Sony (a6400) v Sony (AX53)

[VidThreeNorth]

Is There a Camera Family Look?

A few months ago, a power surge damaged my computer systems and I had to disassemble a lot of it and try to piece together at least one working computer -- which is what I am using right now. While working on it, it occurred to me that my ability to edit stills and video was going to be limited. That raised the question of what could I get "straight out of camera"? That pointed to the question of which camera, or perhaps, what cameras could work together?

The last question seemed to me to be the one I should prioritize. I considered my latest/best cameras, which were the Sony a6400, my Lumix G85 and my Sony AX53. I decided the two Sony products where the most likely to give compatible output, so I decided to see if using them together would cause problems.

That reminded my of the question of whether there really were camera family "looks", and if so, when did they arise, and what were those "looks"?

A few years back, as far as I remember, Canon started promoting their products as having a "Canon look". A quick check of Bing pointed me to "reddit" and postings from about six years ago.

"iTheTechGuy

What is the "Canon Look"?
I hear the term a lot by Canon users. I personally own a Nikon and was planning to switch to Sony (mainly for video). I have never used a Canon and have no idea what people mean they say stuff such as: "yes but the Canon tho. it has that look" What look?!" "

There were more exerpts, and some had more detail, but nothing earlier than around six years ago. So for now, I will assume that Canon started promoting their products claiming a "Canon look" about six years ago.

As for what the "Canon look" was back then, and what it might be now, I cannot give an authoritative answer. If someone has the info, I would be interested. But my impression is that it was less contrasty and a bit warmer than my Sony cameras. However, I do not feel that it differed that much from my Panasonics. I will look into that eventually.

 

[DigiFilm]

The problem with 'looks' is that they're ever evolving, as demonstrated by your examples. Sony has been known for a greenish tint in their color science, while Canon is warmer. Sony updated their color science with the A7 IV to the point that comparisons must be made side-by-side to tell the difference, and I've heard they made more changes since. This includes the coveted Canon skin tones. So even though you may see a specific look on a camera from one manufacturer, the very next generation could have a different look. For most of us, it'd be so minor as to have little impact.

Why Canon? It's been considered the gold standard for decades. Canon colors, especially. I'm not sure Canon started it as a promotion, I think it started on the ineterwebs with the devout followers and Canon ran with the ball, but could be remembering that incorrectly.

Story time: Without giving away too much info, I shoot regularly in situations with seasoned pros, most of whom shoot Canon. One in particular is a product field tester. We were shooting an event and his camera (a prototype) kept beeping. I asked him what was going on with the noise. He said he was connected to the cloud via his cellphone. His shots were being uploaded to engineers who were reviewing the shots and making adjustments, then downloading them back to his prototype. I found that amazing.

So, when it comes to a look or color science, or whatever you want to call it, just be aware it's fluid. They continuously try to improve things to keep their edge.

I've seen the reddit post and some of the responses before, and while the sensor is certainly going to affect colors and the rest of the 'look', programming has a lot to do with the finished product.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

Yup, I'm aware of all that, but I am documenting what I can, as best as I can, which being rushed for time is crude at best.

The thing is, I am hoping that my efforts will encourage other people to add their documentation so we can build up useful information. This is what the early participants in these information exchanges (going back to "dial-up BBSes" through the early days of the Internet and the Usenet Newsgroups) started. Newer people have not seen as much of the culture of sharing information and actually making an effort to build resources. It is not gone, but there is less of it today.

Yes, I deliberately make an effort to post useful information. It's not a huge effort, but it is what I have learned from others who have made a similar effort from which I benefitted. If you don't want to do the same, hey, fine, if all people were like me, we'd all be bored from the redundancy

 

[VidThreeNorth]

Here are my measurements and calculations from the AX53 image I posted above:
(Note: the RGB reads are from 5 semi-random pixels in each of the grey scale samples. So far, I have only tested the "grey scale" samples. I am not planning on checking the other colors.

Black
R24G25B27
R24G25B29
R24G25B27
R24G25B27
R23G24B26
119/5=R23.8, 124/5=G24.8, 136/5=B27.2
Luma=((23.8+24.8+27.2)/3)=L25.3

Black+1
R41G45B46
R41G45B46
R42G43B45
R42G46B49
R40G44B47
206/5=R41.2, 223/5=G44.6, 233/5=B46.6
((41.2+44.6+46.6)/3=L44.1

Black+2
R77G82B86
R76G81B85
R75G80B84
R72G77B81
R74G79B83
374/5=R74.8, 399/5=G79.8, 419/5=B83.8
((74.8+79.8+83.8)/3)=L79.5

White-2
R115G120B124
R113G118B122
R112G117B121
R111G116B120
R111G116B120
562/5=R112.4, 587/5=G117.4, 607/5=B121.4
((112.4+117.4+121.4)/3)=L117.1

White-1
R147G152B156
R146G151B157
R142G147B153
R145G150B154
R145G150B154
725=R145.0, 750/5=G150.0, 750/5=B150.0
((145.0+150.0+150.0)/3)=L148.3

White
R179G184B188
R179G182B187
R177G182B186
R178G181B186
R177G182B188
890/5=R178.0, 911/5=G182.2, 935/5=B187.0
((178.0+182.2+187.0)/3)=L182.4

Hopefully, I will get around to graphing the curve eventually. If someone else beats me to it, fine. . . .