Hi,
There is a lot of talk about DR on the new IQ3-100MP back. Now many folks, including myself, say that many great photographs have been taken using cameras with shallow DR, like Canon EOSD or even Velvia. That of course is all true.
On the other side, the IQ3-100MP comes with really good DR, at least so it seems. That sensor has in my view four attractions:
- Full frame CMOS
- Functional live view
- High DR
- Good high ISO capability
Of these features full frame may be most important. If we don't need more than 50 MP and can live with crop frame the IQ-250 (and sisters) will do an adequate job.
Live view is essential on a modern camera, I would say. Best way to focus with camera on tripod, at least on static objects.
Now high DR is sort of a measure of how well a sensor is made. Engineering DR, as it is defined, is just the maximum usable signal of the sensor divided by redaout noise. There are two ways to achieve high DR, increasing the full well capacity (FWC) that say how many electron charges a pixel can hold and reducing the redout noise.
Increasing DR means improvements in either are. A high DR allows for high ISO capability, albeit it is possible to build cameras with good high ISO capability and still having low DR.
So, having a high DR means that the sensor can collect many electron charges and have very little noise in the shadows. High full well capacity means relatively low base ISO, smooth highlights and midtones. Low readout noise means clean shadows.
Also, readout noise is often impulse type noise that is rather ugly.
So, yes great images can be made without great DR, but a great DR is an indicator of many good things.
Best regards
Erik