Skin Tones in Portraits: Canon vs Sony and How to Correct

[@seantuck]

A lot of you are asking where I found the CMYK formula for skin tones: I found it in a few different places online. I forget most, but one source was definitely Michael Woloszynowicz who is a great retoucher. Check him out.

[@rio_nakayama]

Great video, Rarely I found videos on skin tones. Please please do comparison with Nikon Z (If it's possible) Thanks!! :)

[@brianroberts-realtor2853]

Great video as always. Sean. I wonder, if you had pushed the white balance a bit warmer with the Sony, would it look closer to the Canon out of camera? It would saturate more yellows, yeah?

[@joshzaring]

This is beyond useful and I can apply this to video as well. Thanks!

[@zomgonzo]

lowepro protactic aw350

[@kfitzz]

5D IV is more like the Sony on skin detail.

[@joaoldmedeiros]

Sean Tucker video = drop everything and pay attention

[@nicklasbenjaminsson520]

Lol i find you everywhere

[@joaoldmedeiros]

Ahahaha hello Nicklas! Great minds think alike ;)

[@williammitchell7021]

100%

[@TomKaszuba]

You’re unquestionably one of the most sincere, talented teachers on this or any other platform. I’m very grateful for that.

[@seantuck]

That's kind, thanks Tom.

[@bardoteachings]

I an not able to afford all of the fancy photography classes and learn all this editing skills. Thanks to Sean I learn to make better photos

[@cliverose9958]

I’m a Sony A7iii shooter and I did expect to shown how the Canon skin tones were superior and I surprised to find that even straight out of the camera I preferred the Sony image. The reason? Because it looks more realistic. But totally agree with you Sean, I never use an image straight out of camera. I think it’s vitally important to make your own decisions in photography. Your own unique vision should be applied at every stage.

[@sudeep64ify]

I have been a Canon shooter and now shooting Fuji. I also did prefer the Sony colours.

[@bobhanuman65]

There is absolutely nothing realistic about photography.

[@cliverose9958]

Bob Hanuman, Totally agree but we’re talking about skin tones!

[@kenjiburtley2088]

It does not look more realistic. The sony colors are too cold for skin tones. it looks like the person is dead or something.

[@cliverose9958]

Kenji Burtley, perhaps you need to spend more time looking at real people and the actual colours that combine to make skin tones. The painter Lucian Freud used to be criticised for painting people in an unflattering way because through hours of looking at a living person in front of him he noticed that the skin tone was made up of blue, purple, green, red and yellow and combinations of all of them. Yes everything looks lovely when it’s warmed up but my point is that the Sony image looks more realistic. That is personal preference because I’m interested in the way real people look.

[@htorres1stk]

I shoot canon and absolutely am sick of the yellowish skin tones, this tutorial helped me to understand how to balance it out using your CMYK formula for skin tones. Thank you so much.

[@r.derrickthomas7853]

Great video. I especially appreciate the use of three different skin tones. Much of the online discussion/debate favors only one skin tone and doesn't accurately consider darker skin tones in these discussions.

[@ThanosNokas]

This has to be the most underrated video in photography I've ever seen. I mean, wow!

[@mike.thibault]

WOW... I am in the process of editing a family portrait that a photographer provided us, and within 5 minutes I took her already edited photo and improved the skin tones using that simple formula. WHAT AM AMAZING DIFFERENCE!!!! BEST trick I have learned in a long time (and I have been doing a ton of learning in the past year!)

[@JensGraikowski]

Videos like this show me how much I have to learn. One might think that'll scare me off, considering that I thought photography is easy, but it's just the opposite. I feel challenged and incredibly motivated. I WANT to learn it all. I just bought a camera. A Canon 60D. Second hand, but it's my first step up from my hobby, smartphone photography. Let's see, what I can do with that with the help of the videos of yourself and other great KZbinrs. Thx a bunch for all the inspiration, my friend! 👍🏼😉

[@seantuck]

The Canon 60D is a great camera. Enjoy.

[@mailman1021]

I just found your channel after looking into Sony's a7iii. I'm a Canon shooter and have been for years since the T3i. But their lack of competitive edge in features and tech compared to Sony (especially in AF areas and IS) is horrid. These comments are also "apocalyptic" as you've stated before in your switch video and it's hilarious. I guess it comes with the territory. Between presets, editing in post, and software like Lightroom/Photoshop, I'm surprised at how many people want to nitpick. You open the file, throw on a preset and micro adjust accordingly for the look you want. Literally takes me no more than a few minutes. And if you're a professional, you may go through a round or two of edits to ensure your work is the way you want it, so it always takes time. These comments are crazy fanboys and trolls. New subscriber though as I've found your information insightful. Thank you!

