Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Mirrorless Cameras => Topic started by: Phil Indeblanc on September 21, 2015, 10:27:14 pm

Title: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 21, 2015, 10:27:14 pm
Has anyone done such a test yet?  I know the uncompressed RAW is coming soon for the Sony, but I thought someone would have already done this comparison. Shocking if no one has.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 22, 2015, 02:13:38 am
Hi,

I have done some comparisons and the results are mixed. High resolution is hard to achieve and mistakes easily made.

The first comparison I made was with Canon 24/3.5 TSE vs Distagon 40 on P45+: Canon + A7rII wins

The second was Sony 90/2.8G agains Macro Planar 120/4 on a test chart: Planar + P45+ wins

The third test was field shot comparing the Sony 90/2.8G agains the Zeiss 100/3.5CF  that is known to be one of the sharpest lenses for the blad. The Planar 100/3.5 + P45+ wins.

I may publish images in a few days.

Best regards
Erik

Has anyone done such a test yet?  I know the uncompressed RAW is coming soon for the Sony, but I thought someone would have already done this comparison. Shocking if no one has.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 22, 2015, 12:05:59 pm
I should have guessed it would be you :-)

I've been gone for a few months, and now back. 

I'm just about to rent the darn A7R2 setup for 4-5 days.
I think $220 to try before I buy is totally worth it. Samy's wants $480 for the same setup/body and adapter to rent. All online rentals were at least half of Samy's.

Not many here do lux/jewelry product shooting, which I do, and its one of the critical subjects that need to hold all detail. I use the 22mpixel P25 now, so it would be a nice chunk larger file and detail. So would the 5DsR, and maybe a LeafAptus75(33mp) P40, or 45, all these in around the same range of price, maybe $1K-1.5K more($3000-5500). Considering that I don't change gear every 2 years, its not a big difference/I still use my 5Dm2!.

I was thinking about it when the first A7R came out, and then when Canon did the 5DsR, I also thought about it. I also use the 5Dm2 now with a good set of lenses(70-200L IS, 24-70L, 50/1.4, 100Macro, 180LMacro, Leica 100r, 60r)

The thing is, the P25 I use produces great files and I'm happy with it. 5Dm2 cannot come close. (My old Kodak ProSLR, 14mpixel(no AA filter, ccd) was much closer to the mf "look of 3D" we talk about, but it was horrible with controlling lights and color.)

Pros using A7r2 or 5DsR...vs a MF dB
1. I can always gain from more resolution,
2. My back screen is out, so its like my H25, and even when it is working, its not very useful.
3. Faster shooting and transfer would help a lot.
4. Portability would allow me to give it multiple purpose

Cons using a A7R2 or 5DsR...vs a MF dB
1. I don't know how large the subject will look on my Sinar. It was a bit odd with my Caon using slide adapter.
2. I can't use it on the Mamiza RZ kit I have. The kit is a complete one with all lenses, and I have not used it in a long time. Since I can't make use of the P25 or H25 on it for portability use. Tethering is OK, but more of a pain.
3. I like using C1 for tether capture, not sure how these will adapt.
4. I use Shneider and Rod HD macro glass. Not sure how the smaller pixel sizes will do with them.
5. slight learning curve to adapt to Sony (not a real con)
6. Not sure how meaty the file will be for post editing.
7. Lens distortions?
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 23, 2015, 01:02:22 pm
Maybe you can make some samples of controlled light using highly reflective 3 dimensional polished objects? That would help a lot.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 23, 2015, 03:22:47 pm
Hi,

I would like to help but I can really not…

What I can tell about is my experience shooting things I use to shot.

Best regards
Erik

Maybe you can make some samples of controlled light using highly reflective 3 dimensional polished objects? That would help a lot.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 23, 2015, 08:42:39 pm
Well the tea cup is a good start :-)

Although I know that was for other purpose. Troger had some helpful info, as well as ctz, and others.  thanks Erik for continuing such tests.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 23, 2015, 09:27:10 pm
Hi Phil,

I subscribe to a German quarterly, called C't Photo or something like that. They have looked into that MFD vs DSLR thing a couple of times the recent years and essentially arrived at the conclusion that it is close but MFD still has an edge.

I did a "shoot out" a few days ago, because I used to shoot a subject with flowers to compare cameras, and those flowers will be gone pretty soon. In this I simply used my best lenses for each system. The Planar 100/3.5 and the Sony 90/2.8G Macro. In this case the Hasselblad held the edge.

