Compared to the Canon EOS-1Ds (part four)

Indoor scene comparison

This comparison was shot in RAW mode, I used Canon's File Viewer Utility 1.2 to convert the EOS-1Ds images and Kodak DCS Photo Desk 3.0 to convert the DCS-14n images. Both output as 8-bit sRGB TIFF files, these were used for the crops seen below (magnified 200%). You can download JPEG (quality 11 from Photoshop) files for your own comparison.

Camera / conversion settings

• Kodak DCS-14n: Nikkor 50 mm F1.4, Aper. Priority (F8), ISO 100, RAW, Mirror Lock-up
  Click WB, Advanced with Moiré reduction NR (2/10%), Low SHP, Product Look, sRGB
   
• Canon EOS-1Ds: Canon 50 mm F1.4, Aper. Priority (F8), ISO 100, RAW, Mirror Lock-up
  Manual (eyedropper) WB, Standard / 1 sharpening, sRGB

See the 'Why different settings?' list on the first comparison page for explanations of the settings used above.

Kodak DCS-14n	Canon EOS-1Ds
ISO 100, 1/2 sec, F8	ISO 100, 1/3 sec, F8
3,370 KB JPEG (4500 x 3000) from RAW	3,027 KB JPEG (4064 x 2704) from RAW

Resolution junkies will now be very excited, the DCS-14n delivers more resolution and detail than we have ever seen of our standard studio test scene. However it's clear that moiré artifacts are visible and that in a couple of places the noise reduction system has once again mistaken real image detail for noise and smoothed it over (see the Bailey's label crop - the tree). The EOS-1Ds isn't far behind for resolution but to my eye delivers a smoother more natural looking image with no visible artifacts.