| www.bryanniven.com | www.realityshoot.com | |
|
Medium Format vs. Canon 1Ds Mark 2
Reviews
 I do not claim, nor do I pretend to know all there is with these cameras... so do me a favor and read this article with an open mind, though I realize most photographers, (for some reason), have a really hard time doing that. Also, please feel free to post comments that perhaps might give us an even better understanding of these amazing machines. It had been almost 15 years since I had held a Medium Format camera in my hands, and sadly it was nothing like I remember. I was used to a light, boxy, and well balanced unit. From which I used to "shoot from the hip", and didnt mind holding for long periods of time. This experience was quite different, and the feeling never really changed. A fellow photographer who actually works as a digital tech with the MF cameras there in NY, (on the side), came to help me that day. We started by going through a quick run through of the Hasselblad camera, and PhaseOne back. He walked me through the process of turning the massive camera on, and navigating its fairly simple menu. In addition to the off centered weight of the camera, the LCD as well, was surprisingly disappointing. After using many, higher quality screens it was the first thing that turned me off. For a camera that costs as much as a nice BMW, you'd think they would slap a nice LCD on the back. The look of the camera however was just as impressive as it looked in all the ads and videos I had seen of it. The construction felt more like plastic than metal though, and the heavy weight only made it seem like the handle would rip off with a bigger lens. In-fact the handle seemed almost to creak as I moved the camera about. Again, I reflect on the price. Being used to the dimmer viewfinder of the slightly cropped sensor on the 1D Mark 2, I couldn't wait to see the light that I imaged would burst through the viewfinder of the almost double sized sensor of the PhaseOne. Again I was only slightly impressed as the image was brighter, but mostly it was the size and quality of the viewfinder that seemed increased... it felt like I could see a bit more detail through it. It was then that we did what most MF users resort to doing during a shoot ,and "tethered" the unit. For those that are not familiar with this technique, it is simply connecting a [usually] high end camera to a desktop or laptop computer via firewire and transferring, (at high speeds), the images taken. Where the Hasselblad/PhaseOne combo did not disappoint was in image quality. It was true to form, and handled the varying light conditions rather well. Of course without question the resolution takes your breath away, as you view your images on the laptop at 100%, endlessly scrolling around to see the entire image. The fine detail was also very impressive, as the back, combined with superb Fuji optics, missed nothing! My biggest qualm I have with "Medium Format" is the speed. I know, I know, who needs the speed offered by Canon other than sport photographers, journalists, and heaven help us...paparazzi? Well, I do. I shoot personalities not models. My subjects typically don't know how to strike a pose for 30 seconds waiting for me to take a shot. It is also a mystery to me why when the Canon at 16MP can shoot 4 RAW files every second, and now with their new Mark 3 shooting 10MP at 10fps, why on earth can we not figure out how to speed these $30,000 cameras up! I had to laugh when I double took at the specs on a Hasselblad. It was when I realized it said "spf" or "seconds per frame". Rather than "fps", "frames per second". Good grief. Overall, I was definitely not left with the impression of "more for your money", unless referring only to image size. Now I realize that in this industry image quality is first and foremost, again though I come back to value for the price... it seems that for how much one pays for a unit like this they should be getting everything at the top of the line. Behold, the HASSELBLAD.  Now we get to what was my hopeful in this testing, the mighty "LEAF APTUS 75s." Pulling this back out of its case for the first time in the office, was like my first trip to Toys R Us as a child. It was glorious! First of all it was brand new, never been used before, in-fact it still had the plastic protector on the marvelous 3" screen. It even smelled new, as if it had just finished being manufactured...straight off the assembly line. The camera we used with the Leaf back was the Mamiya 645AFD2. It felt much more balanced than the H2 system, although an annoying detail was that of the battery placement. It clipped on the underside of the back and instead of even trying to go flush with the surface, it bulged out of the bottom like a stubby magazine clip. It was really odd, especially when you would set it down on a table top where it proceeded to tilt down towards the surface until the lens rested on the table resembling a vintage hotrod of sorts, with its back end raised in the air. And because the battery was skinny, long, and narrower than the camera itself it was very unstable and would rock back and forth as the table was bumped. I quickly tried to overlook the battery eyesore, and powered the back up. The screen lit up with amazing color and resolution, and greeted us with numerous languages to choose from. After running through the basics of the camera setup I was in eager to put this thing to the test. One thing that was a big negative with the LEAF though, was that I only had a 15 page manual for the software, and back. So needless to say