Coolpix 5700 ICC Color Profile

7/26/04 Update: I've updated the profile. Green and yellow is rendered a little better and the overall white balance is a little cooler.

I created a custom profile for my Nikon Coolpix 5700 camera to correct the color. Below is a sample: on the left is normal 5700 output; on the right is 5700 output with my profile applied.

You can see that magenta (column 14) is quite a bit more subdued and magenta-like. Red (column 17) looks a bit more real, too. The face shows a lot more shadow detail, as well. Grays are more clearly stepped along the bottom (up to patch 19 is quite clear).

All 5700s are a bit different (manufacturing and CCD differences), but my profile would likely improve everyone's images some. You can download the profile here (218 kB).

When I built the profile I shot in the 5 megapixel Fine .jpg mode at ISO 100 with "Normal" sharpening, "Normal" image adjustment, "0" saturation, and a manual white balance. You're sure to see the best results under the same conditions, though a little experimentation proves that any 5700 photo benefits from the profile.

For those interested, a Yxy graph of the 5700 profile (outlined in green) compared to the sRGB color space (red). As can be seen, the 5700's color capabilities are notably different than sRGBs. The 5700 is capable of recording very saturated blues and purples and more saturated greens, but falls short in the red area.

On a Mac system, put the profile in your ColorSync Profiles folder (in the System folder); on a PC running some flavor of Windows it'll go in c:\windows\system32\color or c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\color.

To use the profile with PhotoShop, open a photo shot with your 5700. Assign the 5700 profile (Image menu, Mode, Assign Profile...), then convert to AdobeRGB (if so desired). I don't know how other image-editing programs work, so can't tell you how to use the profile with them.

It's important to note that you may not always want to use the profile. The profile will make a brilliant sunset look dull, for example. The profile will, in general, brighten underexposed photos a little, bringing out more detail. In most cases, it should work well. Try it (toggle the preview box in PhotoShop) to see if it works for that particular photo.

FYI, I shot the Kodak Q60 target in a studio environment to get it as evenly lit as possible. I built the profile with GretagMacBeth ProfileMaker Pro 4.1.5 and a GretagMacBeth SpectroScan.

A good primer on color management and icc profiles can be found at http://www.roosphoto.com/html/otherlinks.html (Color Management 101).