Re: Assessing bird colouration

Posted by dscho on Dec 20, 2010; 3:12pm
URL: http://imagej.273.s1.nabble.com/Assessing-bird-colouration-tp3686141p3686145.html

Hi,

On Mon, 20 Dec 2010, Gary Sellani wrote:

> I think this would be possible IF you could process the raw image from
> the camera.

That is only true iff the camera is color-calibrated exactly. You can find
out by using the paper color charts Gabriel mentioned. Even then I am not
sure if all RAW-capable cameras (I would certainly expect it from high-end
cameras, but only a control experiment will show!) correct for different
lighting conditions (brightness, light source) appropriately. As Michael
mentioned, this can make a crucial difference.

In short: if there is _any_ chance to use a spectrometer, you should use
it. These guys are not exactly cheap (really good ones are about $1,500 if
my research on that was correct), but as Gabriel suggests, there are
opportunities to collaborate with people who own one already
(psychologists interested in color perception, designers, material
scientists, etc).

Ciao,
Johannes