Is Old Fuji Color Better? Or Even Different?

saltydogstudios wrote:

But sensors do have different thresholds at which the Red, Green and Blue filters cut off.

The below should be famous by now - it measures the "quantum efficiency" of each color dye on the Canon 5D and 5Dmk2 against different frequencies.

The original 5D was less sensitive to Red and Green (dashed lines). That is - for a given light value, the sensels below those dyes in the CFA "counted" fewer photons.

At any given frequency for the same frequency of light, the 5D and 5Dmk2 will produce different values at each sensel. The differences between Nikon and Canon are more dramatic.

The RAW Converter must be tuned to the sensor if it's to have any hope of producing similar results between two cameras.

Yes, agreed, you are perfectly correct.

One thing I am not sure about is where exactly this adaptation is done in the software. Is it done with some numeric coefficients in the demosaic algorithm? I mean - given two different Bayer sensors, which are both being demosaiced with the same algorithm, is adaptation done at the level of demosaic or at the level of input profile, or both?

So while it's accurate to say that the OP is comparing RAW Converters. The OP is also necessarily also comparing sensors, because the RAW Converter must first measure the sensor - if it is to have any hope of producing a consistent result between cameras. (RAW values to RGB values.)

But Ok we are comparing the grade of software adaptation to the sensor again, not the sensor itself.

I'm aware that there are software packages that will do RAW conversion without having a deep database of sensors - I have a few installed on my computer.

Very interesting! Can you please share your experience, which convertors are sensor-aware and which aren't? Thanks!

But to say that the Sensor has no opinions about colors (how frequencies get measured, and then therefore turned into RGB values) is an oversimplification.

Hmmm technically you are correct but from the photographic point of view, everything starts from the moment when the image is created, so after demosaic is done. So to my opinion, this oversimplification yes, it do exist on my side, but it doesn't hurt given the discussed purpose