Accurate Colors

[amitgupta]

Hi,

I am looking for a camera (5 Mpx +) that gives accurate colors. I do not have any other requirements.

Can anyone please recommend any camera to me. Would highly appreciate any help/recommendations.

Thanks

[RTaylor]

Accurate colors can be pretty much achieved by any camera as long as your whiteblance is set correctly.

You really need more requirements for someone to recommend a camera.
For example:
price
DSLR camera
point and shoot camera
Also let people know what type of photographer you are.
Complete beginner never owned a digital camera?
want camera just for vacation pictures
or family shots
maybe for sports

Lots to think of besides just wanting a camera for its accurate colors

[amitgupta]

Thanks a lot for your response. I realize I should have provided more information. Here it is:

My budget is US$500 but will consider extending it if necessary.
I am open to both DSLR & point-shoot cameras.
I have used digital cameras before, the last one being Sony DSC-F717 but it did not give me accurate colors. This one is for my wife, she has used the 717 but prefers a simple camera. She uses it to snap rugs and home-furnishings for selling them online. so getting the colors right is critical (the tough part after that of course is getting people monitors to be calibrated properly).

[RTaylor]

Th F717 is a great camera. A friend of mine has used it for the past 3 years and sold lots of pictures with it.
He now owns the Nikon D50 but wants to replace his broken 717 with Sony's latest non DSLR.

I dont think you will find any camera that will get the exact colors of the rugs.

Does your wife have the camera set at auto white balance when taking photos indoors?
You can get pretty close but you also have to be sure that the lighting you take your picture in, whether you use a flash, and like you said, having people and even your monitor calibrated. The color profile of your image file has to be exactly what your monitor is set or what you see in the LCD camera window wont be what you see when you offload your pictures.
You can also tweek the color white balance in many software programs to come closer to what you expect the color to be.

Even buying rugs or any home furnishing from catalogs either in a book or online are never exactly 100% the color you would see in person. I think retail stores expect that as do most consumers.
I have bought a few area rugs online and the colors were close but not exact to what I expected, but luckily not enough difference that the rug didnt coordinate with what I had.


If she prefers simple, then I would stay away from a DSLR. DSLR-Like would be a better choice.

Have you tried DPReview?

http://www.dpreview.com/
do a side by side comparison and choose the features like I did.. 6 mpg and anything under $600. at SLR-Like
It gave me all cameras in the 300-500 dollar range.

[amitgupta]

Hi,

I did some reading on white balance. Would a camera such as Canon Powershot G6 that support RAW format help for getting accurate colors. (my wife is comfortable with graphic tools). Does RAW format make a noticieable difference.

I am considering between the canon A700 and the G6.

Thanks

[RTaylor]

I have another friend that owns the Nikon D200 and that has super color. Yet when he does business travel he carries the Canon Powershot G6 and the shots he gets from that are fantastic.
I dont know about the A700 but if its close or better than the G6 I'm sure it would be just as good.

If you take shots in RAW, you have much better control over adjusting the whitebalance