Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Medium Format / Film / Digital Backs – and Large Sensor Photography => Topic started by: Doug Peterson on January 13, 2016, 09:51:11 am

Title: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 13, 2016, 09:51:11 am
We are most of the way through a rather large set of tests. Most of the below have already been or will be done for most of the below cameras (though not every test for every camera; there is only so much time in the day!)

Tests
- Aperture Sweep
- ISO Sweep (normal contrast scene)
- ISO Sweep (high contrast scene)
- Long Exposure Test
- Over/Under Exposure Test

Cameras
- Phase One IQ3 100mp
- Phase One IQ3 80mp
- Phase One IQ3 60mp
- Phase One IQ3 50mp
- Credo 50mp
- Credo 40mp
- Sony A7 II
- Pentax 645Z
- Canon 5Ds R


[Italics indicate the tests that are not yet done, but should be in the next week]

All raw files (around 20gb) available for free from our website.

Massive Phase One, Leaf, Sony, Pentax, Canon Still Life Shootout (https://digitaltransitions.com/massive-still-life-shootout/)
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: torger on January 13, 2016, 10:48:55 am
Big thanks for this effort!

May I ask which type of light that was used for the still life (ie tungsten, flash, daylight etc)
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 13, 2016, 12:21:59 pm
Big thanks for this effort!

May I ask which type of light that was used for the still life (ie tungsten, flash, daylight etc)

Our own DT LED called the DT Photon (Reproduction LED Light) (http://www.dtdch.com/dt-atom-entry-level-digitizer/#photon).

CRI of 98, CQS of 98, quite flat spectrum, and very consistent output.

Continuous is much much easier to use on a test like this where you want to be able to bracket a dozen or more stops in some cases.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: BernardLanguillier on January 13, 2016, 05:05:28 pm
Hi Doug,

Wow, great, thanks a lot.

I believe you should include a D810 in this test since it has the cleanest low ISO, best DR of all the DSLRs. Another interesting alternative would be an a7rII.

I personally don't see the value of including an a7II.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: photo570 on January 13, 2016, 08:53:07 pm
No Credo 60?

Second the A7rII

Cheers,
Jason.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: ErikKaffehr on January 14, 2016, 03:58:48 am
Hi,

It seems that a nice guy called "pradep" loans out his A7rII for the test.

Best regards
Erik

No Credo 60?

Second the A7rII

Cheers,
Jason.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: BernardLanguillier on January 14, 2016, 04:18:47 am
It seems that a nice guy called "pradep" loans out his A7rII for the test.

Yep, saw that. This is good news, but too bad there isn't anyone around with a D810 and an Otus.

I have checked carefully the IQ3 100mp samples in C1 Pro 9.02 at base ISO, and I am not sure to see better pixels compared to those I am used to. ;)

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: alatreille on January 14, 2016, 11:41:10 am
Hi Doug,

What lenses are you going to shoot the Pentax with?
Hoping you'll put that new 90 Macro on.

This is going to be really interesting.

Cheers

Andrew
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Phil Indeblanc on January 16, 2016, 01:49:07 am
I don't see where it says a A7R2 will be in the test.
What are the lenses to be used/paired?
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: ErikKaffehr on January 16, 2016, 04:10:04 am
Hi,

It doesn't say. We need to wait and see. Doug asked for the Sonnar 55/1.8.

Best regards
Erik


I don't see where it says a A7R2 will be in the test.
What are the lenses to be used/paired?
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: rhern213 on January 17, 2016, 01:10:35 pm
They're not going to test the 90mm macro, they're testing the 28-45mm and the 55mm.

Hi Doug,

What lenses are you going to shoot the Pentax with?
Hoping you'll put that new 90 Macro on.

This is going to be really interesting.

Cheers

Andrew
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: rhern213 on January 17, 2016, 01:11:40 pm
They originally were not going to test the A7R2, only the A72, however I believe someone agreed to loan them an A7R2 for the test and they agreed.

I don't see where it says a A7R2 will be in the test.
What are the lenses to be used/paired?
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: AlterEgo on January 17, 2016, 03:14:31 pm
quite flat spectrum
why then there is no graph of the spectrum ?
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 19, 2016, 01:28:52 pm
why then there is no graph of the spectrum ?

Because not everyone has your technical proclivity to useful analyze the distribution of slope in a spectral chart of a lighting source :).

