Canon EOS 5D Mark II

	Color Summary
• Multiple Picture Styles available to match color mode to subject. • Accurate skin tone reproduction • Some difficulty with magenta, yellow, cyan capture • Color shifts noticeable in low light, but noise remains low
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 21	Noise

Color Accuracy (13.61)

---

In our extensive lab tests of five current digital SLRs, the Canon 5D Mark II produced the most accurate color results, with the Sony A900 trailing the rest of the field by a wide margin. The 5D Mark II did exceptionally well capturing the light skin color, orange and the greyscale patches from the chart, but struggled a bit with pure yellow, magenta and cyan. Click here for more on how we test color.

 

Canon uses Picture Styles to adjust several image parameters including color values, with Landscape mode enhancing blues and greens, for example, and Portrait favoring flesh tones.

As expected (assuming the folks who name Picture Styles at Canon think rationally), the Neutral Picture Style produced the most accurate results, with a very modest color shift of 4.85, and a slight undersaturation at 96.1. In the charts below we can see the relative color accuracy results for the Canon 5D Mark II and four other digital SLRs we tested, each at their most accurate color mode settings.

Color Chart Comparisons
Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Neutral Mode	Faithful Mode	Neutral Mode	Neutral mode	Neutral mode

Here we compare actual pixel-size crops of the 18 colored squares of the X-Rite color chart, taken by each camera in its most accurate mode. The ideal color value is shown in the leftmost column, the cameras' best recreations of that color are arrayed to the right.

 

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Canon 5D Mark II	Canon 50D	Sony A900	Nikon D90	Nikon D700
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Below you can see our final score for color performance compared across the five camera test group. Higher scores indicate superior performance.

Color Score Comparison

 

Color Modes (4.00)

---

Canon's Picture Styles system combines settings for sharpness, contrast, saturation and color tone in six presets and three user-definable groupings. In a nutshell, think of Picture Styles as different film types, with distinctive image reproduction characteristics. For a full discussion of this feature, read the Picture Effects section below.

The 5D Mark II supports both the default sRGB and Adobe RGB color spaces. Most users will stick with sRGB, but for those shooting for commercial printing and industrial uses, the Adobe option is important.

In the following chart we explore the effect of five different Picture Styles on the color captured by the Canon 5D Mark II, with actual-pixel-size crops of each color in the X-Rite chart. The sixth Picture Style, Monochrome, isn't included.

	Color Mode Comparisons
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Standard	Portrait	Landscape	Neutral	Faithful
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Long Exposure (10.57)

---

In this test combining color accuracy and image noise performance over long exposure times, the 5D Mark II trailed the other cameras in the comparison group. Interestingly, the primary component in the comparatively weak performance of the 5D Mark II was its color accuracy under low light conditions, which consistently trailed the other cameras. Low-light image noise performance, on the other hand, was roughly equivalent to the other cameras, and clearly superior to the Canon 50D. Click here for more on how we test long exposure.

Canon 5D Mark II Long Exposure Color Error

Under low light conditions shutter speeds slow down, image noise inevitably increases and often color accuracy is affected. Above you see the results of our long exposure testing as it affects color accuracy. Below are the results for the same exposure times, detailing the impact on noise performance.

Canon 5D Mark II Long Exposure Noise

And finally you see the Canon 5D Mark II's final score for this section versus the competition. Higher scores indicate superior performance.

Long Exposure Score Comparison

Product Tour Page 3 of 21 Noise Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital Camera Review Navigation