The Great Camera Shootout Part 3

Roger Shealy · October 18th, 2011, 07:12 PM

They did a great job with a very difficult subject. On episode 1 the Canon DSLR's did a pretty good job. Episode 2, they slipped a little, Episode 3, they fell a lot! It matches my results pretty closely in real life with a 7D (1D and 5D are similar), the resolution just isn't there for truly fine work. skins do tend to look a little pasty and 4,2,0 color is definitely limiting on CC in post.

I'm waiting for Canon to send us their newest fare in the next few months and hopefully get a sub $10K camera that will close the gap between - or better - the Alexa's and Reds. Things are changing fast and I feel good that the next wave will be sufficient for my long term needs. To be honest, there isn't a burning need to get much better than the 7D for computer viewing except moire and aliasing. Increasingly many find the standard of how something looks on a large computer screen over broadband since so much is viewed on that medium. How many really see the large screen as realistic goal for their work? Perhaps a sub $10K cameras in the next 24 months will surpass some of the much more expensive lines of today, hopefully with faster frame rate options, good controls, and external storage options if internal processors can't handle 4,2,2 or better!

Bart Walczak · October 19th, 2011, 01:35 PM

Personally I want to thank the team which organized these tests. Regardless of any downsides, it was a tremendous effort to bring us some standarized data on all these models, and as such I applaud it. It does offer an interesting comparison, and I am glad they did it. And that they released it for free to the community.

Thanks for your efforts ladies and gentlemen!

Steve Kalle · October 22nd, 2011, 05:26 PM

^ DITTO!!!

Well said, Bart.

I can't believe how many are complaining about these expensive and FREE tests. My *only* issue is with the timing because I wish that they had waited a couple months for the S-Log update to be released. From my testing, recording S-Log to a PIX240 or Cinedeck Extreme makes a HUGE difference and it is worth every dollar. For under $20k, one can get a 13.5 stop, 10bit 422 camera recording to Pro Res and DNxHD.

I totally disagree with the thought that a DSLR is 'good enough' for the web and there is no need to use a better camera because you cannot see the difference over the internet. The higher quality the source image is, the higher quality the compressed image will be.

October 18th, 2011, 07:12 PM	#16
Roger Shealy Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Fayetteville, GA Posts: 772	Re: The Great Camera Shootout Part 3 They did a great job with a very difficult subject. On episode 1 the Canon DSLR's did a pretty good job. Episode 2, they slipped a little, Episode 3, they fell a lot! It matches my results pretty closely in real life with a 7D (1D and 5D are similar), the resolution just isn't there for truly fine work. skins do tend to look a little pasty and 4,2,0 color is definitely limiting on CC in post. I'm waiting for Canon to send us their newest fare in the next few months and hopefully get a sub $10K camera that will close the gap between - or better - the Alexa's and Reds. Things are changing fast and I feel good that the next wave will be sufficient for my long term needs. To be honest, there isn't a burning need to get much better than the 7D for computer viewing except moire and aliasing. Increasingly many find the standard of how something looks on a large computer screen over broadband since so much is viewed on that medium. How many really see the large screen as realistic goal for their work? Perhaps a sub $10K cameras in the next 24 months will surpass some of the much more expensive lines of today, hopefully with faster frame rate options, good controls, and external storage options if internal processors can't handle 4,2,2 or better! Last edited by Roger Shealy; October 18th, 2011 at 09:35 PM.

October 19th, 2011, 01:35 PM	#17
Bart Walczak Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Warsaw/Poland Posts: 716	Re: The Great Camera Shootout Part 3 Personally I want to thank the team which organized these tests. Regardless of any downsides, it was a tremendous effort to bring us some standarized data on all these models, and as such I applaud it. It does offer an interesting comparison, and I am glad they did it. And that they released it for free to the community. Thanks for your efforts ladies and gentlemen! __________________ Creative Impatience - The Solace of Simple Solutions. A few useful plugins for Adobe users, and my remarks on the tools and the craft in general.

October 22nd, 2011, 05:26 PM	#18
Steve Kalle Trustee Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 1,554	Re: The Great Camera Shootout Part 3 ^ DITTO!!! Well said, Bart. I can't believe how many are complaining about these expensive and FREE tests. My only issue is with the timing because I wish that they had waited a couple months for the S-Log update to be released. From my testing, recording S-Log to a PIX240 or Cinedeck Extreme makes a HUGE difference and it is worth every dollar. For under $20k, one can get a 13.5 stop, 10bit 422 camera recording to Pro Res and DNxHD. I totally disagree with the thought that a DSLR is 'good enough' for the web and there is no need to use a better camera because you cannot see the difference over the internet. The higher quality the source image is, the higher quality the compressed image will be.