520

85,82,Sony SLT Alpha 35

85,82,Canon EOS 1D Mark II

84,83,Nikon D50

86,80,Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III

86,80,Canon EOS 1D Mark III

85,81,Nikon D7200

85,81,Sony SLT Alpha 58

85,81,Sony SLT Alpha 99

85,81,Pentax KM

85,81,Sony NEX-6

84,82,Nikon D300

84,82,Canon EOS 1D Mark II N

83,83,Nikon D700

85,80,Nikon 1 J4

85,80,Sony Alpha 450

85,80,Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II

85,80,Sony NEX-3

85,80,Sony NEX-7

84,81,Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1

85,79,Nikon 1 V3

84,80,Sony SLT Alpha 55

84,80,Sony Alpha 500

84,80,Sony Alpha 550

84,80,Canon EOS 5D

84,80,Sony NEX-5N

83,81,Canon EOS 20D

84,79,Sony A7 II

84,79,Sony SLT Alpha 37

84,79,Sony Alpha 560

84,79,Nikon D200

84,79,Olympus E410

84,79,Sony NEX5

83,80,Nikon D4s

83,80,Sony SLT Alpha 57

83,80,Sony SLT Alpha 33

82,81,Sony Alpha 100

80,83,Canon EOS 300D, DIGITAL REBEL or Kiss Digital

Notice that a lot of older cameras are near the top of the list, and this seems to vindicate some photographers who believe that their older cameras deliver better colors than their newer ones. I’ve noticed that over time, Nikon and Canons have shifted from high SMIs to lower ones after 2008, I think in order to improve high ISO ability, but notice some recent cameras showing improvement.

And here are those at the bottom:

76,72,Leica M9

76,72,Nikon Coolpix A

76,72,Olympus XZ1

76,72,Panasonic Lumix DMC GF1

75,73,DxO ONE

75,73,Canon EOS 7D Mark II

74,74,Canon EOS 760D

75,72,Canon PowerShot S95

75,72,Leica M9 P

75,72,Panasonic Lumix DMC LX5

73,74,Canon EOS 1Dx

80,66,Phase One P40 Plus

76,70,Canon Powershot G11

75,71,Leica M Typ 240

75,71,Panasonic Lumix DMC G5

74,72,Canon PowerShot G7 X

74,72,Samsung EX1, Samsung TL500

73,73,Canon EOS 650D

73,73,Canon EOS Rebel T3i, EOS 600D

76,69,Phase One P65 Plus

75,70,Pentax 645D

75,70,Hasselblad H3DII 39

74,71,Fujifilm FinePix X S1

74,70,Sony Alpha 700

75,67,Nikon D2H

75,67,Canon EOS M

73,69,Nikon Coolpix P7100

72,69,Phase One P45 Plus

71,69,Nikon Coolpix P7000

69,70,Canon EOS 6D

73,64,Canon EOS 100D

73,64,Mamiya ZD Back

68,66,Leica M8

64,63,Nokia Lumia 1520

But this excludes most smartphone and compact cameras.

 Mark S Abeln's gear list:Mark S Abeln's gear list
Nikon D200 Nikon D7000 Nikon D750 Canon EOS M5 Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm F1.8G +5 more
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