Testing the reds - "Adjust Color" function and the OM-3

[philzucker]

The OM-3 has an "Adjust Color" functionality that it shares AFAIK only with two other cameras - the Pen F and the Pen EP-7 - and with OM Workspace for RAW conversion. The latter software option is interesting, but in spite being a seasoned RAW shooter I was tempted to try out the in-camera (and completely new to me) implementation on my OM-3.

I'm intrigued how finely the color response can be tuned using this "adjust color" functionality, and among other things I was curious if the adjusted range - taken to its extremes - would lead to oversaturated colors. So I tested that on the reds, since oversaturated reds especially can quickly become a problem with digital photography in my experience.

Here my "adjust color" setup for the test run - you see that after some experimentation I chose to include the bluish variants of red, thus including the violet color range, and to limit the red tones going towards orange:



I then shot RAW+JPGs and compared the results in Lightroom; for the RAWs the camera's "#3 natural color profile" was applied in LR; no other edits were done save cropping, and when I cropped, the identical crop was applied to both JPGs and RAWs.

First a shiny red car. #1 is the RAW followed by the OOC "color adjust" JPG (I will maintain this order for all examples):





If you flip between the two pictures in "viewer mode" (only available in the desktop version of DPReview) you can clearly see how the car's red intensifies and gets more lush without clipping; there is some intensified clipping in the already overblown white areas, maybe reflecting a slight diminished tonal range with the JPG compared to LR's handling of the RAW file. Also note that the red house tiles in the background are also adjusted, but very mildly only.

Next set, some flowers:





Here I find two thing interesting: Looking at the large in-focus flower on the upper right you see a more complete tonal range of reds and violets compared to the RAW rendition with more whites. And the violet bloom in the OOF area in the left background gets a luminous red glow that I like very much and that really changes the look and feel of the picture. You may also notice slightly flatter greens in the JPG - I don't know the reason for that since I didn't touch them, but of course that helps a bit concentrating on the enhanced reds.

Next example - a hydrangea bloom:





Here the effect is like using a well diffused flash filling the shadows and bringing out the red tones in them. Still no oversaturation.

Let's turn to some machines: First we will "light" a red tire rim:





... then we will illuminate some warning beacons solely by using the red "color adjust":





Let's return to nature with this example:





It's interesting here that by enhancing the red and violet tones (and not the orange ones!) the "color adjust" version leads IMO to a very nice tonal gradation in the red to orange regions. Again there is no oversaturation or clipping in the reds, only a bit more in the JPG's whites.

The last example is one with very challenging red cherries, very prone to clipping on the red channel. Again the color adjust version (2nd as always) avoids clipping in the red channel and gives an overall warmer experience:





In conclusion: Using the color adjust function of the OM-3 I really concentrated on finding subjects with red in them, so it influenced my way of seeing while doing photography, compared to selective application of red adjustment in PP. Of course I could have easily replicated the color shift in OM Workspace or probably in LR too, but that would be a totally different, less intuitive and more complicated process.

I'm quite satisfied by OM's/Olympus IMO sensible implementation of the functionality because it avoids clipping, and will experiment further with it. I already made a second user adjusted profile concentrating on the blue color spectrum, but haven't been as successful with it yet compared to the red profile. You can of course do all sorts of interesting combinations of enhancing or subduing any combination of colors and don't have to be as conservative as I am in using the color adjust function.

Bottom line: I really like my "red enhancement" profile, and it sure will stay on my OM-3 for the near future.

Phil

--
GMT +1
Gallery: http://photosan.smugmug.com

 

[eXtendr]

It is a lot of fun to play with (not just reds)! I spend time lately working though the various B&W customization options. Really like what I'm seeing.

 

[philzucker]

It is a lot of fun to play with (not just reds)! I spend time lately working though the various B&W customization options. Really like what I'm seeing.

It really is fun, I agree. The front dial makes all those modes quickly accessible, and that sure makes a difference compared to the OM-1's implementation. But I have to say that I find color adjust mode - that the OM-1 doesn't have - especially intriguing, because you can build subtle or bold color responses that offer an encompassing way influencing the look and feel of the pictures you take. One could say that you can create thousands of different film simulations.

It's a pity though that you cannot save or name your self made creations other than including them in a backup of general settings. I wish they could be backed up separately like the custom modes C1-C5.

Phil