Day 2

[Frank Doorhof]

Yesterday I use the Leaf AFi7 in a workshop to see how it would perform when I'm a bit more stressed for time and have less time to get my shots.

But first as promised some 100% crops from the series I did with Myrthe.
Shot handheld, sharpness can be improved when shooting from the studio stand.


100%crop:



100%crop:


these are crops AFTER photoshop

I will update some 100% crops when the weather clears up and I can do some outside shooting, I will drive to Urk for that, alot of fishing boats so always good for fine detail.





the second part
First I want to adress something I found out when I tried to mount the AFi on the studio stand.
Standard this is impossible with my stand, the lens is thicker than the body extends below it so whatever you try it won't fit on the big plate of my studio stand, I don't know how other stands are constructed but for me it's impossible.
I solved it by adding a manfrotto tripod stand which is rather thick and contains the same tripod screws as the body itself, so it raised the AFi app 2cm which was enough for it to be operated.

Working with the AFi is growning on me, and most of the time than also the negatives begin to surface.
With the AFi this is very little and most of it is probarbly getting used to (remember this is day 2).
The thing that does happen to me sometimes is that I accidently move the setting for the aperture, it's placed in a position where somehow I rather easily touch it, however this is often more a personal thing and other people might never experience it :D

Second is the framing, I'm used to the THICK lines in the RZ67ProII's betterscreen focussing matte.
With the AFi this is a little bit less clear, but also not a real problem and more personal.

What stays is a overwhelming feel of WOW and OH, everytime you press the shutter you are welcomed by the wonderful feel of a MF camera taking a shot (you have to experience this at least once, only problem is you want it everytime after that :D)

Image quality and handling are just sublime with the AFi, and I get more enthiousastic every day.

To be continued :D

[Frank Doorhof]

Here are two shots from the workshop with Corine, both with the 180mm.

[Asher Kelman]

So, Frank,

What happens after you start to get involved with these shots. Does it change your view of the 1DsIII files? Do you see any difference to your eye in the way the models look or the depth of their eyes? In the 100% cut out, Corine's blue eyes are amazingly beautiful but f14 should do that.

Asher

[Ralph Eisenberg]

Irrespective of equipment considerations, which I realize are important and the purpose of these threads, some very impressive photographic work throughout.

[Frank Doorhof]

@Ralph,
Thank you.

@Asher,
The 1DsIII is great for a DSLR, but I personally was not impressed the way I hoped.
I found there was a preference for red in the files, a bit too much noise on ISO100 and the pictures became noticable softer at f8 and up.

So for me it ruled out the 1DsIII, waiting for the 5DII now :D

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Originally Posted by Frank Doorhof

The 1DsIII is great for a DSLR, but I personally was not impressed the way I hoped.
I found there was a preference for red in the files, a bit too much noise on ISO100 and the pictures became noticable softer at f8 and up.

The color rendering of a camera is largely determined by the device profile one uses, or the tweaks one makes. Modern Raw converters allow to automate the tweaking, or to use custom profiles. I find the color rendering more accurate/pleasing than the previous 1Ds2 model.

The noise depends a lot on the exposure, the camera does require optimal (expose to the right, ETTR) exposure. Smaller sensels capture fewer photons in the same exposure time, so per pixel noise will increase if everything else is kept the same. The noise for a given output size is roughly the same as with the 1Ds2 model, it just has a finer structure.

The softening at the pixel level due to diffraction is the same as from other cameras with similar sensel dimensions, although the subsampling offers an opportunity for deconvolution sharpening and it reduces moiré. Larger sensels will be more tolerant to diffraction, at the pixel level, but will then require physically larger CCD/CMOS sensor arrays for the same or higher pixel quantities.

Cameras with a larger physical sensor array size have lots of benefits, although price isn't one of them. They also require more light for an adequate exposure (the luminous flux is spread over a larger surface), which limits exposure time for an equivalent DOF. Therefore, a lot depends on ones business model and workflow, and specific requirements with regards to mobility, high ISO use, telelens reach, and output size.

Camera's like the Leaf AFi 7 should be capable of great image quality, so it is more a question of ease of handling, and the actual implementation of the technical solutions to solve physical issues like color cast, moiré, sensel stitching defects ('centerfold'), and (long exposure) noise.

Bart