I just bought a D400Z. I'm a bit dissappointed on how the colors are coming out on fleshtones. My sons are very fair-skinned, and their fleshtones seem very muddy and gray. Is this an inherent problem with the camera? So many people told me what a great camera this is that I'm thinking either I'm doing something wrong, their is something wrong with my camera, or this is a problem with digital cameras in general. I was looking on the www.imaging-resource.com reviews of the Olympus and the Canon A-50, and in the case of the outdoor close-up picture the A-50 seems to be brilliantly vibrant with color and the olympus shot seems to be very muddy and gray in comparison. And according to the review, I believe the Canon shot was taken on a cloudy day. Can someone explain why two top-rated cameras could look so different on the same shot? Thanks in advance for any help. Perhaps I bought the wrong camera?

-- Steve Weintraut (zacware@earthlink.net), June 27, 1999

Answers

Yes, you bought the wrong camera. You should spend more money on the quality cameras to get decent pictures.

-- King Q. (expert@yahoo.com), June 28, 1999.

I returned a 400z precisely for this reason I found the colors not true to life I ended up purchasing a Minolta Dimage ex1500 and find the images excellent. B and H photo spent a lot of time with me comparing the actual output on glossy paper between the oly 400, Minolta and Oly 600 the tones on the Minolta were right on while the olys were not. I must warn the camera does have a couple of quirks. While the new version of the digita software correct some of these the lens clips part of the viewfinder when it is fully extended and the motor is noisy. But all worth it due to the image quality also check out the free scripts on the minolta website which give you choice of metering method(normal, spot, or center weighted) as well as flash compensation

-- michael (soundwatts@aol.com), June 29, 1999.

I just got the canon A50 and can attest that the flesh tones are perfect. Indoor or outdoor. Other colors are pretty accurate too. boy, yellows really are nice and bright, which is good for shots of wood and things that have a yellow shade in them. My only complaint about the cam is that bright spots on outdoor shots can be very bright and lose detail (in auto mode), but i think the cam may be doing what its supposed to. I mean that the images tend to be a little on the bright side, which actually gives you detail in shadows and dark areas where others would not. so its a tradeoff, and i'm growing to appreciate the images more and more. What i really like is the size (4x2.5x1.5) and compactness of the cam. no protruding lens. fits easily in pants or even shirt. i think 9 oz with battery it weighs, which others are weigh more, and might be just a little too heavy for pockets.

-- Mark Harpenau (mharpen@bigfoot.com), July 01, 1999.

I have an Epson 750Z and am very happy with it's exposure and color balance.

-- Bob G. (rgreg88721@hotmail.com), July 03, 1999.

There's a post on the comments-page for the D400Z on our site, where one reader found that shooting with the "cloudy" white balance setting dramatically improved flesh tones (and most colors, in his opinion.)

Go to: http://www.greenspun.com/com/imaging/PRODS/D400/D400A.HTM

-- Dave Etchells (detchells@imaging-resource.com), July 08, 1999.

Hi Steve, I must say I don't have any problem with fleshtonesn at all with my Olympus D-400Z. I just picked one up 7-15-99 so maybe it's a newer ver or something. I'm very happy with mine. I took many pictures of my granddaughter with she's very fair-skinned and all is fine. I would suggest brining you son to a photo shop and taking some pictures with another D-400Z to see if something may be wrong with yours.Also I would try viewing them and printing them on another computer.( bring your smartMedia card with you to do this)That way you can tell if there a weak link in your system. I hope this helps you! Let me know how you make out... Good luck!

-- George Wellman (geopen@landmarknet.net), July 23, 1999.