cmp-color@orange.fr

CMP Digital Target lineup - individually measured - numbered reference files

ORDERS AT THE END OF THE PAGE

Digital Camera Calibration - The Digital Target Lineup

Raw file development softwares have internal processing flows that are specific to them, depending on the technical and aesthetic choices of the developers. choices can be questionable, especially concerning the highlight rendering and the use of custom profiles makes it possible to get rid of them. With correct calibration and a judicious choice of parameters in the profile creation, one gets closer to an ideal colorimetry and a more realistic high lights rendering. The processing of raw images is easier, with greater efficiency and time saved!

The procedure of calibration is simple: after having ordered and received your target, you photograph it following the indications provided , then you send me your raw raw files of the target . After analyzing and processing your files, this results in a correction profile that you can use in compatible applications ( ICC or DCP ) to give new life to your images (even those you have done before calibration, you only have to apply your profiles on your old pictures.

CMP Digital Targets come with individual measurement files in Lab and spectral mode. Digital Target Mini targets are measured by production batches, the Digital Target and Digital Target Studio Edition targets are individually measured for accuracy. These reference files can be used by any ICC / DCP profile creation software to create your own profiles ( like Lumariver Profile Designer or XRite Profile Maker Pro ).

Made in France, the new Digital Target Mini is designed for fine management of white balance, autofocus micro-adjustment and DCP calibration for your digital cameras under Adobe softwares ( Lightroom and Camera Raw ). in a metal case, it consists of 2 panels: on left panel, features related to the white balance and autofocus, on right panel 126 colored patches used for calibration. The measurement file for calibration is provided in spectral mode and the measurements are made for each production batch. for use in the field, the Digital Target mini offers matte surfaces without reflections for easier shooting.

CMP Digital Target Mini for
DCP / Adobe profiles
White Balance fine tuning
AF micro-adjustment

White balance management

The principle is simple, make a first shot of the scene to shoot with the Digital Target mini in the field. take the shots quite normally. The first frame with the target on the picture will be used to set the appropriate white balance settings according to the shooting conditions. The slightly colored gradients named " landscape" and " portrait" allow you to slightly shift the ideal white balance in order to restore the perception of the luminous atmosphere that you perceived with your eyes. a white balance neutralizes any dominant image, even those that would be aesthetic (hot sunlight for example), in this case it is very useful to have the opportunity to shift the white balance to find the original light atmosphere. using the white balance picker on a bluish color the image will be warmer and vice versa.

move your mouse over the picture to see before / after color balance optimisation

Auto focus Fine adjustment

Very high resolution digital sensors highlight the mechanical tolerance problems of autofocus systems. In order to compensate for the possible misalignment of the autofocus system or a possible focus shift on the optics, manufacturers have incorporated a micro autofocus adjustment on their cameras that shifts slightly forward or backward the actual focus compared to that calculated. This correction works perfectly but it must be defined according to each optics and each case: two objectives of identical model will require different corrections even if they are mounted on the same body.

The test pattern has been developed to provide accurate and useful information to determine your autofocus behavior and whether or not it requires adjustment. Such a pattern is also usefull in or in the field when the shooting conditions undermine the autofocus ( low contrast or low light). The concentric circles of variable frequency determine whether the autofocus system is shifted forward ( front focus) or backward ( back focus) by observing the color of the longitudinal chromatic aberration (red : back focus, cyan: front focus) and this with real reliability since it is not a question of making a visual choice between 2 images more or less sharp (which is not always easy when none of the images is really sharp) but to detect the presence of aberration and if so, its color. Attention, depending on the optics used longitudinal chromatic aberrations may not be visible, in this case carefully inspect the different shots and select conventionally the one that is the sharpest.

In the following example, you can observe the longitudinal chromatic aberration in the concentric circles on the left (cyan / front focus) and right (red / back focus) images, while the central image is perfectly clear and without longitudinal chromatic  aberration .

front focus                                     SHARP FOCUS                                 back focus     

shooting of the target Digital Target mini
100% extract, center of the sight

Calibration with Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw

The 126 color ranges allow the creation of quality profiles for Adobe Lightroom and Camera Raw software, the internal workflow of Adobe software allows to limit the number of colored tracks while keeping a good efficiency of the profiles.

Adobe software used for developing raw files has a color rendering that is improvable and highlight usually loose details that are indeed on the original raw file. use of custom profiles with the " CMP" rendering makes it possible to overcome these characteristic faults in the digital world. With proper calibration and a judicious choice of parameters in the creation of profiles, we are getting closer to an ideal color rendering and more realistic highlights.

DCP / Adobe profiles
ICC profiles

The Digital Target is available on a glossy surface without optical brightener. The advantage of the glossy on the mat surface is a better color saturation and a better Dmax, the calibration is thus optimized since the chromatic sampling taken into account for the computations is wider than on a matt support, by against the shoots of the test pattern on glossy support are more delicate to achieve without parasitic reflection.

The Digital Target consists of 522 colored patches, allowing the creation of ICC profiles for any compatible application (DxO, Capture One ...) but also DCP profiles that can be used directly in Camera Raw and Lightroom. target is measured using a spectro-colorimeter and the measurement files delivered (1 file in LAB mode, 1 file in SPECTRAL mode) are individual, numbered files, so you are sure to get the best profiles possible with this target!

