In some situations where I am shooting both my D80 and D90 side by side, I encounter color mismatches that become a bit distracting -- perhaps only to me, but hey, I'm the one paying the bills. I've been searching for a solution, preferably one that involves in-camera settings, and I think I finally made a bit of a break-through after searching for answers on how people color-match the D200 to the D300 (previous searches for the D80 and D90, including consultation with Nikon service yielded marginal answers).
To try to identify solutions, I headed outdoors to do some comparative shooting. The following samples were shot with the D80 and D90, as indicated, both using the same copy of the AF-S 35mm f/1.8 @ f/11, 1/320sec and ISO 200.
| D80 Normal | D90 STANDARD | Notes |
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These shots were taken with WB=Direct sunlight, Normal Picture Mode for the D80 and Standard Picture Control for the D90. Color differences are apparent, such as different sky color (more realistic in the D90, punchier in the D80), and more yellow in foliage for the D90. |
| D80 Custom | D90 STANDARD | |
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Next, I tried to emulate D90 color rendition through custom Picture modes in the D80. The result is a feeble aproximation: the D80 sky is less punchy but it still doesn't match the D90's tendency toward yellow. |
| D80 Normal | D90 LANDSCAPE | |
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Following a suggestion from Nikon Support, I tried the D90's Landscape Picture Control. A comparison against the D80's Normal Picture Mode output a workable approximation, but again the sky blue doesn't quite match, and the D90's tendency to yellow remains. However, a comparison against the D80 Custom picture mode sample gets closer in the sky blue, and yet, the yellow remains. |
| D80 + D2XMODE1 | D90 + D2XMODE1 | |
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Realizing color-matching through in-camera tweaks had run its course, I then took the first two sample shots, D80 Normal and D90 STANDARD, and applied the D2XMODE1 Picture Control in ViewNX to both images. As before, this produces the closest match and promises to be the best approach, with additional color manipulation in PP possible if one desires a "punchier" color profile. |
| D80 + modified D2XMODE1 | D90 + modified D2XMODE1 | |
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Finally, these 2 shots show what can be done in PP through the use of a modified D2XMODE1 picture control (see screen shot below) that increases saturation by +1 and applies a custom curve to improve contrast and mitigate against harsh/blown highlights. This achieves that "punchy" effect some of us may like without the color inaccuracy the D80 produces. |
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It seems like perfect color matching may turn out to be too much of a search for the holy grail, but my findings promise to solve the annoyance of dissimilar colors of photos of the same subject taken seconds apart from two different cameras. Since the DX2MODE1 picture controls I used above cannot be loaded into the D90 (much less the D80), it looks like the best path forward is to address color mismatching through post-processing in ViewNX.
D2XMODE emulation Picture controls: After some tinkering, I've created 5 Picture controls based on the Portrait Picture control. The first one, PORTD2XM1 emulates the D2XMODE1 control. PORTD2XM1c is the same as the first, but with contrast thrown in. PORTD2XM1h is the same as the first, but with highlight protection through a custom curve adjustment. Next, PORTD2XM1s, is the same as the first, but adding a bit of saturation. Finally, PORTD2XM1v pumps up saturation some more for that "vivid" look. You can dowload these in this ZIP file. To load on your camera, or to import into Picture Control Utility (which you can use to make your own controls), copy to your SD or Compact flash card, into a directory called NIKON\CUSTOMPC. You may have to create NIKON under your card's root directory and CUSTOMPC as its sub-folder. Good luck!