GR-D II ACR Calibration

[PIXIllate]

I posted this info on another forum but I though some people here may find it interesting as well:




Being the number nut and color geek that I am I just finished another night of tweaking ACR for use with the .DNG files from the GR-D II.

Since I am so use to this workflow and it works so well for me I am loath to move to any other software. As a first step with any new camera I usually target the camera makers renditions as a starting point and then go from there. In case anyone cares, see this thread for information about my process:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1039&message=28637801

Basically, I use a custom edited script to target a Mcbeth CC to the default camera output. In the case of the GR-D II I decided to do 2 calibrations. One for the basic color output set to mid contrast and saturation and another targeting the high contrast B&W output as this was my primary reason for getting this camera.

I was able to get the output VERY close if not better in B&W. The color output is very good but there are some luminance issues with the blues that I just could not correct for no matter what I tried. Since I don't intent to do very much color shooting with this camera it is close enough for my purposes. It should be said at this point that this calibration was done with MY GR-D II and there can be significant variation between camera bodies.
My color numbers based on a Gretag Mcbeth Chart are:

Blacks 6
Bright 50
Cont30

Highlights 6
Lights 25
Darks -3
Shadows -20

Shadow Tint 5
RH 5 RS -7
GH 52 GS 70
BH 6 BS -35

All other settings are at 0 or as shot unless otherwise noted. I have not done extensive comparisons with images other than the GMB chart as I was mainly focused on the B&W output. The test image was shot at ISO100 f/4 with the in camera Color, Contrast and Sharpness settings in the middle positions.
My high contrast B&W numbers are:

Blacks 19
Bright 50
Contrast 50
Clarity 10

Reds -12
Orange -6
Yellow -10
Green -10
Blue 13

All the other settings are the same as the color ones listed above. Essentially the curve has been changes slightly since I am trying to match the highest contrast setting. In addition to this the color sliders in the greyscale conversion panel have been set to mimic the same color filtering that is going on with the in camera JPEG output.

As I said I was not able to perfect the blues and there are diffrences between camera bodies. I just though I would pass along the information in case someone else might find it useful. If anyone has any questions about the process please ask.

Chris Sweet

 

[Oxide Blu]

Thanks, Chris.

You are using ACR targeting B&W images -- the RAW files contain color data, tweak using your settings above, then convert to B&W using what s/w application?

 

[PIXIllate]

Oxide,

I am doing the B&W conversion in ACR using the convert to monochrome tab with the above adjustments to the color sliders.

Let me know if this is still not clear.

Chris

 

[Oxide Blu]

Thank you. I'm mentally stuck in a Silver Effects loop, don't even think in terms of ARC for B&W conversion. I'll take a look at that.

 

[PIXIllate]

I have the NIK Silver EFX plugin as well, and like it quite a bit.

I wanted to get a really good handle on the .DNG output from this sensor so I started by trying to understand just what kind of filtering is going on with the camera processing, since the OOC B&W high contrast look is what has drawn so many people to this camera. That is what I am emulating with the color sliders in the convert to grayscale box in ACR.

There are similar controls in the NIK plugin as well. This is one of the controls they use to emulate the different film types. I think one of the best parts of the NIK solution is the very advanced grain engine. I look forward to doing more experimenting with different B&W workflow with this camera.

Today I found that I kind of like the look of ISO200 that I push 2 stops in ACR. Different than ISO800. Here is an example.

Chris