Originally posted by photoptimist Regarding sensors: although CCDs and CMOS both use silicon, they don't have identical spectral response. The difference is because silicon absorbs different wavelengths at different depths and the two technologies have different semiconductor structures at different depths. In general, CCDs are less blue sensitive than are CMOS sensors.
Regarding people: the genetics of vision mean that different people do see colors differently. This is true even for those who are not color blind. CCDs may be a better match for some people's retinal response. CMOS may be a better match for other people's retinal response. And maybe some people see both sensors as a little bit off. There's also a lot of neurological processing in color vision that is required to see saturated colors. The human retina has much poorer color separation than does the typical Bayer CFA and it's the brain that makes sense of it. Perhaps some people grew up in households that favored more or less acute color discrimination which then affects how they see the world and photos of the world.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Today's cameras are very complex, and human perception is yet more complex. The result being, there is no "right" answer. With film, the various formulations produce predictable results in terms of color palette and saturation. But even then, although there have been general agreement regarding those differences, there are still perceptual variations among people as to the applications and which is the most desirable.
---------- Post added 04-01-20 at 12:41 PM ----------
Originally posted by Dartmoor Dave I think it varies by manufacturer too. For example, I find it quite hard to tell Leica M9 shots (CCD) from M10 shots (CMOS). But I think I can tell a shot from any Pentax CCD camera from any Pentax CMOS camera every time. Perhaps the K20D could fool me, but I don't think any of the later cameras could.
I was going to say- first, I have noticed some degree of color difference for each DSLR model I have had, from the *ist on, and that during the years I was shooting with both my K200D (CCD) and K20D (CMOS), the K20D's output demonstrated every bit the color richness of the K200D, at least!
---------- Post added 04-01-20 at 12:44 PM ----------
Originally posted by photoptimist CCDs may be a better match for some people's retinal response.
I believe this is true, since not everyone is in agreement over this issue- far from it. I noticed some of my Pentax DSLR models have had a sometimes noticeable, slight magenta cast, going back to my CCD models, whereas the more recent ones, especially my KP seem more neutral. (to my retinal response) But that is not to say I find the KP's colors to be "cold", indeed I find colors to be vivid and vibrant.
Then there is the interaction of any post processing software with the camera's output.