Z750 vs S80 pics, different color whites

[Justin K]

Below are 2 shots one with the Canon S80 and other with Casio Z750, both taken in Auto Mode.

Why are the walls yellow with the Z750, they should be white as shown with the S80? I tooks several pics and they all came out this way.

Also look at the throw on the couch, again white on the S80 and yellow on the Z750.

Any suggestions and I will reshoot tomorrow and post to see if there is a difference.

Thanks as always!

http://jkaplan.smugmug.com/gallery/1115212

 

[Archiver]

I don't own a Z750 yet, but I own Canons, and the WB is usually pretty accurate, except in low, orange-cast light. The yellow cast to the Z750 photos looks wrong. Have you checked your settings on both cameras? Perhaps something was accidentally changed?

BTW, were those pictures taken from exactly the same standing position? I'm interested in the difference between the wide-angle Canon lens compared with the more normal lens of the Casio.
--
Archiver - Recording the sights and sounds of life

 

[slipe]

My guess is that the camera is seeing window and the bright reflection of sunlight from the floor. That is altering the auto white balance toward daylight and the incandescent lights are causing the yellowish tint.

Try spot metering so it can’t see the window or reflection. Or use a white sheet of paper and do a custom WB from in the room where the white outdoor light isn’t affecting the sensing. Or just put the WB on incandescent.

I find that the auto WB on my Z750 normally works well indoors.

 

[Bart Hickman]

I notice in the z750 shot, the sun has started to shine on the plant in the lower left corner, whereas in the S80 shot, the sun isn't there. Slipe's diagnosis is right on--ie., the z750 saw enough sunlight to tip the balance towards choosing the sunlight auto WB.

The EXIF dates suggest the photos were taken a month apart--you should really shoot them at the same time.

I couldn't help but notice the Z750 image quality stacked up pretty well (pretty much looked about the same in terms of sharpness and grain.) The wide angle on that S80 is really nice!

Bart

 

[Justin K]

Yes,

These pics were taken from about the same postion.

 

[Justin K]

They were taken a month apart because I was trying out both cameras and went with the z750 because of the high praise on this site but mainly the size factor vs the s80.

Good to hear you think the image quality is close, to me the s80 shot is a little better but maybe it is the yellow in the walls that is throwing me off.

I will try to shoot tomorrow and change the WB to see if that helps.

 

[Bart Hickman]

I just did a quickie white balance correction in Paintshop Pro and it made them look pretty similar, however since the lighting conditions might have been different, it might not be a fair comparison.

Bart

 

[Justin K]

OK, I am took 3 photos today with tungsten, daylight, and auto whitebalances. All except tungsten turned out better then the first verison without much yellow.

Let me know your thoughts, read caption to see which white balance was used. z750 and s80 are the originals and the new shots were all with the z750.

Thanks!

http://jkaplan.smugmug.com/gallery/1115212/1/52137239

 

[Dave W.]

You aren't making sure the center of your photos are the same between the two cameras so it is like comparing apples with oranges. Make sure those conical wire shapes are dead center with the Z750 as you did with the S80 and then you will have more of a direct comparison. Which is the true looking wall color? The S80 one which looks a tad bit too bright overall a photo or the new Z750 shots? Are your walls white or slightly yellowish? I've never used any white balance setting other than AUTO and never noticed any colors that didn't look realistic. SO FAR.

 

[Justin K]

The walls are white.

 

[Bart Hickman]

After peeking at the colors, the shadows in the Canon photo are red/orange and the highlight areas are slightly blue. In the Casio image, the highlights and shadows are equally somewhat yellow.

Simon mentioned that the Z750 produces "distinct warm tone" photos with incandescent lighting. On the other hand, he also said the S80 makes strong orange tones in the same lighting--perhaps your test scene is somewhat borderline.

If this is going to be a big deal for you, you better try a large variety of situations. Seems like all cameras have some weaknesses in this area. The Z750 has the ability to change the white balance in the camera AFTER taking the photo. I think you'll find the Z750 is better sometimes and the S80 is better sometimes.

Bart

 

[Gerald Poirier]

Would you say that this WB modification is similar to the one on RAW images, or rather like using the grey color picker in Photoshop or other software on a Jpeg image ?

I suspect it's more like the second option, thus being just a 'cut-down' version of a good software tool.
There is of course an immense difference between these two processes.
I can't answer for sure 'caiuse I haven't done any testing on this.

Gerald

 

[fast_car]

I have own 2 Z750 and notice that while taking picure with white back ground using auto WB , the result of the white wall has either light pink or not while at all

 

[lock2nl]

I do not have both cameras but I think some things are overlooked.

Remember that you made the first two pictures in auto mode. This means the camera measures the light and decides to use either of white balance setting. So, if you take a shot next to a neon lamp or in full daylight, most cams will auto adjust their white balance to one or the other presets. Any change in light condition may change the automatic adaptation of the white balance. Further, incandecent light WB causes different colors that daylight WB ( typically more warm yellowish).

If I look at the first two pictures, light conditions are different. First of all, the Canon pictore is shot at a wider angle thus taking in more light. Second, even more light is used on the Canon because of lower shutter speed. Actually, based o nshutter speed there is 60% more light on the Canon picture granted both cams have similar iso sensitivity. Third, because of the wider angle, to the right side of the room a lot of daylight (sunlight) influences the light measurement of the Canon cam. This most likely increases the chance of auto daylight WB settings on the canon (hence whiter pictures because it allows more blue tones). In contrast, there is no such light source in the Casio picture, which is using the light coming from the spots and ceiling lamp apart from the light that comes from behind. Fourth, the light source coming from the back of the appartment is daylight (sunlight). However, in case of the Canon shot this light comes in from the right side with angle leading the light straight to middle position of the room where the picture is actually taken (look at the shadow line in the white spot on the floor). In the Casio picture, this light goes straight ahead (no angle) and causes less influence on the light measurement. This increases the possibility that the Casio will you incandescent light settings for WB, hence causing more yellowish pictures.

Now, I'm not saying both cams measure light identically, but I would not draw any conclusion that either one is good or bad by comparing these two pictures.

lock

 

[Justin K]

I was not trying to determine which one is better (I went with the z750). What I am trying to learn is why there is yellow and why the s80 produced what seems to be a better shot.

I think your response answers a lot of questions.

I would still like to know from the more recent shots what most of you would have set your WB to.

 

[Bart Hickman]

It's just post-processing the jpeg image in the camera, but the camera never makes errors large enough for this to be a problem in my experience.

Bart

 

[Bart Hickman]

I would have used auto WB--the color channels are within 1 or 2% of where they should be. If it was bothersome, I'd probably click the auto-WB button in Picasa (or whatever you are using to look at your photos).

The only time I ever use manual WB is for astronomy/long exposure night photos where there's so little light, the camera auto WB is unpredictable--I force it to daylight WB.

Bart

 

[Reps]

Bart, You are absolutely right- I've never used Auto WB as I always can judge what the lighting is (although I use my Z750 L/R rocker for EV setting- but we have an EX shortcut)- and one's situation does not change from sunny to ambient in a moment... BTW it is always a possibility to do a selective channel adjust with very appropriate results in postprocessing- IMHO

Best, JR

 

[RJM124]

Bart

Dumb question what do you mean by auto WB button in Picasa ?

Bob

 

[Bart Hickman]

Sorry, I was being sloppy. If you select the "tuning" tab (on the left) and then click the "magic wand" near the neutral color picker, that's effectively an auto WB.

Bart