[@akozy]

This is by far the best comparison between these two cameras that I have seen so far. Thanks for making this and taking the time to go into such depth. Learned a whole lot about color correction too!

[@Chrisdgallego]

Hi Sean. Probably you already know what I'm gonna say but if not, I think is a better way to read if you need more cian..magenta.. etc. Instead of pick on curves panel . and memorize the spot where you are calculating, use the Color Sampler Tool and click over the points you want to correct the skin color, clicking once in shadows, once in highlights etc and then what you do with curves. So you'll see how your curves movements affect to the color. I think it's a bit faster. But is the same process but using multiple spots markers. I'm sorry my English and thanks for the lesson.

[@grat2010]

Very interesting comparison. It comes down to preference I guess. In some cases I like Canon, others I prefer Sony. Now I know how to adjust to suit my mood no matter which camera I use . Loved the information you shared in this video. Thank you!

[@cowboys5group444]

It's not preference. Sean has Sony and can't get Canon color any more.

[@virusj216]

pretty sure this person meant that it is down to the photographer's preference to shoot with either Canon or Sony..

[@Mr.mallaer]

This is the type of content not available on any photography channels. They are all rehashing same stuff that any hobby photographer already knows let alone professional. Thank you for your content.

[@justaphotographer]

Can I just say, I really appreciate how unintrusive Sean's sponsor messages are. And such high-quality content across the channel.

[@TaraOzekin]

New-ish photographer here and I’m obsessed with your channel. You’re such an amazing teacher and you’re so insightful. Thank you!

[@stanrogers5613]

Note: those CMYK ratio guidelines really only apply when you're using Photoshop's default CMYK settings (SWOP v2). If you actually do CMYK work in Photoshop, you may have set something else under your Color (sic) Settings and using these ratios may give, um, less-than-great results. If you try this and find your pictures look weird (and are reasonably sure your monitor is at least close to accurate), then go to your Photoshop Color Settings and make sure CMYK is set to "US Web Coated (SWOP) v2". You can always set it back after doing your skin tone corrections.

[@Britton0932]

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you providing me with a baseline for editing. Having these videos takes the millions of options that photoshop provides and pairs them down to a manageable set of steps where I won’t be spending hours making a mess out of my photos. Thank you again.

[@rafai1281]

When I saw the title I was "Stop this canon color nonsense when I was using canon I was editing colors when I'm using sony... I still edit colors", then I watched the movie and I'm smiling :). good work

[@Shvvanky]

Hi, I just wanted to say, I've only just found your videos, but I'm so glad I did. So far I've watched this and your video on why you switched to Sony. As a Canon boy, who loves Fuji but is looking between Sony and a 1DXII for his next body, I found your input to be the most insightful of anyone I've seen on KZbin. You're transparent and clear in thought and intention. So thank you. I don't care to see someone's workflow or buy their presets, I care to see nuance and minor things people do. The between the lines stuff that I might be missing or might want to avoid, and I really feel like I get more of that here. Also, I love the final edit on this, your color work is what I aspire to produce.

[@subcinctus]

It’s good that you shifted to Sony, and that’s good for us too, the other Sony users have learnt a bit about how does one fix the skin tones.

[@markdemarte6744]

Sean, as someone who struggles with every portrait I make in deciding if my skin tones are where they should be, I can't thank you enough for this video. It is brilliant in its simplicity. (And so quickly applied that any excuse for not correcting skin tones can no longer be considered valid. You are a wonderful photographer and a generous teacher. I learn so much from your videos and watch them over and over. I take notes. I test out your advice. But best of all, I incorporate so much of what you teach in my workflow. You've got me shooting B&W again. You've got me setting my exposure manually again. And you should be proud of this one, you've got me getting off my ass and taking my Sony a7ii out the door every day. I'm trying to stay in B&&W for now, and I go out looking for things that have a predominance of either shape, line or texture. Thinking in B&W definitely takes practice and its work that taxes the brain. I love it. Your inspiration causes me not to fear shooting even shooting in bright sunlight at high noon. And now I can add contrast to my portraits with unbelievable control. So again Sean, thank you. for sharing your genius and bringing added fun to shooting pictures.

[@seantuck]

That's very kind, thanks Mark.

[@Chookz85]

This video is next level. I love it when art fits a formula! Gives you a good starting point to improve your images and a foundation to tweak and create your own style. Great stuff Sean

[@Motortriker]

Wow. I've never come across this CMYK formula before. Great stuff.

