Should I create my own Olympus Color Profile?

14th September 2021 

I have been having this question for weeks. I have a few older E-Series Olympus cameras and I thought why not? I read newer M43 models do not use these famous Olympus colors, they have been toned down with more neutral color profiles. I guess the question is, are they really different?

General notes or comments:-

1. Below you see the 4 different E-Series cameras with an image taken with the listed cameras. What do you think, is it possible to build a traditional "Olympus Color Profile" for my Pen F? 
2. I will not be able to test the final profiles at the moment because we have boring winter weather, and you need rich colors. This final testing for the profile might take a bit...
3. Does any of you have one of these E-series cameras plus a Pen F and are willing to try beta profiles...?
4. Are you ready for a challenge to develop your own "Olympus Color Profile," let me know...
5. I had an E1 but sold it. The E1 does have a unique JPEG look when you study the images. You can easily use the E1 jpeg straight out of the camera. 
6. Do you think there is a difference between the cameras having a Kodak CCD sensor and the newer models with CMOS sensors?
7. Some say there is a difference between the Kodak and CMOS sensors. Must say when I study the images I have from my E400 (10MP Kodak CCD), then I find the jpegs are really good. Interesting, the E400 was never really popular?
8. I have an idea for how I will prepare the color checker images to have a muster I can work from. I will do a short video explaining how I do the profile and color checker images soon...
9. For anyone interested see this interesting discussion on Flickr about the E5 and others...

Here are the 1st images you can study. I obviously have to do more work on my lighting, the jump from RC on my Pen F to the slave flash mode on the E330, E400, and E500 did not work so well. Still, the colors seem really interesting...

14th September update: I have been working on, and testing my new E-Series color profile. It's basically done and I am happy with the result. See the brief description below.

Also, see my Pen F and E-P7 Color Profile Page.

Additional notes:-

• Use Auto WB or use the gray card option
• Use the Highlights/Shadows (Curves) to fine-tune the profile look
• Do not use the saturation or contrast sliders

Different E-Series cameras and images as a reference...

Olympus E500

Olympus E-330 - 7.5MP Live MOS (NMOS) Sensor

Olympus E-400 - 10MP CCD Sensor (the only Olympus 10MP CCD sensor)

Olympus E500 - 8MP (FFT) CCD Sensor (The Kodak Sensor)

Olympus E-520 - 10MP Live MOS CMOS Sensor

Olympus Pen-F - 20MP Live MOS CMOS Sensor