In this case I used Lightroom's default sharpening for Landscape for both images. Raw images are here: http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/BattleRoyal/

There are focusing differences and light varied between the shots. Focusing the "Blad" is pretty hard. Actual pixel crops of the intended area of focus below.

SonyP45+
(http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/BattleRoyal/DOF_1_20150921-_DSC2069.jpg)(http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/BattleRoyal/DOF_2_20150921-CF047005.jpg)

Best regards
Erik


Well the tea cup is a good start :-)

Although I know that was for other purpose. Troger had some helpful info, as well as ctz, and others.  thanks Erik for continuing such tests.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 24, 2015, 01:41:23 pm
I'm trying to open these files on my computer with CS6 or LR6...but here they look blurry :-/
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 24, 2015, 06:04:46 pm
Hi,

I fixed protections on the files, the raw files are here:

http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/BattleRoyal/DOF_2_20150921-CF047005.iiq
http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Shoots/BattleRoyal/DOF_1_20150921-_DSC2069.jpg

Best regards
Erik

I'm trying to open these files on my computer with CS6 or LR6...but here they look blurry :-/
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on September 24, 2015, 06:18:10 pm
I didn't know I could put a protection on my raw files...hmmm
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 25, 2015, 01:23:32 am
Hi,

The web server is running Linux and the files had mode 000 (I think). This happens now and then, so now I fixed it.

Regarding sharpness, I feel the Blad is sharper, but I also think that there may be a focus problem on the Sony. The red flowers are quite critical as they only use one of the RGB pixels essentially.

Best regards
Erik

I didn't know I could put a protection on my raw files...hmmm
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 25, 2015, 08:13:51 am
The Sony file is out of focus......  Take a look at the wall behind it that shows clearly defined cracks.  The Phase file has that wall out of focus and the flowers and pot in focus. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: AlterEgo on September 25, 2015, 09:48:22 am
The Sony file is out of focus......  Take a look at the wall behind it that shows clearly defined cracks.  The Phase file has that wall out of focus and the flowers and pot in focus. 

Victor

I am also surprised how bad the image was, that is not to say that A7R2 + FE90/2.8M shall be better than 45mp MF - but just how bad the quality of the image is... bad lens ? different performace @ macro distances vs the one in example ? operator error (sorry).... I 'd not call vaze and flowers being in focus.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Petrus on September 25, 2015, 10:18:47 am
Looks like the Sony shot has both camera shake AND focus behind the subject...
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 25, 2015, 10:42:34 am
I have both a Leaf Credo 50mp back and the Sony A7Rll..... I also have an IQ180.  I have shot the same scene with the A7Rll and Otus 55mm and the Leaf Credo 50mp/Alpa/Schneider 100mm Digitar.  The focal lengths are very comparable and the lenses are both extremely sharp.  I shoot the Schneider at f11 and the Otus at f5.6 and the differences are almost like splitting hairs.  Any differences that I can see would have to be attributed to lens characteristics and, to me, neither one is better than the other. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 25, 2015, 10:46:07 am
Hi Victor,

I have noticed the focusing differences, but I have not found a significantly better file.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I obviously need to work on my focusing technique.

Best regards
Erik


I have both a Leaf Credo 50mp back and the Sony A7Rll..... I also have an IQ180.  I have shot the same scene with the A7Rll and Otus 55mm and the Leaf Credo 50mp/Alpa/Schneider 100mm Digitar.  The focal lengths are very comparable and the lenses are both extremely sharp.  I shoot the Schneider at f11 and the Otus at f5.6 and the differences are almost like splitting hairs.  Any differences that I can see would have to be attributed to lens characteristics and, to me, neither one is better than the other. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 25, 2015, 12:04:39 pm
A brief comment regarding both platforms..... I can't stress enough that there is nothing in the 35mm world that can compare with either the Schneider Digitars Or Rody's.  The differences between the two platforms all boils down to lenses.  At 100% pixels there is a visual difference between the my Otus and my Schneider Digitar.  Even at just 1 f stop apart the differences remain.  There is a clarity that exists with the digitar that is very pleasing.  In print it would be almost impossible to see but it is there.  Call it the MF look or whatever you want but when manufacturers finally start making slower lenses with very large image circles the gap will start to close. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 25, 2015, 12:29:58 pm
Hi,

I did consider camera shake, possible caused by image stabilisation, but the window behind the flowers is very sharp. So I would think that the Sony image has back focus, while I would say that the Hasselblad image has some front focus.