[@PK-ql5en]

Probably because it is an old formula used most of the time in UK for glossy magazines. In USA and Japan they use a different one for that.

[@akghosal]

I just tried this formula and my pictures came out sickly green (must have been doing something wrong)

[@godboy159]

@@akghosal I found that this videos finals look green as well.

[@mattiasmarklund5026]

Very wise words! I completely agree with your statement about the strange online obsession with out-of-camera colours. I would go as far as to say that an objective colour experience does not exist, just the sensation of different flavours differs from person to person. Sure, speaking as a physicist, one can always define colours in terms of spectral properties, but this is not the way our brains process a picture or the memory of a scene. Thanks for a great video.

[@darrelladrian5744]

Given that we all want a camera that can capture the colours we saw at that time of capture and we all like wide gamut monitors which we colour profile to ICC profiles why don't manufacturers make cameras that translate their colour renditions exactly to ICC colour profies? or do you think all manufacturers actually prefer to be different in order to attract different consumers

[@bananasandbass]

I'd say the final edit is closer to what Sony (gen3) does SOOC... but Canon just warms up everything more SOOC, so it seems more pleasing at first impression. Especially on an un-calibrate monitor which tend to be way too blue/cool temperature. I've personally owned an A6500, and then an A7III, and I noticed a big difference in color science from Sony since the A9, A7RIII and A7III. Not only their WhiteBalance and Metering greatly improved, but their color rendering (in Standard and Portrait for example SOOC, and default in the RAW file looks much more natural and for a lot of casual social shots I don't even have to edit the pictures of people. *also that green/yellow cast people keep talking about... such a mis-match happens when people don't select their correct camera profile in Adobe Lightroom.... if you leave it at a Adobe Standard then yes it's not going to look like you shot it. Software like Capture One handles Sony and Fuji images better because it uses the camera profile by itself. And that's mainly the step people miss. (plus I work in a camera store and can test every brand I want, so I also know Fujifilm, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus)

[@stolencoats63]

What is the correct camera profile for a6500?

[@BetterWithImprov]

Here it is over a year later and this video added so much value to me. It absolutely worked. Thank you for demonstrating an AA skin tone as proof. I tested on different subjects and my photography was so much improved. I even did faces that were on stage under colored lights and it repaired them back to a natural look. Amazing Sean.....

[@wilhelmkarlsson9127]

I've come to expect great inspirational and motivational videos from this channel. Seeing how you really deliver on the techy side of things, surpassing other videos in level detail and comprehensibility, I'd like to see more of this kind of videos from you. The mix you're offering nowadays sure is impressive Sean!

[@PeteBullmore]

Funny how demonstrated facts effortlessly overwhelm misconceptions! As photographers we can also be sort of "color scientists" Great video Sean!

[@TheJoshuaborden]

I'm a Canadian Armed Forces Imagery Technician. (Military photographer). I Just wanted to tell you that you've been a great inspiration and tutor to me. You've helped me along, not only technically but mentally/emotionally in my drive to succeed as a professional photographer. Thank you Sean. Keep up the great content.

[@seantuck]

Thanks my friend:)

[@TheKillingTreeTT]

Oh that CMYK guideline is just gorgeous and a tool or skill that separates the men from the boys in the retouch department. Great video and explaination. Straight out of camera is really not that important since you are going to give the final image a look anyway.

[@austintexas29]

I love all of your videos man, and this one is no different. I really appreciate your view on cameras and not buying into the hype of certain brands because as you say, they are a starting point for us as photographers to add our own touch onto an image. Please never stop making these videos because as someone who is still relatively new to photography I am always looking to learn, and always learn loads from you. Thank you!

[@michalparchimowicz]

I love how You smash all stereotypes every time and way of Your thinking about Your photography! You are the most inpirational Photographer for me. It's deep and full of meaning. THX!!!!

[@DuckyOpus]

As often as I've seen this video linked and shared in forums, Facebook pages, and discussions elsewhere, it astounds me it only has 71k views (currently). This video is fantastic and very well done. Thanks again, Sean.

[@TristanBarrocks]

This was a great and very useful video. Very few photographers know how to capture POC and I am truly impressed by your work. Thanks

[@DuncanLongden]

When I switched to Sony from Nikon 3 years ago I initially struggled with the skin tones and sony colour management over all. The tend to be either too red or green, also too contrasty straight out of camera in standard settings. This is easily sorted in creative style, simply set it to neutral from standard. For me that is enough but some adjust contrast for an even flatter image. Colour then is all about white balance so use a grey card, but I think most will find that simply changing the creatove style setting will make a huge difference. Enjoy whatever you shoot on, it is all good.