we could not to a very conclusive test. Being very familiar with Palm Pilots, P.A.S cameras and other electronics with big touch-screens I was fairly comfortable with the large LCD, and the navigation therein. Once inside the menu, we quickly realized that it allowed for folder renaming and other things, within the back itself, rather than requiring that service on the computer end, which was great. After shooting a few images tethered and non-tethered I soon realized how much slower the images took to show up on the LCD of the Leaf back, far slower than the PhaseOne. As we started browsing the the photo's on the cameras' LCD , I realized that you could view the pixels 1:1. Which, sadly, because of the resolution never seemed to look quite right. The screen was definitely better than the PhaseOne LCD, but I was still surprised. I kept wondering why with so much more money, can they not seem to offer at-least the resolution, and sharpness that you get on the P.A.S. Canon's and Sony's. Everyone always barks back "shoot tethered, you don't want to rely on the LCD anyway!" Who said I don't, the only reason you have to check the laptop screen is because your camera LCD stinks. Now for the somewhat disappointing part... the quality of the files. We began pulling up the images on the laptop. After seeing the huge LCD, but not being that impressed, and noticing the speed of the processor and so on, we really had high hopes for the files themselves. Even still, as soon as we viewed the photo's at 100%, we knew we had lost the battle. Looking at both MF files from each camera side by side, was --especially with regards to sharpness-- a big difference. Minus the sheer size of the Leaf files, they were about as sharp as my old 8MP Canon, using a zoom lens. I first thought the files were so big they were still loading, then we thought our focus was off...so we shot again...with the same results. The Phase One files were sharper, and seemed to show more detail . In-fact till this day I am not sure, but perhaps we had a faulty LEAF back. If only the PhaseOne was faster and had an LCD like the Leaf, it would be a great combo. The beautiful yet somewhat disappointing LEAF APTUS...sigh.  Last and actually the "least" as far as pixels go anyway the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark 2 Lets see how it stacked up against the MF. Now the first thing anyone will notice about the Canon is it's vertical design, which I think is why the Canon is so well balanced. Without a lens on it, the camera resembles a 7 x 7 x 3 inch box. The build is unbelievably tough, and feels like it is a solid piece of metal. It is very heavy, and almost comparable to the MF cameras. It also has a nice rubber feel to it, that gives the photographer a more secure grip. The LCD on the back is pretty small, but about the same as the PhaseOne. It is however much crisper, brighter, and nearly triple the resolution. The next thing you'll notice is its startup time. As soon as you flick the switch it is ready to shoot. For me, the larger more spread out button layout is great... as my hands are large. However, for most people the layout seems to be quite annoying. There are also lots of buttons, which coming from the 1 series camera already, I am fine with. I am very fast at using them, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Again, however, they are quite spread out, and require multi-button pushes that even with the big hands I don't care for sometimes. Upon opening the memory card door you will find a neat little option, that has now begun to follow suit with other brands, dual card slots! This is a great option as it allows one to shoot the same exact image to two cards at the same time...allowing for a miniature raid system so to speak. Before you even touch the laptop, you have a two file backup. One thing I was waiting for was to look into the viewfinder, and see the difference between my 1D Mark 2, and the 1Ds Mark 2. It was pretty much as I expected, bright and clear, a very refreshing view. We shot some of the same photos that we did with the MF cameras, and also ventured outside to see how it performed. It was extremely warm that day, and very humid, so it was nice with the rubberized texture, as it allowed me to maintain a firm grip on the camera. The LCD worked great outside too, and it (like the LEAF) had a great zoom feature, but the quality of the Canons LCD seemed to be the best all around. Back inside the office we uploaded the files from the cards to the laptop. Once again we enlarged them to 100%, and found that with a nice prime lens, and a low ISO the Canon was comparable to the PhaseOne files. Of course the resolution was quite different, and the sharpness seemed to be better on the PhaseOne as well, but I would believe that if you were to remove the filter Canon uses in front of their sensor's, which is there to help with noise filtering, then the files would look too close to tell --for me anyway-- again minus the resolution difference. All in all the Canon was mind blowing. The quality was unreal, and the speed was fantastic. I think we are all waiting to see what Canon does this fall with the 1Ds Mark 3. At least I know the Medium Format companies are. The powerful 1Ds Mark 2.  Testing out these amazimg cameras was unbelievable, and hopefully I will be able to provide more feedback as it becomes available, particularly with the Leaf Aptus. They are all incredible machines with pros and cons to each, so choose wisely. Tags: Review REPLIES
|
subscribe
categories
mostrecent
searchblogs
|
