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Show Your High ISO MFD

fotografz

Well-known member
Lots of MFD shots posted here on GetDPI at base ISO or just above ... however, some of these cameras have made huge gains in the higher ISO department ... which makes them more and more versatile for other work also.

One of the best I've used was a Leaf 75s which did a pretty darned good job at ISO 800. So was the H3D-II/31 @ ISO 800 with a passable 1600.

Now I've been pushing the boundaries with my H4D/40 ... even to the point of cheating with an 1 stop ISO push past 1600 ... with results that frankly surprised me.

Beyond improved sensor response, cooling, and new back technologies, I think part of that is also because post noise suppression programs have advanced a lot, as have noise suppression in RAW programs ... which, IMO has benefited MFD to a greater degree than 35mm DSLRs that already have aggressive in-camera filtration.

Here's a shot from a recent trip to a Pennsylvania resort restaurant ... H4D/40 & HC35-90 @ 35/4 ... shot at ISO 1600, but really ISO equivalent 3200 ... or maybe a tad higher as "pushed" in post. The miracle part is the shutter speed @ 1/25th hand held. It printed to 11" X 14" quite nicely.... and encourages me to use the H4 more at weddings for available light work. On a mono-pod it should be even better.

Post your high ISO if you have them ... love to see it.

-Marc
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Great thread idea Marc!!! And excellent first post for it too --- impressive really, as it shows just how good MF high ISO can be when downsized to match DSLR sensors.
 

Professional

Active member
I have H4D-60 which goes up to ISO 800 only, even with my previous H3D-39 i was able to go up to iso 400 only and with firmware i can go up to ISO800, but i will tell you that ISO800 with H4D is way better even than ISO 200 on H3D2-39.

*I will post something later
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Great thread idea Marc!!! And excellent first post for it too --- impressive really, as it shows just how good MF high ISO can be when downsized to match DSLR sensors.
That is exactly the point Jack ... downsized to match DSLR sensors. I find that this H4D/40 will easily match my Sony A900 @ 1600 using similar post techniques, edge it out at 800, and cream it below 800 ... even comparing 17" X 22" prints.

Recently I did a sample premium album that's 20" X 20" open ... and the Lab guys asked me what the Hell I had used to make some of the full 20" X 20" shots ... they were all cropped MFD ... they could pick out every one of them compared to D3X, 1DsMKIII and even Leica M9 shots in the album.

Come-on folks ... let's see some shots even if posted before ... it'd be great to see them all in one place. Very curious to see some Phase sensor plus stuff. How is Leaf @ 800 now with improved post noise suppression?

BTW, this thread has already triggered a number of private messages and e-mails from DSLR folks looking to move up, but have feared the lack of at least some ISO performance. Here's our chance to evangelize MFD and spread the gospel :ROTFL:

-Marc
 

yaya

Active member
This one was posted about 2 years ago. 800 iso under-exposed and pushed 2 stops (so essentially 3,200 or thereabout). Mixed industrial mercury lighting with daylight. Printed nicely at A1 size in B&W.
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Marc, 1/25th hand held is more than impressive with MF. Don't you ever drink coffee :)
Actually David, Starbucks and Keurig Coffees are my two main food groups :)

When told that I should cut back, I replied it was either lots of coffee ... or I'd go postal and be up on a bell tower with a scoped rifle and 1,000 rounds. They backed off the coffee reduction request. :ROTFL:

My photography shooting technique is to stop my heart ... which freaks out my Doctor when I demonstrate it to him. Getting it back going is the tricky part. ;)

-Marc
 

zonevt

New member
When I first purchased my Phase One 645DF 40+ I did a quick snapshot sitting in my living room of what was on the coffee table......a bottle, my watch, and the corner of a black covered Lens Works magazine. This was handheld but I think I supported myself on the arm of a chair.....taken at ISO 3200, 80mm LS, F4, 30th of a sec. in tungsten room light at night. When you load the RAW file into Capture One 5.2.1 you can see alot of color noise but the software does a fantastic job of reducing this to a film grain quality that is very pleasing in the final image.....I was amazed at this quality in medium format at ISO 3200.....Tom.
 

Valentin

New member
I guess there is hope for the MFDB and the usable high ISO :)

These images look clean, a lot cleaner than I expected.
 

zonevt

New member
Rem, I think they were referencing the sensor plus feature like Phase 40+ and 65+ where the back is set to shoot at 10 megapixel (40+) or 15 megapixel(65+) in order to shoot higher 800 -3200 ISO... to be used when photographing similar pro SLR subjects / work......Tom.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Marc and Jack, what do you mean with "downsizing to DSLR"? ups my bad english...
Meaning if you take a typical say 40-60 MP MFDB capture and then downsize by roughly 50% to match say a top-end 22-24 MP DSLR, the results are very similar if not superior to the native sized file in the DSLR.

PS: Zone, Sensor Plus also belongs as part of the discussion, but not specifically what Marc and I were referring to as it is a PhaseOne-specific feature. I hope to post some examples of both later this week.
 

Valentin

New member
Meaning if you take a typical say 40-60 MP MFDB capture and then downsize by roughly 50% to match say a top-end 22-24 MP DSLR, the results are very similar if not superior to the native sized file in the DSLR....
I don't think that's a fair comparison. You will compress/loose noise by downsampling.

A more fair comparison would be to compare a 100% crop from a DSLR with a 100% crop from a MFDB. This way, you are looking at the "native" output from the camera.
 

BradleyGibson

New member
I don't think anyone is suggesting that MF can compete with SF on a per-pixel basis for high ISO noise performance.

I believe Jack is suggesting that with the additional pixels that MF delivers, you don't have to pack it up when the situation calls for high ISO, but rather take advantage of those pixels to get good high ISO performance out of your back by averaging out the noise.
 

zonevt

New member
ISO 3200, hand held, Phase One 645DF 40+, lens 80mm LS at F2.8, 6oth of a sec. (wild grape vine on Lake Champlain lake shore shale).
 

dougpeterson

Workshop Member
I don't think that's a fair comparison. You will compress/loose noise by downsampling.

A more fair comparison would be to compare a 100% crop from a DSLR with a 100% crop from a MFDB. This way, you are looking at the "native" output from the camera.
You don't print or display at 100%. You print or display at a given size (e.g. 30"x40" or 1000pixel wide). If the dSLR noise ends up larger physically than the medium format noise that is a major consideration.

Unless your goal is to analyze numbers rather than pictures.
 

P. Chong

Well-known member
shown before...here is one shot with H3D-39 (yes the version 1), so this is maxed out ISO at 800. Phocus did quite a good job...with HCD4/28. 4s exposure at f/16. Color rebalanced in CS4.

 
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