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D800 vs. Medium Format Video

V

Vivek

Guest
I enjoyed it. Thanks! :)

Hope you would feed the mic guy better. ;)
 

tjv

Active member
Good video, thanks. Seems the D800 is quite the beast and I wonder how it fares when the files get turned in to prints. The D800E might be the ticket for better tonal gradations, I reckon.
 

atanabe

Member
Jordan,
Thank you for the video, well produced in a controlled setting and real world situations. I think that the D800 is great for providing high res output in an affordable package. As mentioned in the video, not as good as the Hasselblad but if you did not shoot them side by side or never have the means to own the Hasselblad . . .

The other side to the story is that if you make a living and charge clients a high rate, then the illusion of the camera is better does play into the mix. When I was assisting some 30 years ago, the AD looked at the photogs Mamiya 645 and said "I have my Hasselblad back at the office, do you want me to get it?". Perceptions are important in the business, and you don't want to have the same camera that the clients' wife uses to shoot snaps of the kids with, no matter how good it may be.

-Al
 

ustein

Contributing Editor
Jordan,

I like to watch your stuff.

2 comments though:

1. 16bit == 65K shades. As far as I know Photoshop TIFFs only 15bits are used for data which would make it 32K. I don't get caught up by numbers but if then it should be correct, right?

2. You talk about DR and gave the edge to the Hassy. DR is shadows + Highlights.
 

Stefan Steib

Active member
Jordan

well done ! This is actually the first real life D800 comparison I enjoyed watching ! And - it is amazing how well the Nikon does. If taken into account that the shadows seem to have more reserve, as Uwe said, to me the nikon seems to win the DR section too ! It just means you will have to shoot it a bit darker overall maybe half or 3/4 of a stop, giving better saturation and - matching the measurements by DXO.

About the little magenta touch in the skin tones, this is easy to get by if you have used Nikon stuff before.

Hmmmm. 3k against 20k....... I would say on par on image quality- and if you take into acount workflow and speed and high Iso, I would say there is a winner.............

I really need to test the D800 by myself.

Regards
Stefan
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I expected these results - really great for the Nikon!

Considering that you normally get pretty well exposed pictures from the Nikon if you rely on their pattern metering, then overexposed should not appear. As well as when you talk the time to do the right exposure with spot metering and zones. So here the Hasselblad has actually not a real advantage!

I expect the D800E to be far superior to the D800 in tonal gradation as well, so again no real advantage for the Hassi - although this remains to be proved.

Considering the high ISO capabilities of the D800 and the much wider lens choice, the Nikon clearly wins.

Considering the price difference and the final achievable results from both the Nikon wins hands down!

IMHO it is a no brainer - Nikon is the overall winner in the are up till 40MP. And who need really more? :D
 
For all of you Hassy shooters, how much -- if at all -- was the H4D-40 handicapped by processing in LR4 instead of Phocus?
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Jordan,



1. 16bit == 65K shades. As far as I know Photoshop TIFFs only 15bits are used for data which would make it 32K. I don't get caught up by numbers but if then it should be correct, right?

Why would Adobe cripple the use of 16 bit - it really doesn't make sense - please explain?
 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Herzlichen Dank Stefan

Baffling to say the least - must be a serious hitch for pro MFDB users...!

I wonder why PhaseOne, Leaf and HB don't kick up a fuss, as 16 bit is a major part of their marketing strategy...?

Best

S
 
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Stefan Steib

Active member
Hi Swissblade

not really a loss. There is no sensor available that exactly generates more than something like 8-10 bit of data. There is a religious war going on about how many bits are enough (has been discussed here in GetDPI also recently)
and if this actually has ANY technical and visual advantages. The whole fuzz about true 16 bit is kind of a belief. Those who want to see it will see it.......

The others just make nice images and do not care much about this....:)

regards
Stefan
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Reading some other threads...one can see the difference between the D800 and the D800E, but the D800 is very very close to MF - does this mean the D800E beats MF in IQ?
 

Paratom

Well-known member
I expected these results - really great for the Nikon!

Considering that you normally get pretty well exposed pictures from the Nikon if you rely on their pattern metering, then overexposed should not appear. As well as when you talk the time to do the right exposure with spot metering and zones. So here the Hasselblad has actually not a real advantage!

I expect the D800E to be far superior to the D800 in tonal gradation as well, so again no real advantage for the Hassi - although this remains to be proved.

Considering the high ISO capabilities of the D800 and the much wider lens choice, the Nikon clearly wins.

Considering the price difference and the final achievable results from both the Nikon wins hands down!

IMHO it is a no brainer - Nikon is the overall winner in the are up till 40MP. And who need really more? :D
Peter,
I wonder why the word "considering the price" comes up if we compare IQ.

PS: Considering the cost/price in a longer term I would say the best system is the one which one uses for a longer period of time
 
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Swissblad

Well-known member
I expected these results - really great for the Nikon!



I expect the D800E to be far superior to the D800 in tonal gradation as well, :D
Why should the E be far superior with regard to tonal graduation - I thought the AA filter mainly affected resolution .... it's all a bit unclear to me.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Peter,
I wonder why the word "considering the price" comes up if we compare IQ.

PS: Considering the cost/price in a longer term I would say the best system is the one which one uses for a longer period of time
Well you are right, for daily photography I am almost never using The Hasselblad, as it is simply to bulky for me. I can imagine I will use my D800E much more frequently, then also be more used to the system and thus overall achieve better results. I bought the H3D39 mainly for landscape and portrait and in those applications the D800E with selected lenses is at least very close if not superior from IQ, but offers all the additional advantages over any MFD we already listed several times.
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Why should the E be far superior with regard to tonal graduation - I thought the AA filter mainly affected resolution .... it's all a bit unclear to me.
Not only resolution - I am through these experiences with the E5 with 12MP and very weak AA filter, so having now a camera with FF sensor and 36 MP without AA filter will simply just top the D800 by far. WRT resolution, micro contrast and tonal gradation.
 

David Schneider

New member
Reading some other threads...one can see the difference between the D800 and the D800E, but the D800 is very very close to MF - does this mean the D800E beats MF in IQ?
I was wondering if the D800/E is close to MF, how does it stack up against the Leica M9?
 

BSEH

New member
Jordan

well done ! This is actually the first real life D800 comparison I enjoyed watching ! And - it is amazing how well the Nikon does. If taken into account that the shadows seem to have more reserve, as Uwe said, to me the nikon seems to win the DR section too ! It just means you will have to shoot it a bit darker overall maybe half or 3/4 of a stop, giving better saturation and - matching the measurements by DXO.

About the little magenta touch in the skin tones, this is easy to get by if you have used Nikon stuff before.

Hmmmm. 3k against 20k....... I would say on par on image quality- and if you take into acount workflow and speed and high Iso, I would say there is a winner.............

I really need to test the D800 by myself.

Regards
Stefan
OK but then ETTR die with the D800 ?
 
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