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IQ260 tech camera image samples?

rupho

New member
Are any shifted tech camera image samples taken with the IQ260 are available?

I am wondering if the "PIXEL WELL" of the 260 as explained in Doug's article could have a negative effect on the colour cast and therefore usability of tech camera when shift is applied.

I cannot find any information on that. Given the rather strong colour casts the IQ180 produced over the P65+ on shifted non-retro lenses I am surprised that this is not a concern for those who want to upgrade?

Given the complicated structure of the chip I could very well imagine that this can become a real issue given the extreme light incidence when shifting to reach the pixels in the "well".

Other info I would like to see are:

- battery life: on digital back, how to they hold up during long exposures given the forced dark frame that doubles every exposure. What if the battery dies half way through long exposure or dark frame?

- long exposures: how practical are they on tech cameras? A 5 minute exposure result in 20 minutes idle time(5mins exposure, 5 mins black frame, 10 mins LCC for those to create them on the spot).

- noise: is a 140 ISA file in long exposure mode on the IQ260 just as clean as a 50 ISO on the IQ160 or 35 ISO on the IQ180?

- iPad battery: does anybody know how long the battery on a regular sized iPad in non-Retina mode and full brightness lasts when connected to IQ?

- Wifi connection: how stable is it? I saw a 10 minute interruption during the IQ World Tour here in Asia.

I find it hard to make a purchasing decision without actually being able to test the above when P1 does change their pricing for the worse once they start delivery.

any thoughts or info on the above?
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
Are any shifted tech camera image samples taken with the IQ260 are available?

I am wondering if the "PIXEL WELL" of the 260 as explained in Doug's article could have a negative effect on the colour cast and therefore usability of tech camera when shift is applied.
Color Cast is an interaction of the light with the front of the sensor well.

I do not expect any difference in color cast behavior between the 65+/160/260. We (Digital Transitions) have not done conclusive testing on color cast however, largely because I expect to find nothing so other testing has had the priority. It will be done soon though.

- battery life: on digital back, how to they hold up during long exposures given the forced dark frame that doubles every exposure. What if the battery dies half way through long exposure or dark frame?
If you do a lot of very long exposures you'll want to stick an extra battery or two in your back pocket. Similar to doing the same with the P45+.

If the battery dies during the exposure or dark frame the image will not be recorded.

- long exposures: how practical are they on tech cameras? A 5 minute exposure result in 20 minutes idle time(5mins exposure, 5 mins black frame, 10 mins LCC for those to create them on the spot).
You do not need to do the LCC "in situ", nor do you need to do it from the same light source. The aperture, location of the back, and lens matter - the ambient light and light source do not. So you can either record your movements and do an LCC later in bright light (or in your studio/home), or you can shine an especially well diffused flashlight onto the LCC panel to bring the exposure time down to something fast like a few seconds, or you can work off an inventory/library of already made LCCs.

- noise: is a 140 ISA file in long exposure mode on the IQ260 just as clean as a 50 ISO on the IQ160 or 35 ISO on the IQ180?
No. Assuming you are comparing to an IQ160 during a short exposure (<1 sec) then the IQ260 @ ISO140-LE looks like something between ISO100 and ISO200 on the IQ160, closer to the ISO100 end.

But the IQ160 and IQ180 both started building noise (slowly) at as little as a few seconds, so for any moderately long exposures (e.g. a 40 second exposure) the ISO140-LE mode will be better. Exactly where that breaking point is has yet to be perfectly determined.

Moreover you can still use ISO50 on the IQ260, which will be a better choice when the required exposure is only a few seconds or shorter (again, the exact point at which it's advantageous to switch to the long exposure mode is not yet clear).

You can see JPGs from our IQ260 long exposure test done with the prototype. We have the raws available for our customers.

- iPad battery: does anybody know how long the battery on a regular sized iPad in non-Retina mode and full brightness lasts when connected to IQ?
No idea. Should be the same load as browsing the web. The CPU and GPU on the iPad is not being heavily used as most of the heavy lifting is being done by the back. So it won't be as short as with an intensive video game, but the wifi will be in frequent use, so constant web-browsing is your closest parallel.

If you're going backpacking there are some really neat accessories out there for solar charging, additional batteries built into a protective iPad case etc etc. But for most car/hike/studio shooting I suspect battery life on the iPad will not be a limitation.

- Wifi connection: how stable is it? I saw a 10 minute interruption during the IQ World Tour here in Asia.
The prototype IQ260 and beta version of the Capture Pilot app have been surprisingly good in my experience. When they are working it works quickly and well. We've had several times where we had to reboot everything for it to get back and running correctly. Exactly what you'd expect from a prototype/beta. Based on how good it already is and based on the timeframe before release I expect great performance out of the gate.

Also the prototype/beta lacks much indication/control over "interference" (where another wifi device/network is on the same channel). We've been told to expect some big improvements in this regard for the production unit. In a big city (or densely populated building) there are many wifi networks, and finding the "channel" which is in lightest use is very important for the performance of any wifi device - a task which is not really possible with the prototype/beta but should be dead-simple in the final version.

I find it hard to make a purchasing decision without actually being able to test the above when P1 does change their pricing for the worse once they start delivery.
Final production dealer demo units to will ship before customer units ship. Pricing changes at the later moment. So if you work closely with a good dealer they can get you a demonstration/rental/test-files with a final-production unit before you have to make your decision.
 
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