Do differences in color saturation across Nikon and Canon pictures matter?

Question

I am about to buy a new DSLR and shortlisted the two models, Nikon D5100 and Canon 550D.

From the pics that I have seen on Flickr it seems that Nikon pics have more saturated color than Canon. Is it true? Also will it be possible to take similar pics from Canon 550D ?

I heard from a Canon 550D user that you can get similar results from a 550D too. On the contrary I heard from some enthusiasts that you need to do a lot of post-processing on Canon pics if you want to achieve Nikon like results because a Nikon sensor by default puts in more color. He went on to add that Canon pics are closer to real world colors while Nikon gives more saturated colors for eg. the sky would look more blue with a Nikon.

Answer

The only fair way to compare something like saturation is a RAW-to-RAW comparison under conditions and settings that are as faithfully-duplicated as possible. As others have mentioned, saturation is one of the things that's typically affected during image processing -- even the processing done in-camera when a JPG file is created (thus, most users don't even realize it's happening).

You might find that the only way you'll get a really good answer is to set up a test on your own, but you might find a good starting point would be to review files produced by a review site like DPReview. They have test reports for both the D5100 and the 550D, and both of these reports have a section showing RAW outputs of their standard test scene.

The test for the D5100, in fact, will let you compare RAW outputs of the D5100 and 550D interactively at various ISO settings. On this screen, you can not only compare the outputs, but you can also download the RAW files produced for the test. These RAW files might be the easiest approximation you can find for purposes of an apples-to-apples test.

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