[@noenken]

Sony has basically adopted the Zeiss mentality about how their stuff should look: as real as possible. Canon makes it easy to get a pleasing image but they are limiting you when that isn't your goal. Very good and informative video.

[@cowboys5group444]

Sony color is not real. Watch the video again. Nikon gets as close to real along with Canon. Sean couldn't match Caonon color and he even said that n the video.

[@thefrogtog8361]

Agreed, and one thing biased here is the lens. Canon colors are due in part to the lens. Here the Sony image was warmed up by the canon lens. Sony + Zeiss would be a lot cooler and even more unnatural looking.

[@van_creative]

everyone obsessed with color science should watch this video. I fully agree with Sean

[@NickGranville]

I agree with your findings. I’ve heard a few people lately say the canon colour science is better. This implies people don’t edit their work. To me, the canon has more of a shift which can be a problem, especially as I find a shift to red/magenta. The Sony is more natural and it all depends what you prefer. Can always make the Sony look like more the canon of you want. The Sony offers many other advantages.

[@shebbe]

I'm a filmeditor/colorist and as much as I'd like to agree to his statement that in the end you make it your color anyway, it is fair to say not having to make up for a camera's flaws is simply a huge timesaver. If colorscience or sensorquality/calibartion wouldn't matter at all because we fix it in post anyway, we would all just be shooting on cheap consumer camera's wouldn't we. For film being able to colorgrade a RED film is just much more pleasing than an FS7 or A7S because I can spend much more time creating an actual pretty image instead of fighting skintones.

[@NickGranville]

Shebbe Music a great image is more than just colour. Higher end cameras roll off the highlights in a more pleasing way. Dynamic range is far greater etc. I agree that getting it right in camera is ideal, but I also don’t feel canon get it right in camera any more than Sony do. Both need editing was my point. I find canon tend to over do the red and magenta. Sony the greens. Both need work. However when comparing like for like the Sony’s have more detail, are often more stable etc etc. I know I’m generalising - i’m referring to the cameras I’ve personally used and the results I’ve got.

[@thecandidframe]

This was an excellent video, which takes the discussion away from a polarized and entrenched view of a technology choice and stresses the importance of seeing the camera as a tool. It avoids the trap of so much content which is all about helping to reinforce a person's choice of gear. Good work, my friend. Kudos.

[@seantuck]

Thanks Ibarionex:) You think you’re getting the message across but then people still want to use the comment section to argue about cameras:( Welcome to KZbin I guess. The hope is that, between us all, we can create a community of people who want to talk about making pictures, rather than which light proof box to buy from which tech company. One day at a time:)

[@erikdurnall9996]

Great video! Since switching to Sony I have found the cooler tones to be refreshing and more intimate. All these cameras are wonderful tools. I feel like the industry has been revitalized with this shift to mirrorless.

[@mariannecherry1927]

Thank you so much for this video!!! I’ve been struggling so much to get “proper” color in skin and you have given me a valuable formula to use! I love your honesty, candor, and humour! Hoping you keep on producing videos. You’re my number person on KZbin

[@Followforadventure]

I am just in shock, this is amazing, I never knew any of this!

[@crabtreedesignco.9146]

Great video Sean! Very informative, loved it. Quick tip: Instead of making a blurred layer, when you click on the eye-drop tool, go to the tool bar at the top left and change your point sample size to 31x31(or 11x11) this will give you an average sample color of the surrounding pixels. You can also shift+click on a point while your info bar is up so that way you make sure you are viewing the same point. It will save your sample selection and can reference that point at any time. This will help increase speed of your process as well as increase accuracy of what you are trying to achieve. Hope this is helpful!

[@seantuck]

Thanks mate. I'm aware. It's a preference. I just prefer to blur and select a point so I can visually see what I'm selecting, instead of guessing the expanded extent of the pixels being selected.

[@crabtreedesignco.9146]

@@seantuck Makes sense!

[@OniYT-WR]

I was googling this info last week and couldn't find anything useful, thank you alot!!!

[@BerndLimbach]

Thanks for the tremendous inside look on the different staring points. It showed one more time that the camera is just a tool and no religion.

[@AndrewGoodCamera]

Yes! The biggest problem for me wasn't in color cast when I used Sony instead of Fuji (which is what we usually do) for portraits for the last four months. It was that it seemed to bring out every skin flaw. My wife picked up on it instantly, in my photos of her, and she hates it.

[@Dance1617]

start shooting wide open or get better at retouching lol thats the trade off for higher resolution and sharper resolution lmao.

