Try this approach for a base…if too punchy then dial back opacity. Add to taste in additions… lens correction and denoise and sharpening as you would like and maybe you will need the tone eq if you have deep shadows or some highlights to correctlll
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You will need to be aggressive with DT for exposure and tone and color…
Save yourself some time and upload a raw…you are allowed… just add a creative commons license so people here can edit it… This will quickly show you how people use the software and what can be achieved…
Also accurate is not the technically correct you are asking for a match to C1 which is known to do a pretty good job but unless everything in your pipeline with any software is calibrated then there is no guarantee of any accuracy…simply changing one of the color profiles in any raw editor can drive the color to point where it may be pleasing to the eye but not really accurate at all…
This is common…search playraw on this forum…you will see all the threads…many raw files and tiffs are larger… of course no one goes out of the way to make files larger than necessary but that is perfectly acceptable…
I uploaded to the google drive and share the link to download the RAW file:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yM8HZ0RpthxzOjq8bt7yAu8mmsUVYgAk/view?usp=sharing
Nice. Direct uploads are fine One last thing you just have to add the cc text stating that you allow others to work on the image. explained here… Hopefully collectively the users will help you attain your goal of a good starting style. PlayRaw stuff to keep in mind
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Downloaded your raw and loaded it in my hack software to look at the “linear” data before discretionary processing, and that is consistent with what you’re seeing for the darktable starting point. I had to add a tone curve and some color saturation to make it look like the Capture1 rendition.
Very few softwares let you look at the raw starting point; they start you off with “look-good” processing that you then fight with doing what you want.
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FWIW… I don’t have C1 so cant try to match that…but basically a very std edit mostly defaults gives the results below…included is your raw untouched exported, extracted camera jpg, edit using basic recipe mentioned above from Mark Adams …onecameraonelens… and a fourth one with the CB module disabled from the edit…
With No CB added incase that is considered pushing the colors and saturation
It seems like your camera jpg scrubs the tinted feathers toward white?? Maybe just the way it shakes out
XMP for full treatment with CB which can always be pulled back to suit taste
2021-11-27 MARAGOGI-077.ARW.xmp (8.0 KB)
Edit: For kicks you could try this too…
channelmixerrgb_Sony Test.dtpreset (1.0 KB)
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I had a play as I was curious. Here’s your image in browser next to my edit in darktable:
The jpeg itself:
And XMP: 2021-11-27 MARAGOGI-077.ARW.xmp (14.7 KB)
I threw in something I do to make some of the edits less harsh/sharp: Soften module is great in small doses IMO, darktable can look overly sharp compared to CaptureOne or Lightroom. Not that I mind it, I’d rather start with a sharp image.
Anyway, I got it pretty close to CaptureOne in 10 or 15 minutes maybe, starting from scratch. Maybe slight Chroma/Saturation adjustment to taste needed.
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It is possible to disable the aggressive tone curve in Capture One. Then it will look similar to darktable (without base curve or filmic).
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Hi Márcio,
How do you like this one?
2021-11-27 MARAGOGI-077.ARW.xmp (7.1 KB)
Here’s a style you can apply which should come out like the jpg above, as long as you apply it on the darktable default image. base curve must be disabled (as it is by default if you have the ‘auto-apply pixel workflow defaults’ set to scene-referred in the preferences).
test_style_to_match_C1.dtstyle (3.3 KB)
You can import the style through the styles tab on the right in lighttable view.
All this is assuming that you like my version!
Which is not quite the same as C1 but to me looks similar.Edit… just adding that all I used was filmic, colour calibration, local contrast and color balance rgb. (As well as the default modules of course)
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Others have skillfully demonstrated that darktable can achieve good results.
I’d just like to add that the title of the post is ‘How to get more accurate colors in DT for Sony)’; yet, you write
Beauty is not the same as accuracy. In general, our eyes are attracted to contrasts and saturated colours.
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One point that I would like to mention: images for me look more contrasty and saturated on a black background like in Capture One, than on the middle grey background of darktable.
I sometimes cycle through black, white and grey, and each background gives a different perception.
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you asked for accurate colors (at least that’s the caption of the thread)
Can you explain, why you think the poppy colors are more ‚accurate‘ than the flatter darktable ootb processing?
If you want that color rendition you might define a colorbalancergb preset with increased vibrance and contrast based on colourful preset. And then let it be applied by default 
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When I started using darktable 3 years ago, my reference was also Capture One, and my impression was the same as yours: there must be something wrong with the colours. But don’t worry, as others have already explained, it is just that darktable renders your image from a more neutral starting point than Capture One, which gives you more flexibility in post processing.
Here is my take editing your image, using just basic tools:
2021-11-27 MARAGOGI-077.ARW.xmp (14.8 KB)
P.S.: it looks like this one was taken in Maragogi, beautiful place!
[EDIT: I hadn’t noticed the blown out highlights on the trunk until I posted it; fixed it on the edit]
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It sounds like you haven’t read/watched any (recent) tutorials. In the modern, scene-referred workflow, the base curve shouldn’t be used. DT works more like colour grading film, where you start with something desaturated that you “clean up” and then “add” colour later in the process.
I recommend starting with this video by one of the developers:
Since it is based on DT 3.6, some of the modules may be a bit different now (Filmic notably), but nothing major.
This is also an important tutorial:
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These are a bit older and while AP’s videos are very good IMO they will overwhelm most new users.
I think Frank Walsh has some nice entry level videos to introduce DT and the various nuances and really a nice Blend of Technical and Practical is provided on @nwinspeare YT channel… This is one YT channel for DT I would highly recommend…
In addition to his video’s on scene-referred he has actually made a somewhat topical video for the OP…
EDIT: This one should be a mandatory view IMO as this facet of DT and dull colors and changing preview when the edit begins get queried over and over by new viewers…
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The base curve is just another tone mapping operator. It can be placed at the end of the pipeline, allowing you to use editing tools on scene-referred, linear data. In fact, if you use the default module order, that’s where it will appear. What you have to be careful about is to bring its input back to the 0…1 range, e.g. by adding another exposure or tone equalizer instance just before base curve.
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Sorry, MStraeten if I didn’t make myself understood. I’m looking to simulate the raw reading of C1 that I think is beautiful in DT .
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Really… Maragogi is beautiful. “Brazilian Caribbean” ,
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