Interior colors for 06' NOT matching website info

Oh boy...I was wondering about this when my dealer said his code that he showed for my interior was "LE11" (or something like that) and that was a "light Gray".

With a silver car, wonder how that would be?

My only concern really is it showing evrything (dirt, etc.).

hmmmm....I will be having a discussion with them tomorrow I guess.
He'll also have the VIN tomorrow as well, that should tell more.

Aaron

 

Cameras contain reflected light meters. They measure the amount of light reflected by the materials in the scene and assign it an exposure value or EV. In program mode, they map the EV to an aperture and shutter speed according to heuristics. The camera assumes the scene is 18% reflective, or it reflects 18% of the incident light from the light sources. This works in many situations such as grass and blue sky in sunlight. It does not work well in certain situations such as a polar bear in snow or a hockey puck on coal. In the first case, the picture is under-exposed because the camera tries to make it 18% gray. In the second, the picture is over-exposed for the same reason.

So if you take a picture of a gray scene on automatic or program mode (or even aperture or shutter priority), the camera will lighten a dark-gray scene or darken a light-gray scene until it appears 18% gray. The proper way to expose a scene illumated by ambient light is to put an 18% gray card in the scene, meter off the card only, set the aperture and shutter speed manually, remove the gray card, and shoot the picture. Alternatively, use a handheld incident light meter to get the exposure, then transfer the values to the camera and shoot in manual mode. When using flash, many handheld meters have flash exposure capability.

Yet another way: Take the picture with the 18% gray card in the scene. Then adjust the levels in Photoshop until the gray card is at mid-level (around 128 when the maximum value is 255). When using a digital camera, it's better to do this in RAW mode with linear color values.

 

"The human head weighs eight pounds".................(Movie: Jerry Maguire)

Just kidding with you tessar!

Seriously, these are clearly two different colors (and patterns) I might add.

I appreciate the photography lesson though.

With the patterns being different, these have to be two different fabrics or the pics of the "06" are wrong...but don't think they are.

Aaron

 

Nowhere in my post did I say that the two fabrics in the two photos are the same. My post was about how cameras and their meters work, and how to properly meter a scene when color accuracy is important. Can you say for certain that both photographers metered the scenes correctly? If not, how can you say for certain that one fabric is darker than the other fabric and by how much? The only thing that is certain is that the gray in one photograph is darker than the gray in the other photograph. Without knowing how the photographs were produced, conclusions about the shades of the fabrics is speculative at best.

 

My 2006 Classic Silver Prius has a gray fabric interior. I took a picture of the interior with existing light. The car is facing south-west at about 11 am. The sky was overcast with direct sunlight at about 10% due to clouds. The camera is handheld, and I was crouched just inside the open front passenger door. Here is some of the EXIF metadata from the Canon EOS 10D:

2005:12:13 11:12:36
17-40mm @ 17mm
Subject dist: 0.94m
1/90 sec, f/5.6
Mode: Manual
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 400
AF mode: One-shot AF
Drive: Single frame shooting
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off
File size: 1,432KB
Image size: 2048 x 3072
Color space: sRGB
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Tone: Normal

I metered off the 18% gray card in the scene just below the lens cap. The fabric in my car is slightly lighter than 18% gray by maybe 1/4 of a stop. If you want to get a good idea of the shade of gray of the fabric in my car, buy a Kodak 18% gray card from a good camera store.

About the picture from another Prius owner: If the fabric in that car is the same color as the one in mine, then that picture is overexposed by about 2/3 to 3/4 of a stop meaning that the gray in the photo is too light.

About the picture from Toyota's Web site: The seat appears to be sitting in a studio (and it is not inside a car). The key light is overhead and to our left: The clue is to look at the shadows. The shade of gray in this picture may be darker due to the direction of the light.