[@MegaWeitzel]

Just take it back out, by using negative sharpness for ooc JPEG, or in capture one just use the skin color tool. It is much better for skin color management in general than PS or Lightroom

[@EversonBernardes]

@@Dance1617 it's not just higher resolution and sharper images, though. Canon seems to tune their CFAs so they're less discriminating to blue/teal. The skin tends to have a lot of undesirable blue components in veins and other blemishes. A side effect of that is that their deep lush greens tend to be yellower.

[@OhFishyFish]

I've got Fuji X-T2 and I hate its waxy skin tones. Even RAW file seem to be somewhat processed in camera so editing won't fix it.

[@bluetackphotograph]

Thanks Sean, couldn't agree more about out of camera tones not really mattering, as we all edit after anyway. Love your tips and as usual you've given us another simple yet effective way to delicately refine an image.

[@Caracalaba]

stop getting into my mind and doing the exact videos I want to watch!

[@Jworldvisualz]

Señor Calabaza I know right! Lol

[@akbc3247]

The reason why I don't really enjoy brand comparison videos is that the real talk get lost, most of the comments are ridiculous (ppl feeling somehow superior bc they own things of a certain brand is just weird). But the video is great, super helpful and with a lot of info as always :)

[@rhmimages]

I would have loved to have seen Fuji X-T3 in that same comparison. Your final edits are really great. Hope the subjects liked them too.

[@chrisjames7489]

As a former long time Fuji owner (multiple camera generations) Fuji skin tones are really not all that. They are Canon ish but tend more toward an overall yellow. They certainly aren't bad, but the default "Provia" look had skin tones I really grew to hate. But RAW processing made it all good, similar to most systems. Now on Sony with no regrets. I did love the Fuji system though, and they have fixed a lot of my gripes with the Xt-3 (Had XT-1 and Xt-2)

[@mystahgerri8178]

This was an excellent video personally I thought the Sony had a much better color out of camera but I love how you brought the skin tones back and your formula for doing it. A lot of other photographers make editing seem very simple but it really isn’t it’s like trying to crack the code to end world hunger. Your formula will give many up and coming photographers an edge when it comes to editing and I believe you should definitely do this again. Also can you do tutorials for using Sony cameras I’m switching to Sony too

[@michaelgebauer5235]

Creating ICC camera profiles in case of Capture One is the easiest way to “normalize” the color rendering. Best regards Michael

[@cptbrncls7050]

any link to a how-to for doing that Michael?

[@batwork4031]

Please.

[@huwmorgan51]

I was going to say something similar. I don't think we are looking at sensor differences as much as we are looking at the way Capture One renders the raw files for each of these cameras. An ICC profile would improve the color rendering.

[@dennishumbla5431]

I downloaded a ICC profile for Capture One that someone hade made to make Sony color look more lite Fujifilm, that was great.

[@garbygarb31]

Dennis Humbla do you have a link you could share ?

[@franklinmichael671]

Something I found out watching this video is the fact that colors look very different depending on what device and browser you are watching the video in. I watched it on both chrome and safari I get drastically different colors, I also tried it on my iPhone and iPad and got two more different colors. Chrome looks the worst to my eye, it has an unnatural red hue to it. Great video 👌🏼, and the final portrait at 17:31 looks great, definitely better colors than the unedited ones.

[@scotty4418]

Sean, this was a fascinating episode and thought your final edit looked fantastic and as you said if you want to apply your own particular style, is the camera brand such an important issue at the end of the day if you can make requisite changes post production.

[@peterzagar9520]

This is how serious knowledge should be dropped. Respect!

[@IanBursill]

I don't shoot Canon or Sony so I'm unbiased. The Sony files are better to my eyes. More detail in the skin. Yes, both cameras aren't really neutral, the Sony have a magenta shift, the Canon a yellow shift. All correctable in software though so no problem.

[@sanzlenaic1700]

Yes you are right about the magenta. But when you are retouching and color grading it's better "yellow" tone.... I think it's more a question of interpretation.

[@merlinalfonso6374]

Canon has never had a yellow shift. That's what's weird about this video.

A slightly modified version would be to copy a representative part of the skin to its own layer. Then apply the Blur->Average filter to this layer. The values will be fixed and there’s no need to check different parts of the face to make sure you’re working with reasonable start values. Also, the ratios you use for the skin colour can be written as 1:2:2.5 (CMY) which might be easier to use (and remember) in the calculations. As always it is a pleasure to watch your videos. I every now and then come back and watch them again in case I’ve missed something or as repetition! Big thumbs up!