Just to say, I was quite careful shooting these images. I should have not published them but I was looking forward to doing this test and I got carried away.

This also shows a bit that field tests are difficult. You need to carry double equipment, light is changing and it is easy to mess up, which I obviously did. But, that is a learning experience, too. Need to be even more careful focusing. Now, if we do testing in lab or studio, we can go back and reshoot. In the field it is more problematic.

Best regards
Erik

Looks like the Sony shot has both camera shake AND focus behind the subject...
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: AlterEgo on September 25, 2015, 12:30:19 pm
I can't stress enough that there is nothing in the 35mm world that can compare with either the Schneider Digitars Or Rody's.

which one can actually mount on 35mm dSLM platforms, no ?


Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: AlterEgo on September 25, 2015, 12:32:25 pm
I did consider camera shake, possible caused by image stabilisation, but the window behind the flowers is very sharp. So I would think that the Sony image has back focus, while I would say that the Hasselblad image has some front focus.

Just to say, I was quite careful shooting these images.

the pain of focus stacking sequence then and select the best ?

Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 25, 2015, 12:54:51 pm
which one can actually mount on 35mm dSLM platforms, no ?

That's not the point.  If someone wants to make a mount then probably they all could mount on a DSLM..... all it takes is a mount.  My comment was about overall lens quality.  I could care less that they don't mount on a DSLM.  They will, of course, mount on an Actus Mini which would be my first choice. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: AlterEgo on September 25, 2015, 02:12:54 pm
That's not the point.

the point is that one can bring MF optics to 35mm dDSLM - so you can consider dSLMs as having that optics... so optics quality will be there (or will that optics be able to handle the higher sensel density of smaller sensors ?).

Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 25, 2015, 03:17:32 pm
Hi,

If you put two lenses of equal quality, say diffraction limited at f/5.6 on two cameras of different formats, the larger format will always win as long as we can use the optimum aperture, as magnification will be smaller.

DoF requirements may force smaller aperture on the larger format, so MTF would be lost to diffraction.

Lets see it this way, the image diameter on the Sony A7rII is 43 mm, while on the P45+ it is about 60 mm. So the A7rII needs to be magnified 60/43 = 1.40x compared the P45+. This essentially means that if we assume that the P45+ lens achieves 60% MTF at 40 lp/mm than the Sony lens would need to achieve 60% MTF at 56 lp/mm. Or we could guess that the lens on the A7rII would need to achieve 84 %MTF at 40 lp/mm. The Otus at optimum aperture would be somewhere there. So it would need an Otus to match a Planar 100/3.5 on a P45+ back, and that Otus should not be stopped down f/5.6.

Best regards
Erik


A brief comment regarding both platforms..... I can't stress enough that there is nothing in the 35mm world that can compare with either the Schneider Digitars Or Rody's.  The differences between the two platforms all boils down to lenses.  At 100% pixels there is a visual difference between the my Otus and my Schneider Digitar.  Even at just 1 f stop apart the differences remain.  There is a clarity that exists with the digitar that is very pleasing.  In print it would be almost impossible to see but it is there.  Call it the MF look or whatever you want but when manufacturers finally start making slower lenses with very large image circles the gap will start to close. 

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 25, 2015, 04:13:01 pm
Hi,

If you put two lenses of equal quality, say diffraction limited at f/5.6 on two cameras of different formats, the larger format will always win as long as we can use the optimum aperture, as magnification will be smaller.

DoF requirements may force smaller aperture on the larger format, so MTF would be lost to diffraction.

Lets see it this way, the image diameter on the Sony A7rII is 43 mm, while on the P45+ it is about 60 mm. So the A7rII needs to be magnified 60/43 = 1.40x compared the P45+. This essentially means that if we assume that the P45+ lens achieves 60% MTF at 40 lp/mm than the Sony lens would need to achieve 60% MTF at 56 lp/mm. Or we could guess that the lens on the A7rII would need to achieve 84 %MTF at 40 lp/mm. The Otus at optimum aperture would be somewhere there. So it would need an Otus to match a Planar 100/3.5 on a P45+ back, and that Otus should not be stopped down f/5.6.

Best regards
Erik

Erik...... this isn't a matter of sharpness.  I decided on an image where I could easily move either camera so that both matched each other in the horizontal plane.  They are both very sharp.  However the Otus image shows a slight ghosting (for lack of a better explanation).  This ghosting has appeared with any 35mm lens I have tried from Leica to Zeiss to Nikon.  None of this is present with my Digitar's.  And...... I'm only comparing at close to the same MP range.  Even if I were to use my IQ180 back and then inspect at 100% pixels the same level of 'clearness' is there.  None of the ghosting and I'm now asking the lens to work a lot harder.  Just my observations......

Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Torbjörn Tapani on September 25, 2015, 04:28:53 pm
And you can be sure that there are no internal reflections caused by an adapter or different camera than the Otus was designed for?
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: eronald on September 25, 2015, 10:06:12 pm
Hi,

If you put two lenses of equal quality, say diffraction limited at f/5.6 on two cameras of different formats, the larger format will always win as long as we can use the optimum aperture, as magnification will be smaller.

DoF requirements may force smaller aperture on the larger format, so MTF would be lost to diffraction.

Lets see it this way, the image diameter on the Sony A7rII is 43 mm, while on the P45+ it is about 60 mm. So the A7rII needs to be magnified 60/43 = 1.40x compared the P45+. This essentially means that if we assume that the P45+ lens achieves 60% MTF at 40 lp/mm than the Sony lens would need to achieve 60% MTF at 56 lp/mm. Or we could guess that the lens on the A7rII would need to achieve 84 %MTF at 40 lp/mm. The Otus at optimum aperture would be somewhere there. So it would need an Otus to match a Planar 100/3.5 on a P45+ back, and that Otus should not be stopped down f/5.6.

Best regards
Erik

Erik, I'm not so sure you're right. MTF 50 is an accepted single-number way of measuring, but you cannot scale the MTFs around so easily as the curve is not the same on all lenses. By analogy with circuits, some lenses will drop at I guess 6db per octave or whatever at the frequency you are at, some are still flat etc. Also, MTF gives you the native (hopefully) (Imax-Imin)/(Imax+Imin) at that spatial frequency, but afterwards you can postprocess ...

Mixing reasoning in linear spatial and Fourier db spaces is not always a good idea, at least it seems counterintutive to me with my very rudimentary understanding of mathematics :)

Edmund
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: ErikKaffehr on September 26, 2015, 01:36:55 am
Hi Edmund,

I am aware of MTF comparisons being tricky, but please note that I explicitly said "diffraction limited lenses". MTF drops almost linearly with increasing frequency on diffraction.

Post processing is of course a dominant factor, but the more of the MTF is coming natively from the lens the less we need to sharpen.

So very clearly, assuming a linear drop of MTF over frequency is an oversimplification.

Below are MTF plots measured on a Planar 80/2.8 at f/8 and a Sony 16-80/3.5-4.5 ZA at 80 mm and f/8 on 6.8 micron P45+ resp. 3.8 micron Sony Alpha 77 SLT. Near optical center and with no sharpening in Lightroom. Here the curves drop rather nicely. In this case the DSLR is an APS-C camera, so image circle is around 28 mm while on the P45 it is around 30 mm. So and image shot on the P45+ needs half of the magnification of the APS-C camera. So here we see that  MTF at 30 lp/mm is around 0.64 on the APS-C, but for the P45+ we would check the curve at around 15 lp/mm and get an MTF of 0.82, clearly better.

(http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Aliasing2/Test3/Plots/NoSharpening.png)

The next figure is with a bit aggressive sharpening. Very clearly, sharpening can twist things around. If we still look at MTF at 30 lp/mm on the APS-C, we would end up at 0.92, clearly better than the unsharpened P45+. Looking at the P45+ at 15 lp/mm it would have an MTF (after sharpening) of 1.01. This would give a visible difference to the advantage of the P45+.  Very clearly, once we apply sharpening things get tricky. But, everything kept constant a larger format should offer an advantage, until we run into the diffraction limit due to DoF requirements.
(http://echophoto.dnsalias.net/ekr/Articles/Aliasing2/Test3/Plots/SharpeningV3.png)

Erik, I'm not so sure you're right. MTF 50 is an accepted single-number way of measuring, but you cannot scale the MTFs around so easily as the curve is not the same on all lenses. By analogy with circuits, some lenses will drop at I guess 6db per octave or whatever at the frequency you are at, some are still flat etc. Also, MTF gives you the native (hopefully) (Imax-Imin)/(Imax+Imin) at that spatial frequency, but afterwards you can postprocess ...

Mixing reasoning in linear spatial and Fourier db spaces is not always a good idea, at least it seems counterintutive to me with my very rudimentary understanding of mathematics :)

Edmund
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 26, 2015, 07:47:47 am
And you can be sure that there are no internal reflections caused by an adapter or different camera than the Otus was designed for?