If you have a serious interest in the lighting please feel free to email me and I'll provide you all the spectral analysis one could ever hope for!
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 19, 2016, 02:46:45 pm
Sony A7RII, Pentax 645Z, and Canon 5Ds R have now been added.

https://digitaltransitions.com/massive-still-life-shootout/

Over 30gb of raw files available for free download.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 19, 2016, 02:48:41 pm
They're not going to test the 90mm macro, they're testing the 28-45mm and the 55mm.

55mm kit lens and 90 macro was included on this test.

The 28-45mm was rented for a different test I hope to be able to post next week comparing SLR wide angles on a more distance subject. Only one wide angle was used in this test and it was the 25mm Batis for the Sony included because the gentleman who was nice enough to loan us his A7R II asked the 25mm to be included.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 19, 2016, 02:50:11 pm
I don't see where it says a A7R2 will be in the test.
What are the lenses to be used/paired?

55mm Zeiss
25mm Batis
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: AlterEgo on January 19, 2016, 03:03:51 pm
Because not everyone has your technical proclivity to useful analyze the distribution of slope in a spectral chart of a lighting source :).

If you have a serious interest in the lighting please feel free to email me and I'll provide you all the spectral analysis one could ever hope for!

why can't you just post it here then ? seriously it is interesting if how your spectrum fares  8)
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: AlterEgo on January 19, 2016, 03:23:51 pm
Sony A7RII
IQ3 100 certainly has better CFA/IR cut than A7R2 = http://s26.postimg.org/jnfvtomlj/IQ3100vs_A7_R2.jpg (http://s26.postimg.org/jnfvtomlj/IQ3100vs_A7_R2.jpg)

look @ blues for example no mudding reds inside

(http://s26.postimg.org/jnfvtomlj/IQ3100vs_A7_R2.jpg)
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: erlingmm on January 19, 2016, 03:53:46 pm
No Leica S?
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: Doug Peterson on January 19, 2016, 04:00:32 pm
No Leica S?

There are at least several dozen lens:camera combos I would have liked to include.

We are glad to have you at our offices in LA or NYC if you'd like to make a comparison to a camera not included in our test, and our vault of Phase One gear would be open to you.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: BernardLanguillier on January 21, 2016, 08:59:13 pm
I have been looking at the files a bit, first comparing the IQ3 100mp to the 645Z at base ISO.

The lens used on the P1 is excellent down to the corners, is that the 80mm LS f2.8? Impressive.

The file (both jpg and C1 Pro 9.03 rendering) is very nice in terms of out of the box tonality, colors and detail. On the other hand, the rendering of the brush displays a lot of aliasing, somehow mitigrated when applying a moire filter.

For the dng file of the 645z, I was first struck by the awaful default rendering in ACR. On the other hand, Iridient Developper does a much better job in terms of tones, colors and detail. The brush in particular is rendered without any color artifacts (much cleaner than C1 Pro for the IQ3 file) but that may result from the fact that the lens used on the Pentax is less sharp in the outer area, and therefore acts as a low pass filter.

I will have to compare again after Iridient supports the IQ3 100mp files to see whether it does a better job compared to C1 Pro.

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: tsjanik on January 21, 2016, 09:36:45 pm
Bernard:

I would suggest that if using ACR on Pentax files you try the embedded profile or those supplied by torger.

http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=104199.0

Tom
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: BernardLanguillier on January 21, 2016, 09:53:59 pm
I would suggest that if using ACR on Pentax files you try the embedded profile or those supplied by torger.

Thanks for the tip Tom!

cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: gavincato on January 22, 2016, 03:19:37 am
Yes definitely at least use the embedded profile on 645z dng's - whoever wrote the adobe one was clearly a bit distracted at work that day...

Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: torger on January 22, 2016, 03:40:33 am
Adobe has a strategy with some of the newer cameras like the Pentax 645z to make the profile rather desaturated, they do the same with the A7r-II for example. The advantage of this is that it gets very robust in all sorts of light conditions, and you can always push the saturation with a slider. But the default rendering doesn't exactly look good. It's not only desaturation though, Adobe's "look" is not well-aligned with at least my taste when it comes to the subtle subjectivities in color.