[@ivanulyanov3461]

Really nice comparison video! I feel like I got some interesting and precise technical information from it, as well as some good thoughts on what it means in practical terms. As someone who mostly paints portraits instead of shooting them, I found the even, consistent yellow skintones of a Canon quite upsetting and lifeless. They do have a certain punchy, pleasant quality to them, which probably makes it a good match for fashion photography, but the Sony colours felt much more natural and rich (as in "varied", which is a good thing, at least in painting) to me.

[@SuperElmoDelmo]

Sean, please do portrait photography workshops so I can learn directly from you! You're such an inspiration, I would love to meet you in perso and thank you for everything you do with your videos!

[@altern8ive]

lives at 73A uses A73 ha 👍

[@seantuck]

Never noticed that:)

[@AntonTvHD]

Superb attention to detail take a bow!! I love when peeps point out these things it makes me smile

[@archithkamath6371]

I also noticed it 😁🔥

[@harrypehkonen]

Ha! My first reaction was to try to find it with street-view. I failed.

[@oakmountain2788]

Thanks again Sean for illuminating common misconceptions within the photographic community, and including a tutorial while doing so! Another great video

[@ThomasDutour]

Canon is supposed to have the better skin tones but interestingly enough your final edit is closer to the Sony than the Canon.

[@leticiali]

I would actually say that the final edited image looks... exactly like the Sony straight out of camera!

[@Lyander25]

Personal preference always plays a role in these things. I used to be the kind to want photos to turn out EXACTLY as in real life, but the more I play with the hobby (as a filthy casual and not a professional, haha), I've found myself leaning more towards the school of thought that considers photography an artform as much as any other, and like _any_ form of artistic expression, the golden rule is "to each their own".

[@WeizenGourmet]

Well true for the dark skin. The white man skin looked better on Canon to my eyes.

[@iandavis1355]

@@leticiali I don't have the person in front of me to really compare what I see with my own eyes and what was edited for me. However, I think the browns in the Final Edit have a richer, more chocolate-like appearance than the OOC Sony (with slight colour cast) shot. My own facial hair and skin colours seem pretty close to the white guy's colours and from my personal experience--without a tan--we both have a bit of pink in the pale areas of the skin and where the skin is tight around knuckles and elbows. Out of camera I'd say the Sony image is closer but it still requires colour correcting. Which, of course, the Canon requires too.

[@lukaszbrozek]

Oh. Finally someone did this. I recently searched for video with this topic. Great as always Sean. :)

[@FinalManaTrigger]

Canon's skin tones are too warm, Sony's too cool. Thanks for showing us side-by-side!

[@cliverose9958]

And thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts. Much appreciated!

[@78285725]

When you shoot raw, information is more important than color. you can always change the color you like or soft the detail as you like. But you can't bring more dynamic range back or bring details back.

[@NxsRuin]

Too bad most(?) camera companies advertise raw access, but deliver files with irreversible and often destructive DSP algorithms applied. (It's called bait and switch marketing and is illegal many places).

[@wenc8796]

Your videos are always packed with so much good info. This video about skin tones is one of the best out there.

[@christophmunch4796]

Sony colors are obviously best because they're the most realistic. And realistic, neutral colors are the best basis for making adjustments to personal taste.

[@RichardSibley]

Superb video Sean! Great advice on correcting the skin tones! There is a way of changing the sample area in the info palette so it selects more than 1 pixel... select a larger area and it may remove the need to do the blur layer. I’ll be using that formula from now on! Thank you!

[@seantuck]

Thanks Richard. Appreciate mate. You can absolutely work that way, I just like being able to visually see what I'm selecting rather than visually estimating how many pixels are being included in the selection.

[@eugenekimphotography]

Thanks for amazing video Just what I was trying to figure out recently

[@sovREVERE]

I've been waiting for this video for a week and it did not disappoint! Thank you for covering this!

[@TarekAlShawwa]

i'm a Panasonic shooter but i preferred the sony colors more than canons

[@RyanZulqudsie]

Dude, your explanation is amazing. I came for knowing the differences between Canon & Sony, yet I left with another knowledge to learn. Thank you!

[@seantuck]

You're welcome mate:)

[@STRAlGHTxEDGE]

Action: Makes video with a conclusion about how in the end brands their specific colors don't really matter because of post-processing. Reaction: Comments are flooded with people talking about how one brand's colors are being superior over the other. PLAY THE MUSIC STEVE!

[@mikerobinson7694]

Excellent post Sean. Always fascinated how the fanboy effect causes division in these instances. It is clear that sensitive editing is required to bring either the Canon or the Sony output to what would be perceived as the closest match. As always, the photographer is the brains here, not the gear.

