R-D1-20D-1DsMKII side by side

[atufte1@mac.com]

Just did a funny test, because i shot with all of this monsters, i tought it
would be cool to see how the R-D1 holds up against this hightech monsters.
On the R-D1 i used a Summicron 50 f/2, on the Canon's i used the EF 50 f/1.4 USM.
I tried to get the same field of view, but i dont know if i managed to do this, you judge.
This is not to prove anything, but just a test for fun, and to check if my 20D goes
out for sale or not... I think it is, hihi...

Enjoy

http://www.alexandertufte.com/test/

Best Regards

Alexander Tufte

[MP Guy]

Good test. I really like it. I will be getting the module R for the Leica R8. It will be interesting to see a similar comp.

[LCT]

Did you shot raw Alexander?
If so, how did you manage unsharping mask?
Best,
LCT

[atufte1@mac.com]

Sorry i forgot to mention, all images where shot in raw, converted in Adobe CS2 ACR with all sharpening turned off, did not apply any sharpening at all...

Sharpening 0%
Colornoise 0%

Best Regards

Alexander Tufte

[LCT]

I wondered why the R-D1 pics looked so soft.
Could be interesting to sharpen the pics the same way as some raws are definitely too soft when the anti-aliasing filter is more or less aggressive like in the R-D1 for example.
Otherwise a 'modest' digicam like the D70 would appear the sharpest i guess due to its less aggressive AA filter.
Best,
LCT

[atufte1@mac.com]

The reason for the "soft look" is because the images are scaled up to the size of the
EOS-1Ds MKII to make them "almost" the same uprezed size, and to see if the
R-D1 could hold up in this manner, and of course it would be softer then the higher
resolution cameras, but it holds up better then i would think...
This shows that good glass matters...

[rcomas]

I did a similar test vs my 20D when I got the R-D1. I sold the 20D the next day. Of course, the Canon 50/1.4 can't really stand up to the 50 'cron. It's the ability to use Leitz M lenses that makes the R-D1 such a stand-out.

[Jim Watts]

Originally Posted by atufte1@mac.com

The reason for the "soft look" is because the images are scaled up to the size of the
EOS-1Ds MKII to make them "almost" the same uprezed size, and to see if the
R-D1 could hold up in this manner, and of course it would be softer then the higher
resolution cameras, but it holds up better then i would think...
This shows that good glass matters...

Alexander,
Thanks for this very interesting comparison.
The EOS-1Ds MKII scores well here because of the much higher pixel count, but I agree the R-D1 holds up very well. I have the 20D as well as the R-D1 and when both optimally sharpened its a pretty close call on prints in respect of perceived detail, but the "look" of the R-D1 pictures is better, probably due to the Leitz lenses used.

Its clear from your pictures (see the bar code) that chromatic aberration is much lower with the 50mm Cron than the 50mm Canon (a well respected lens) on either Canon camera. Who said digital isn't good enough to show up these sort of differences?

[Sean Reid]

Even a 6MP camera can be relentless in terms of revealing flaws in lenses. I'm in the process of adding a couple more cameras right now (multiple bodies with primes for quick access) and would love to make them all R-D1s. At $3000 a pop though, that isn't going to happen right away. So I'm picking up a 10D or two for $700 each and, while they're great cameras, they just don't draw like the R-D1 with good RF lenses. I'm having trouble working up any enthusiasm for DSLRs at all these days because a DRF is a much better match for me. I must keep the 1Ds because it does certain things supremely well (such as architecture with T-SE lenses, which is a specialty for me) but I'd much rather be adding 2-3 R-D1s and keep the 1Ds as my only DSLR. I shot a wedding on Saturday with an E-1 (very nice camera) and the R-D1 and nearly all of the strongest pictures came from the latter camera. If the camera were less expensive I'd have four of them.

Sean

[MIKIRO]

Alexander,

I am surprised to see how R-D1 holds up with 20D and happy to confirm that 6MP is not simply beat by 8MP.

Epson say at their R-D1 site that they tuned the image engine so that it retains characters of optics used. They have had in their mind using this camera as a platform for enjoying a variety of lenses from different vintages. Apparent softness may be a trade-off here. IMO they are successful in this regard.

I wonder if it makes any interesting changes when you use a third party RAW developing software. I use SILKYPIX (http://www.silkypix.com) and am getting smoother and clearer images than with Epson Photolier.

Cheers,

MIKIRO
JAPAN

[ccie8407]

Hi Mikiro,

Does SILKYPIX works w/English version of Windows?

Thanks,
Howard

[mtokue]

First off, Mikiro, Welcome to the forums
Second, Nice to have someone else from Japan, Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu.

Howard, sorry, seems that the software is not available in English ,
I have sent an e-mail to the developer in the hopes that it could possibly have been
developed in a English programing enviornmrnt, which would mean that with very little tweaking it should be possible to have an english version.

There are a couple of Japanese software titles that would be great to others here
esp in Mac OSX but unfortunately not in English.
Mike.

[MIKIRO]

Mike-san,
Kochirakoso yoroshiku (just greetings in response, ridiculous if literally translated into English )

Howard,
Let us hope that they will soon work on an English version. This application should interest many RAW photographers in the world. And hopefully it will be more reasonably priced (currently 9800 JPN or 95 USD)...

MIKIRO
Japan

[mtokue]

Gents, an update, Ichikawa Software Laboratries, Producers of Silkypix, are now working on an English version, Somwhow yours truely managed to get him self involved with the task of helping with the conversion.................
So, will keep you updated and let you know when a English beta becomes available. From what I have learned sofar it shouldn't take too long. I'm having a current version sent out to me so will let you know how I find it.
Mike.

Alexander, sorry for putting this on your thread, I will start another with the next update.