Yes....... the same type/identical image is produced when using an 800E. 
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 27, 2015, 08:10:25 am
Erik...... this isn't a matter of sharpness.  I decided on an image where I could easily move either camera so that both matched each other in the horizontal plane.  They are both very sharp.  However the Otus image shows a slight ghosting (for lack of a better explanation).  This ghosting has appeared with any 35mm lens I have tried from Leica to Zeiss to Nikon.

Victor,

This is interesting. I have been using both Otus extensively on a D810 and have never noticed any ghosting, but I am unsure what you are exactly refering to.

Would you are some examples of that phenomenon? That would help me understand whethet I have been overlooking something.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: JohnBrew on September 27, 2015, 08:51:11 am
I believe Victor explained his reasoning clear enough. I've done a similar test and find the problem to be one of clarity. I was able to bump the clarity slider to 100% (for the Otus) and then move other sliders (sharpening, luminous noise, etc.) around and was able to realize about 98% of the MF (Alpa/Rodenstock/50 mp back) combo. Then you have to deal with the color issues of DSLR versus MF  >:(.
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: BernardLanguillier on September 27, 2015, 08:58:49 am
I believe Victor explained his reasoning clear enough. I've done a similar test and find the problem to be one of clarity. I was able to bump the clarity slider to 100% (for the Otus) and then move other sliders (sharpening, luminous noise, etc.) around and was able to realize about 98% of the MF (Alpa/Rodenstock/50 mp back) combo. Then you have to deal with the color issues of DSLR versus MF  >:(.

That I can understand.

Trying Iridient Developper 3 may be interesting to extract the last hits of detail from those files.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 27, 2015, 09:31:49 am
Victor,

This is interesting. I have been using both Otus extensively on a D810 and have never noticed any ghosting, but I am unsure what you are exactly refering to.

Would you are some examples of that phenomenon? That would help me understand whethet I have been overlooking something. 

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bernard

Bernard.... I am not sure if 'Ghosting' is the correct term to use but its as close as I can come to describing the differences between my two files.  As I said in my post I placed both cameras in position so that the horizontal field of view was matched.  To me there is a fairly large difference between the two files.  You can download the files at (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dtvtz4py065aipl/AAB3YyBtKXhIq0yMGuz_gr5na?dl=0) - if it all works.  I don't do this much.   Note that focus on both images was very careful and was focused on the painted Cardinal and then focus was checked on both sides.  Images were processed in C1 with standard sharpening. 


Victor
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 27, 2015, 10:07:29 am
I believe Victor explained his reasoning clear enough. I've done a similar test and find the problem to be one of clarity. I was able to bump the clarity slider to 100% (for the Otus) and then move other sliders (sharpening, luminous noise, etc.) around and was able to realize about 98% of the MF (Alpa/Rodenstock/50 mp back) combo.

Hi John,

While you can get a long way with Clarity, it's actually more likely a difference in MTF due to the larger magnification factor on a physically larger sensor.

Clarity in most editors is mostly a mid tone contrast adjustment, possibly with some masking. A much better job can be done with Topaz Clarity, which creates absolutetly no halos, and no color shifts, and additionally allows to separately control several contrast ratios, and adjust the blackpoint, midpoint, and whitepoint of the tone curve.

However, the difference in MTF response is better compensated, or more elaborately enhanced beyond that, with a tool like Topaz Detail. That allows to adjust the modulation of several sizes of detail, exactly what potentially caused the difference in the look of the different sensor sizes. Also completely without risk of any halos from being created, like e.g. many High-pass sharpening techniques.

Quote
Then you have to deal with the color issues of DSLR versus MF  >:(.

Which is mostly profiling related.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: Jack Hogan on September 27, 2015, 11:35:29 am
Erik, I'm not so sure you're right. MTF 50 is an accepted single-number way of measuring, but you cannot scale the MTFs around so easily as the curve is not the same on all lenses. By analogy with circuits, some lenses will drop at I guess 6db per octave or whatever at the frequency you are at, some are still flat etc.

Lets see it this way, the image diameter on the Sony A7rII is 43 mm, while on the P45+ it is about 60 mm. So the A7rII needs to be magnified 60/43 = 1.40x compared the P45+. This essentially means that if we assume that the P45+ lens achieves 60% MTF at 40 lp/mm than the Sony lens would need to achieve 60% MTF at 56 lp/mm.