[@seantuck]

Couldn’t agree more:)

[@AllCarsUnited]

The amount of detail lost from the canon makes it less than ideal. It's always easier to subtract than it is to add. Anyone can tweak colors in post but it's the valuable extra information that will always give more of a artistic freedom in the end

[@DreamReleases]

Except "artistic freedom" isn't what's required when getting ethnic skins tones to the customer's desire.

[@jwkooi1979]

Thanks for the video. I had hoped you would say the Sony is better, but teaching us how to change the color, makes up for the result 😉

[@RathJ13]

canon fanboys: "THE COLOR SCIENCE THOOOO" Everyone else: "Post Processing exists, even canon users do it..."

[@Ben-fq1lj]

Rath Empire lol yeah “But....but color science! REEEEEE!!!!”

[@alexmeier19]

Because in video you have no RAW.... With RAW it doesn't really matter. But for video it's a big thing though, beacuase the camera does a lot of preprocessing

[@frijin490]

Good that i shoot RAW. I can make sony look canon and laugh for misconceptions.

[@palysmedia5276]

@@alexmeier19 its actually not, guess youve never heard of log profiles.

[@alexmeier19]

@@palysmedia5276 haha of course I had, but log profiles are not nearly as good as RAW. video you have still 8 bit while raw is 14 bit. 2^8 vs 2^14. 64x more info!

[@geopapa80]

I preferred the Sony skin tones. They looked way more natural.

[@crazyME456]

i was surprise as well at how well sony handled skin tones. even the starting point was already good enough for my untrained eyes. whereas canon skin tones were just too darn yellow. at least in this video.

[@abel89er]

I could be a bit biased because I'm a sony shooter myself, but I also prefered the Sony colours. The canon were too yellow, the black skin specially

[@alessandraf.8030]

I agree with you, the Canon skin tones were too yellow!!!

[@AmitZinmanVideo]

When I posted some photos straight out of the A7rIII shooters of other brands were amazed at how great it looked. I shot some of them docu style, but I still first and foremost cared about where good light was naturally happened and voila! good photos without any editing.

[@WyvernApalis]

Canon is way too yellow for me. And I’m Asian

[@vagaries3270]

You forgot to lock your front door! ;) Thanks for the video mate.

[@timoteiafanasie4894]

In England, they have doors with that kind of old Yale locks, so when you slam it on your way out it is locked. You need a key just to open it. Just saying :-)

[@vagaries3270]

He left it on the catch though :)

[@lindsaywebb1904]

i don't think he was actually going anywhere ;-)

[@seantuck]

Actually mate it locks on it way out as a deadbolt, and you lock the second lock from the outside. I assume you’re joking though.

[@lindsaywebb1904]

@@seantuck , well from me, it was just a quiet nod towards out of sequence shooting in film making...and or continuity - you youtubers are raising the bar in that regard. The only difference one often sees between these home productions and some more ahem, autofocus. I'm sure that'll be sorted sooner or later. BTW Nice video.

[@4voxel]

yayy another videooo ,,, love your content

[@spondoolie6450]

Sony is sharper. Sharpness is better ... you can color grade in post if you want the over-saturated look.

[@cdave2006]

well mark III here, mark IV would add sharpness or 5dsr for portrait wich would be 100 iso and would be even sharper.

[@DreamReleases]

Sharpness isn't always better in portraits. People don't want to see their pores.

[@spondoolie6450]

@@DreamReleases I know ... a lot of people want to have that melted skin look.

[@sanzlenaic1700]

@@spondoolie6450 Mostly photographers or clients will publish in Facebook...So sharp or not doesn't change anything

[@spondoolie6450]

@@sanzlenaic1700 Then why don't you just shoot with your smart phone if that's your opinion? There, I just saved you hundreds of dollars.

[@TheMPTV]

I think its the anti aliasing at work for the Canon, that is why its soft and less super detail

[@AbdonPhirathon]

Now that you've done that comparison I actually like the Sony better. The Canon looks awfully yellow and not true to life. Obviously, to each its own, but I don't see "Canon colors" as a benefit at all.

[@RandomTask1207]

Yeah, if I want warm it's not that hard to change global color temperature or paint it in selectively.

[@benbofficial]

Hey sean, could you share with us your process to achieve the final image between the 2 cameras? I love the final image and I too shot with canon and moved to the sony a7III. Cheers!

[@seantuck]

Check out my editing video from my Mentor Portraits. A lot of the techniques are in there.

