DP1, E420, & 5D dynamic range compared

[asabet]

Thanks Lili .

 

[asabet]

This sector is moving so fast though, I wonder what will be available, at what price by Christmas? Amin, did you mention a successor to the LX2? any pointers on further info?

Brian, none as of yet. Earlier this year, a Panasonic spokesperson gave an interview to Lets Go stating that the LX2 is their advanced compact, adding that "It is the year of the Photokina show so you can expect a lot from us." To me, this implies that we'll see an LX2 replacement of some sort for Photokina. In the same interview, he says "Larger sensors can be an advantage. The size of the sensors will vary. There will be more large sensors integrated in compact cameras than in the past. But in my opinion the majority of the cameras will still be equipped with a small sensor although it might diverge more than in the past." This suggests that Panasonic knows they have to get a model in the large sensor compact market before long. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Panasonic compact with a 4/3" sensor within the next year.

 

[Brian Mosley]

Well, lagging edge wisdom never made so much sense! with cameras having a 'refresh' on an annual basis, the previous generation cameras are becoming huge bargains.

I can see what you say, about the DP1 dropping in price dramatically - especially since we're already hearing rumours of the DP2 and DP3 from Sigma themselves. I don't quite understand the logic of that... unless the DP1 is a short run?

Personally, it's making a lot of sense to skip at least one generation - the E-420 looks like a worthy upgrade to the E-400, the E-410 didn't tempt me at all.

Kind Regards

Brian

 

[Joan]

The D2 and E-410 kit (with 14-42) have a very similar form, total light gathering ability, and zoom range. Prior to the E-410, the D2 was my most used camera for a while. Choosing between them was difficult, but I didn't want to keep both since they served a similar role for me. The main reason I went with the E-410 over the D2 was that the Oly did a better job keeping up with my children as they are always on the move. For "general" photography, I preferred using the D2.

I am about 99.9% sure I'm going to love the D2, it's supposed to ship to me tomorrow. Wish they'd just updated it rather than making the D3 a dslr. Tried the L1 and loved it for the controls and lens, but it was just too big and heavy for me.

...

Since you're into serious compacts, did you see the mention on dpreview of yet another breakthrough in small sensor technology here :
http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/digital-camera-sensor-loves-low-lighting-323895

Just imagine a Panasonic TZ50 with Nikon D3 IQ and performance... where would the DSLR market be then? :bugeyes:

Kind Regards

Brian

Hallelujah! That sounds really promising. The perfect small camera could be around the corner. I wonder how long it will take them to miniaturise the chip and get into production.

:clap::clap::clap:

 

[Sean_Reid]

Hi Amin,

A possible edit:

Existing:

"Sean Reid of Reid Reviews reminded me to discuss the impact of overall lens contrast on dynamic range. A lower contrast lens can act to lift the shadows and, in doing so, may provide separation between shadow detail and the noise floor. In other words, shadow detail that would have been lost amongst noise with a high contrast lens may sometimes be recoverable through the use of a low contrast lens."

Possible Edit:

"Sean Reid of Reid Reviews reminded me to discuss the impact of overall lens contrast on effective dynamic range. A lower contrast lens will tend to lighten the tones in the shadows (move them away from pure black) and, in doing so, may provide separation between shadow detail and the noise floor. The noise floor, of course, is the level at which the detail in deep shadows is lost among the file's digital noise.

The effective dynamic range that a digital camera can record, therefore, is noticeably affected by lens contrast."

Cheers,

Sean

 

[Brian Mosley]

Sean, thanks for that - it's the first time I've read a credible description of why and how low contrast lenses can theoretically improve effective dynamic range.

Have you seen this demonstrated, in any significant way by any of the lenses you've used?

Kind Regards

Brian

 

[asabet]

"... The noise floor, of course, is the level at which the detail in deep shadows is lost among the file's digital noise.

Hi Sean, many thanks! That does make it clearer. The one change I made was to take out the words "of course" .