Edmund, Erik is in my opinion formally correct: the linear spatial resolution recorded in the raw data at a given MTF needs to scale inversely with linear sensor size in order for two different formats to show the same 'sharpness' in lp/ph when the photographs are displayed at the same size. It's all about magnification: http://www.strollswithmydog.com/equivalence-sharpness-spatial-resolution/.

60%MTF is 60%MTF independently of format.  At that MTF the P45+ in the example above would show 40lp/mm*60mm/sensor diag = 2400 lp/picture diagonal (equivalent to the lp/ph units that we are more used to seeing).  At 56lp/mm*43mm/sensor diag the a7RII would also show 2400 lp/picture diagonal.  So MTF60 would appear equally 'sharp' to an observer viewing both images at the same size.

Sharpening is a different can of worms.

Jack
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: vjbelle on September 27, 2015, 11:41:26 am
Victor,

This is interesting. I have been using both Otus extensively on a D810 and have never noticed any ghosting, but I am unsure what you are exactly refering to.


Cheers,
Bernard

Bernard..... a few brief comments on the legendary Zeiss QC.  This is my third copy of the Otus 55mm.... the first two were out of alignment.  Even this one is slightly skewed but probably the best of the bunch.  I also purchased the Otus 85mm.  The first thing I do with any lens is shoot a chart.....  it doesn't tell everything but its a good starting point.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing with the 85mm.  An entire top edge out of focus, corners that were out of wack, one sharp another blured.  I have found that all of these anomalies extend to everyday shooting.  All of this for an outlay of $4500.00.  I owned that lens for 2 hours, packed it up and sent it back.  I was so pissed/disappointed that I didn't even want a replacement..... just a refund.  This experience goes hand in hand with my quest for a 135mm.  I had two copies, one right after another with both showing the same severe alignment issues.  Needless to say I don't own a Zeiss 135mm.  If they want the big bucks then they should provide perfect lenses - or at least a lot better than I was presented with. 

Victor 
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: eronald on September 27, 2015, 01:05:42 pm
Bernard..... a few brief comments on the legendary Zeiss QC.  This is my third copy of the Otus 55mm.... the first two were out of alignment.  Even this one is slightly skewed but probably the best of the bunch.  I also purchased the Otus 85mm.  The first thing I do with any lens is shoot a chart.....  it doesn't tell everything but its a good starting point.  I couldn't believe what I was seeing with the 85mm.  An entire top edge out of focus, corners that were out of wack, one sharp another blured.  I have found that all of these anomalies extend to everyday shooting.  All of this for an outlay of $4500.00.  I owned that lens for 2 hours, packed it up and sent it back.  I was so pissed/disappointed that I didn't even want a replacement..... just a refund.  This experience goes hand in hand with my quest for a 135mm.  I had two copies, one right after another with both showing the same severe alignment issues.  Needless to say I don't own a Zeiss 135mm.  If they want the big bucks then they should provide perfect lenses - or at least a lot better than I was presented with. 

Victor

Zeiss is not Zeiss, SK is more of a label than a brand, I think the only still lenses with real QC any more are -maybe- Leica, and the high-end Canon teles. Lenses made for cinematographers get all the love these days.

 I expect Canon and Nikon have made special "instrument" sensor chips which allow for on-camera lens measurement, but they probably keep those for their own use.

Things may change with mirrorless AF lenses, as the phase detectors on the sensor can probably help do the QC on the lens, at the point of manufacture.

Edmund
Title: Re: A7RII vs a 20-40mPixel medium format
Post by: JohnBrew on September 27, 2015, 02:39:25 pm
Bart, thank you for your response. I'm sure the third party plug-in you mention will work wonders. I pushed the comparison file around every which way, just to experiment, and what I relate is what worked. But trying to show this in a jpeg on the internet is fruitless. The fact I am now able to get so close to a MF file with my DSLR is fairly impressive in my view. Too bad my other lenses are not up to the resolving power of the Otus. And in case you are wondering, a loupe at 1" did confirm the Rodenstock to be sharper, but from any other distance the difference was not discernible.

But to keep this thread on track, I think cramming more and more pixels into a FF sensor, is going to present it's own different problems. I have always found color fidelity to be better when larger pixels are at play. But the boffins at Sony are truly working miracles these days and the parameters of sensor design are being pushed in new ways. If I ever advance beyond what my D810 is capable of, I want what the MF people call a FF for MF digital back which hasn't been produced by anyone just yet. OTOH, an Aptus with Sony A7RII certainly has it's appeals  :).