[@marcfrederic1168]

Ben something out of the topic,I do shoot with the a7iii and a metabones iv I experience a sort of shutterlag,is there a way around it or have you faced something like so? Thanks in advance

[@prasand]

"my god is more real than yours." #fanboyarguments another great video, loved the CMYK formula tidbit. **thumbsup**

[@FairZack234]

Am I the only one who thinks canon has bad skin tones? They look sickly, like they have Jaundice or something

[@ropersix]

I think Sony makes people look like cadavers. So while while Canon people may have jaundice, at least they're not dead!

[@FairZack234]

Haven't seen much of these cadavers have you?

[@sternschnupper]

i think i learned to avoid canon for basically that (back than i couldn't pin it to that reason).

[@merlinalfonso6374]

I don't trust this video. Canon has really good skin tones, very unlike the ones shown in this video. Canon skin is not biased toward green. Something is wrong here.

[@jaschana2220]

nope you're not the only one. In a blind test, Canon is rated the worst brand of all brands out there. Canon is straight trash. Even Nikon skin tones look better than canon.

[@debbydhill]

Well done

[@ale_ressia]

You just destriyed all the Canon fanboys that continuously repeat "canon has better colors than sony". The secret is the technique not the camera

[@vianditya]

ale_ressia well, it is has better color than Sony..Sean just prefer Sony over Canon. That’s it.

[@subcinctus]

ale_ressia *feels destriyed*

[@EDCGadgets]

Actually he has just proven the point that the Canon skin tones are better. Ask around people, who prefer warm, brownish tones over a magenta alien look. Anyways, while he does show how to correct it, I am happier to skip as many unnecessary in-between steps as possible, because doing this correction for hundreds of photos each day is... pretty time consuming for no real reason...

[@subcinctus]

EDC Gadgets I’m a canon person too but I surely would love the crisp details on Sony

[@EDCGadgets]

@@subcinctus Ask that from your clients as well, who needs extra spots on their skin :) For me the conclusion is very simple: you can get essentially the same photos with both, system, everyone knows it. But with Canon it's less steps, and the initial starting point is better, so if you just want to pass over some files without tons of post processing, the results are more pleasing. In short: practical starting point, vs unnecessary extra steps. Period.

[@JeffWalshPhotography]

In these comments lay a perfect example of why the photography community is toxic AF for the most part. This video was awesome

[@juanquispe3494]

The easiest solution to correct Canon and Sony skin tones is to buy a Fujifilm camera.

[@vianditya]

moo Yes.

[@vianditya]

moo Yes.

[@felancarlogarcia1265]

Wow, good luck correcting skin tone with zombie muted classic chrome colors.

[@seantuck]

Ha ha:)

[@kirillpal1443]

No, once again. JPEGs out of Fuji are heavily stylised and RAWs for me are really hard to edit - to my taste they are just too grunge (is it a correct word?). So if you are trying to achieve a specific look in post, Fuji - is not the best way to start IMO.

[@aussie8114]

Neither were good or correct. Canon looks like they have the onset of liver disease. At least they can tweaked in editing.

[@madrigalelect3388]

And Sony look like they have been bitten by a zombie and starting to turn lol

[@JetBen555]

Neither looked bad.

[@aussie8114]

Benoit Levesque Neither looked good either.

[@JetBen555]

@@aussie8114 thats my point, I just see it ''Glass is half full'' and you see it ''glass is half empty'' thats it.

[@IchinShek]

I didn't know I needed this formula in my life; but now that it is, thank you

[@rajmaharjan9828]

You are a gift to all kinds of photographers!

[@ChurroWaffles]

I appreciate the info you give especially the tone curves and why they have one for R, G, and B. For somebody who says they’re not technical you explain a lot of technical stuff pretty well. I’m currently working on a portrait shoot for my workplace and I get frustrated because I’m pretty new to photography but I have so many ideas and I can’t get them to translate to the pictures. Your videos are really helpful and the fact that I use the same camera(even though it doesn’t really matter) helps a lot. Thank you. I look forward to seeing more of your videos.

[@LProds]

Your videos are always so informative. So very well done. They're just a pleasure to watch. I switched to Sony from Canon, and I'm also partially color blind like yourself so I can relate. I definitely liked "your skin tone" over either the Sony's or Canon's. Great job.

[@BruceLauderdale]

Fantastic video. Clear and simple. Nice to see a South African on KZbin.

[@ch1no0o]

Sean, Thank you for sharing this. I have always had issues with color correcting skin tones. New technique I learned today! can't wait to get try this later today!

[@highcastoroil]

This is the type of video I've been wanting to see for so long! Thank you Sean.