I suggest that you use my or some other profile made for good color in normal light conditions, but use Adobe's in say nightscapes with lots of artificial lights and such that can trigger supersaturated tones, especially in the blue range which can become a clipping mess unless using Adobe style profile. The Sony sensors has a wide blue response, maybe for better high ISO performance, with the drawback that deep blues become unstable and difficult to handle robustly in a profile.

Note that the embedded profile is just a matrix profile and then the default contrast curve applied on top. A contrast curve modulates color (although Adobe's HSV-hue-stabilized curve does it less than Capture One's RGB curve) so a linear matrix profile cannot really have that fine-tuned color in it, but one may still like the look that comes out of course, and gradients are always excellent with a matrix profile.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: ErikKaffehr on January 22, 2016, 01:06:18 pm
Hi Anders,

Thanks for info.

I have been quite happy with the Adobe Standard profile on both my Sony A99 and the A7rII. But it is certainly worth looking into.

I have planned to build a decent setup for making a proper calibration with DCamProf but have not found the time and energy. I admire all the efforts of yours and your willingness to share.

Best regards
Erik


Adobe has a strategy with some of the newer cameras like the Pentax 645z to make the profile rather desaturated, they do the same with the A7r-II for example. The advantage of this is that it gets very robust in all sorts of light conditions, and you can always push the saturation with a slider. But the default rendering doesn't exactly look good. It's not only desaturation though, Adobe's "look" is not well-aligned with at least my taste when it comes to the subtle subjectivities in color.

I suggest that you use my or some other profile made for good color in normal light conditions, but use Adobe's in say nightscapes with lots of artificial lights and such that can trigger supersaturated tones, especially in the blue range which can become a clipping mess unless using Adobe style profile. The Sony sensors has a wide blue response, maybe for better high ISO performance, with the drawback that deep blues become unstable and difficult to handle robustly in a profile.

Note that the embedded profile is just a matrix profile and then the default contrast curve applied on top. A contrast curve modulates color (although Adobe's HSV-hue-stabilized curve does it less than Capture One's RGB curve) so a linear matrix profile cannot really have that fine-tuned color in it, but one may still like the look that comes out of course, and gradients are always excellent with a matrix profile.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: ErikKaffehr on January 22, 2016, 01:13:31 pm
Hi,

A very good test.

I am much impressed by the Schneider lens (or lenses) used. I am also impressed with the new CMOS backs. Unfortunately beyond my economical means.

For me, this test was an eye opener, demonstrating who good MFD really can be when matched with really good lenses. Thanks for sharing raw files.

Best regards
Erik


We are most of the way through a rather large set of tests. Most of the below have already been or will be done for most of the below cameras (though not every test for every camera; there is only so much time in the day!)

Tests
- Aperture Sweep
- ISO Sweep (normal contrast scene)
- ISO Sweep (high contrast scene)
- Long Exposure Test
- Over/Under Exposure Test

Cameras
- Phase One IQ3 100mp
- Phase One IQ3 80mp
- Phase One IQ3 60mp
- Phase One IQ3 50mp
- Credo 50mp
- Credo 40mp
- Sony A7 II
- Pentax 645Z
- Canon 5Ds R


[Italics indicate the tests that are not yet done, but should be in the next week]

All raw files (around 20gb) available for free from our website.

Massive Phase One, Leaf, Sony, Pentax, Canon Still Life Shootout (https://digitaltransitions.com/massive-still-life-shootout/)
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: skierd on January 25, 2016, 02:20:07 pm
Any chance in adding the 645D to the test? 
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: voidshatter on January 26, 2016, 02:04:30 am
Any chance in adding the 645D to the test?

I don't see much point as you could download sample images from image-resource only to find that it is behind the A7R-II.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: KevinA on February 02, 2016, 06:03:20 am
Wow what a test.
I considered downloading all the files and trying them all in different converters, evaluating cost versus performance, handling characteristics, lens selection, warranty, backup service, ease of use, then publishing this mind dumbing information that would be bound to change my life and career.......................then I thought...naa lets go down the Pub and talk footy with my mates.
Title: Re: Massive Still Life Test (Phase One IQ3, Credo, Sony, Pentax, Canon)
Post by: torger on February 02, 2016, 07:08:29 am
:)

I truly appreciate all this great work putting together this test.

I too got a "burnout" though from the richness of data, I was deep into the IQ3 100 in the beginning but as soon as I established that it was about the same as the IQ250 in terms of tech wide angle compatibility I just let it go and let others do the evaluation work ;)