Canon® EOS 5D Mark II Digital Field Guide

Chapter 4. Color and Picture Styles

Getting accurate color has never been as accessible as it is now with digital photography. As digital technology progresses, the options and techniques for ensuring accurate, visually satisfying, or enhanced color become easier and more varied. Color accuracy begins by setting the color space on the 5D Mark II that matches your workflow. The Canon Picture Styles have never been easier to employ, and many photographers have begun to enjoy the ability to configure the tonal curve, sharpness, color rendering, and saturation of images these settings yield. You can choose among an assortment of Picture Styles that replicate time-honored film looks or render color in different ways or you can create your own Picture Style.

Holiday lights with a major color shift for a surreal effect. ISO 800, f/22, 10 sec., with an EF 16-35mm f/2.8 USM lens.

Learning about Color Spaces

The term color space refers to the range of colors that can be reproduced and the system that a device — such as a digital camera, monitor, or printer — uses to reproduce color. Of the two color space options offered on the 5D Mark II, the Adobe RGB color space is richer because it supports a wider gamut, or range, of colors than the smaller sRGB color space. In digital photography, the more data captured — or, in this case, the more colors the camera captures — the richer and more robust ...