Because of its glossy surface, this target is intended for professionals who master the lighting techniques, shooting of the Digital target is more delicate than a target on a matte surface, but this disadvantage is manageable and minimal in view of the quality of the profiles obtained.
 

  DCP / Adobe profiles
ICC profiles

The Digital Target Studio Edition is a calibration target for digital cameras, available on a new surface without optical brightener and an imposing size of 29x40cm.

The new color sampling distribution is done every 15 ° , on 3 levels of saturation and over a very wide range, with a high Dmax and saturated colors never before seen on calibration targets!

On the perimeter of the test pattern, a series of black / gray / white patches allow the software to evaluate the uniformity of the illumination of the sight and to take it into account for the calculation of the profiles.

The Digital Target Studio Edition consists of 988 large colored patches and allows the creation of ICC profiles for any compatible application (DxO, Capture One ...) but also DCP profiles that can be used directly in Camera Raw. and Lightroom.

Because of its glossy surface, this target is intended for professionals who master the lighting techniques, shooting of the Digital target Studio Edition is more delicate than a target on a matte surface, but this disadvantage is manageable and minimal in view of the quality of the profiles obtained.

Compatible softwares

ICC profiles ( Digital Target and Digital Target Studio Edition ) are compatible with DxO software (all versions), Capture One and all other raw development softwares allowing use of external ICC profile in the workflow.

DCP profiles ( Digital Target Mini, Digital Target and Digital Target Studio Edition ) are compatible with Adobe Camera Raw and Adobe Lightroom software.

Examples of CMP profile  correction

The pictures below are taken by photographers with whom I worked for the calibration of their digital camera and are published on this page with their agreement. The calculated profiles were applied to the original raw files, depending on the software used for the development, the calibration is either ICC (Capture One and DxO PhotoLab) or DCP (Adobe Lightroom and CameraRaw software). Hover over the image to switch between CMP rendering and standard rendering of the software.

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

Pentax 645D - Camera Raw Development

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

  improved rendering in DxO Optics Pro - raw Sony Alpha 7R file and Leica Noctilux optics @ f / 1
custom profile action - CMP rendering

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

photo by G?rd Lacoumette - Canon 1Dx - Raw Capture One development

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

Photo by Didier Protin - Canon 5D MkIII - Lightroom Raw Development

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

photo by Yves Tabouret - Canon 6D - Raw Camera Raw Development

move your mouse over the picture to between CMP rendering and standard software rendering

improved rendering in DxO Optics Pro - Sony Alpha 7R raw file
custom profile action - CMP rendering

As we can see in these examples, the corrections made by the CMP profiles can be spectacular depending on the images and the software used for the development of the raw files. In any case, the highlight rendering is much softer than the default rendering of the software used ( an article provides information on the interpretation of the raw levels here ) and the colorimetric corrections significantly improve the rendering of the images. Some characteristic colors such as fluos, reds, greens, skies and flesh tints find their appearance naturally. the last example, the difference in flower hue between Adobe Standard rendering and CMP rendering is particularly striking, as even creating DCP / DNG profiles with a large number of sampled colors is a real benefit! Work on raw images corrected by quality profiles is greatly facilitated, the quality gain of the resulting images is very real.

IMATEST analyzes

hover your mouse over the image to see the calibrated / uncalibrated rendering analysis

move your mouse over the graph
Imatest analyzes of DNG profiles completed
hover your mouse over the image

The graph above shows the difference between the theoretical rendering (square plots) and the actual rendering (round plots) when developing a raw file from a Pentax 645D in Camera Raw. Ideally the round and square be superimposed perfectly. The rendering offset is measured as a number: the Delta E (difference in color between two samples).

- rendering not calibrated: the rendering is raw at the output of software (uncorrected),
- calibrated rendering: the rendering is corrected directly in Camera Raw using a DNG profile created from a Digital Target shooting

We can easily see that the corrected rendering is much more respectful of the original colors, with a Delta E less than half in most cases (average and maximum dE) compared to the uncorrected rendering. Once corrected using a DNG profile the rendering is closer to the ideal rendering and the discrepancies between the theoretical and the measured values are very small.

The graph above makes it possible to understand what " level interpretation " is: when developing the raw file, an input raw value (  horizontal axis )  corresponds to an output level (vertical axis), these curves are therefore the reflection of the internal processing applied to the raw file. The white curve shows the default rendering proposed by Adobe: the highlights are exaggeratedly pushed upwards (upper part of the curve) in order to hide the overexposed parts present on your images, this type of rendering is very practical to avoid the effect " cottage cheese effect " ( from french expression )  on an overexposed cloud for example, the problem is that this rendering is applied to all images, even those that do not have overexposed areas! The result is a loss of detail and highlights in all your images.

CMP profiles are offered with 3 rendering curves: the highlights are much less pushed up than standard profiles, resulting in softer and more detailed highlights, it is a good solution to begin the process. treatment of a correctly exposed image, with a natural rendering while maintaining a progressive transition between highlights and pure white.

Digital Target Pricing

The realization of a set of DCP profiles for Adobe Lightroom or Camera Raw is offered for the purchase of a CMP Digital Target (to be done within 90 days after the purchase). Additional camera calibration ( new profiles for another camera for example ) will be charged 48.50 euro.

CMP Digital Targets are delivered with their reference files and detailed shooting instructions.

Copyright (c) 2022 christophe metairie photographie - Tous droits reserves