{"id":33631,"date":"2022-10-17T07:22:47","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T06:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=33631"},"modified":"2024-04-21T11:15:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T10:15:43","slug":"review-cobalt-image-basic-profiles-film-and-digital-emulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-cobalt-image-basic-profiles-film-and-digital-emulations\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Cobalt Image Basic Profiles, Film and Digital Emulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/h2>\n
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Leica M10 | MS-Optics 135mm 2.4 | f\/2.4 | Cobalt Portra 400<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have already been talking about editing pictures with the help of profiles in the past in the articles How I edit my pictures<\/em><\/a> and Emulating Filmlook<\/a><\/em>. This time I will have a look at the Cobalt Image profiles.<\/p>\n

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Sony A7III | VM 75mm 1.5 Nokton | f\/2.8 | Cobalt Portra 800<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Sony A7III | 28mm | Cobalt Portra 160<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n\n

Disclosure<\/h2>\n

I was approached by Cobalt Image to have a look at their portfolio and afterwards they provided me with the Basic Profiles<\/em> for my three cameras as well as their Kodak Film<\/em>, Leica Monochrom CCD<\/em> and Leica M Digital<\/em> emulations packs.<\/p>\n

Basic Profiles<\/h2>\n

The basic profiles are camera specific and serve two purposes:<\/p>\n

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  1. These Cobalt profiles are using a different color science compared to the Adobe Standard profiles. You can have a look at a detailed explanation here<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  2. They can make pictures taken with different cameras look exactly the same, which is needed for their film and digital emulation packs to give consistent results.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The latter generally does work very well – when using the same lens on these cameras. And usually additional white balance adjustments need to be made as well.<\/p>\n

    \"cobalt
    Sony A7III | Sigma 180mm 5.6 | f\/8.0 | Cobalt Portra 400<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    But what does different color science mean here and does different equal better?<\/p>\n

    To be honest with you: in many scenarios I didn’t see a notable difference between the Adobe Standard and the Cobalt camera specific profiles.<\/p>\n

    With rather complicated lighting situations I did notice some clear benefits using the Cobalt profiles though, as they bring out better color detail in the highlights. With neon signs I found this especially noticeable, but I guess when taking pictures of colorful flowers under the sun it will also be visible.<\/p>\n