Or perhaps the seat is virtual and the different materials are being synthetically rendered. The clue for this theory is that the partial pleats are nearly identical for the different materials. Look at the shadows as you move your cursor across the thumbnails of the headrests. Move the cursor between the gray and bisque fabrics and look at the enlargements: The diamonds are aligned. It's hard to believe that manufacturing of seats and coverings is so precise.

[attachmentid=1379]

 

Technically, Kodak's 18% gray is known as medium gray or Zone V (Roman numeral 5) in Ansel Adam's Zone System. Since the gray fabric in my car is only a quarter stop above that, it is essentially medium gray.

Medium gray is a good color for making dirt harder to see. If you could mix all the colors in the world, you would get 18% gray. That's why camera meters are calibrated to expect 18% gray. It works well in many situations, but there are a lot of exceptions.

Another reference: THE ZONE SYSTEM. Your monitor needs to be calibrated properly to view this properly.

 

Roger that Paradox!

I would like to see some 06 owners pics of the fabric patterns as well please.

Also, if you look at "kinged"'s pics of his leather, it too is not the leather that Toyota shows.

kinged's leather

There is a discrepancy for sure with the info from Toyota.

Aaron

 

doesn't matter whether my LCD is calibrated w/ spyder or anything else or not. But I DO like what I see from your picture. I was worrying that 06 CSM comes w/ dark gray as pictured by Toyota's website and planning to get other exterior colors so i can get away from that shade of gray.

Thanx!!!

 

Yesterday, the 13th, the first 06 showed up here. It is the Barcellona Red with Oak interior. It looked to be a light grey. It looked like the bisque on the ebrochure. 1 more thing, the auto off headlights? They were listed as standard equipment. At least on a #4.

 

CONFIRMED!

I just saw a 2006 White Prius on the local dealer lot while servicing our Sienna.

Light Gray fabric interior (04/05 style), NOT the interior fabric that Toyota shows on their website for the 2006 models for sure!

Here are some pics.

(gotta warn ya though, the pics are very low res and taken with my PDA-Samsung i700, so not the best quality but all I had with me.........no adjustments available tessar)

Looks like Toyota MAY be burning through their interior inventory before putting in the new stuff. Or, they have changed back to this fabric for good.
Kinda suspect the first one.

And if that's true, it's really disappointing that we don't get the new stuff as advertised on their website.

Aaron

 

AND GUESS WHAT ELSE?!?!?!

Just called Toyota.

I spoke with a "Brice" guy.

At first he coudn't understand this whole thing. He thought it was a dealer/sales issue and that I had the right to refuse the car. (I told him that I don't think so).

Then I asked him to dig a little further into this "FE11" code. (he was getting a little testy, not rude mind you, just a little impatient).

He did and after a while came back with this:

The distibution of the Classic Silver Metalic is with the "FE11" code for fabric ONLY. (another code for the leather but just concerned with fabric now)

The Toyota website is missing this little "bit" of info.

So, Classic Silver Metalic Interior ONLY COMES WITH THE "FE11" LIGHT GRAY COLOR (same as the 04/05) as I just witnessed today.

BTW, anyone notice that the leather that "kinged" has is a light gray leather too, nothing like the leather depicted on the Toyota site at all.

kinged's leather

Mystery solved.

Toyota's website is wrong (for the Classic Silver Metalic Interior anyway).

And, we who have ordered it will just have to be happy with that fabric or refuse the deal.

I'm getting my car dang it, light gray or not.

Got my VIN and car will be here MON/TUES of next week
(barring any weather delays).

Peace out!

Aaron

 

So WOW...what the @*@#? Today I see a white 2006 with the old light gray and pattern, then silver and now black?

Toyota really has a problem here!

Their website is now incorrect on at least 3 exterior colors/interior colors!

FWIW Paradox, I do believe yours with the lighter gray will look really nice against the black...contrast.

Best wishes on your deal and enjoy your Prius dude!

Aaron

 

Maybe toyota put the fabric on the seats inside out... reversible seats? Who's gonna try? :lol: