Do lens have thier own colors? I sometimes read "I love the color my contax lens gives" or nikon, Sony etc. But if you shoot in raw by the time you have finished editing then those so...

distill Loc: Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire UK

I sometimes read "I love the color my contax lens gives" or nikon, Sony etc. But if you shoot in raw by the time you have finished editing then those so called colors have gone!
Or am I wrong

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Well, they'll be changed some depending on how the image is edited.

I've never considered any lens as providing any special "color" capabilities.

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

It depends. Regular lenses and uV filters, ND filters should not add color. But there are some filters that do such as a warming filter. A raw file contains what the sensor saw and if the glass has some color, it will not be eliminated due to a raw file.

On the other hand, while the processor in the camera can add or change tint, this WILL be eliminated if saving a raw file.

In editing, you can do all sorts of things with the color.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

PHRubin wrote:

It depends. Regular lenses and uV filters, ND filters should not add color. But there are some filters that do such as a warming filter. ...
...

But that would not be the lens itself, no?

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

distill wrote:

I sometimes read "I love the color my contax lens gives" or nikon, Sony etc. But if you shoot in raw by the time you have finished editing then those so called colors have gone!
Or am I wrong

Depends on how one edits. The color can be changed or kept neutral, photographer's choice. Most of the time I have my camera set for "vivid" for more saturation. But other than that, I usually do nothing more than crop (if even that).

PHRubin Loc: Nashville TN USA

Longshadow wrote:

But that would not be the lens itself, no?

Right

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Yes, there are differences. Typically manufacturers work to keep any color casts consistent within their line. I do find for example subtle changes between nikon and zeiss.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Longshadow wrote:

Well, they'll be changed some depending on how the image is edited.

I've never considered any lens as providing any special "color" capabilities.

Even if the lens did have "color" rather than none, the digital sensors are set to a standard that would determine white. So whatever "color" from the lens that hits the sensor, that signal from the sensor would be analyzed to produce white. So even if your lens is a " rose colored glasses" lens, in the digital age, you can still make it white.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

wdross wrote:

Even if the lens did have "color" rather than none, the digital sensors are set to a standard that would determine white. So whatever "color" from the lens that hits the sensor, that signal from the sensor would be analyzed to produce white. So even if your lens is a " rose colored glasses" lens, in the digital age, you can still make it white.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

distill wrote:

I sometimes read "I love the color my contax lens gives" or nikon, Sony etc. But if you shoot in raw by the time you have finished editing then those so called colors have gone!
Or am I wrong

Another answer to your question comes from the film days. Kodak and Fuji were making some of the most neutral films the world had ever seen. And yet the commercial side kept asking for even more neutral. But Fuji decided to test "neutral", with snapshots of various products with various saturations, on these commercial photographers. They seemed to always pick the most saturated image as what they wanted over the neutral image. That is how Velvia was "born".

Fast forward to the digital age. What JPEG thumbnail image do you think the camera manufacturers are going to generate for most photographers? The most neutral shot possible? Or a JPEG with some amount of saturation?

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

distill wrote:

I sometimes read "I love the color my contax lens gives" or nikon, Sony etc. But if you shoot in raw by the time you have finished editing then those so called colors have gone!
Or am I wrong

Some lenses "can" cause a color cast. But different cameras have different color responses. The best way to get neutral color is to use an Xrite ColorChecker Passport to create a color profile for the camera/lens combination.

Theoretically filters like neutral density, polarizers and others should not introduce a color shift - but they all do, even though the shift may be barely noticeable.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

Gene51 wrote:

Some lenses "can" cause a color cast. But different cameras have different color responses. The best way to get neutral color is to use an Xrite ColorChecker Passport to create a color profile for the camera/lens combination.

Theoretically filters like neutral density, polarizers and others should not introduce a color shift - but they all do, even though the shift may be barely noticeable.

And then with post processing one can go all over the place in color. The latest is sky replacement. One can generate an evening sky with a high noon shot just for the oddity of it. Talk about a color shift! No lens will match that kind of color shift.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

Some lenses render colors differently than others, for example my 70-200 shows colors more vividly than some of my other lenses (without any post processing)

BebuLamar

Gene51 wrote:

Some lenses "can" cause a color cast. But different cameras have different color responses. The best way to get neutral color is to use an Xrite ColorChecker Passport to create a color profile for the camera/lens combination.

Theoretically filters like neutral density, polarizers and others should not introduce a color shift - but they all do, even though the shift may be barely noticeable.

The OP asked if some lenses have good color cast that is the color cast makes them good not to neutralize it with color correction.

tcthome Loc: NJ

I believe a higher quality lens shows a more crisp, clear, higher contrast image which will give a better true to color, more vibrant, saturated image on any given camera which might also change from camera to camera. Just my thoughts.