995 Sharpness

[aa]

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.

When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85 to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down. Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[FJBrad]

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

Duh, Good thing you got the G1, then. FJBrad

 

[Sherman Stebbins]

You need to read the review more. The neet feature with that camera is that you can use auto sharpening or not and as phil said in his review the camera tend to go more toward the softer side. Many photographers like this, so they can put the amount of sharpness they want. But you can go manual and and set the sharpness you want (apperently the G1 owner above did not read this). The G1 is a fabulous camera, but I like the overal quality and control of the Nikon.

Sherm

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[aa]

You need to read the review more. The neet feature with that camera
is that you can use auto sharpening or not and as phil said in his
review the camera tend to go more toward the softer side. Many
photographers like this, so they can put the amount of sharpness
they want. But you can go manual and and set the sharpness you want
(apperently the G1 owner above did not read this). The G1 is a
fabulous camera, but I like the overal quality and control of the
Nikon.

Sherm

You may be right that the 995 may apply less incamera sharpening. Phil just says the cameras are used at default. Phil also write on that page:

"The S85's resolution and lens show a fair amount more detail than the 995 which I feel has been let down by its new 4x zoom lens."

When reading the 995 review i noticed the same particularly in the battery shot.

Phil wrote:

"The apparent softness of the batteries in the 995 shot was so surprising that I went back and re-shot the scene but there was no improvement. Is the "9 series" lens structure starting to show its age?"

Dh

 

[Peter iNova]

I think Phil got a pre-production camera. He said as much, yes?

I've played with two and the shots seemed to actually represent a tiny improvement over the 990. The 4X zoom didn't seem to show any less corner sharpness on the informal shots I took.

A more rigorous test will show the truth. In the mean time, the production samples I've handled (Low, low serial numbers) showed my eyes very nice shots. And the chromatic aberration seemed to be better controlled overall--less like the 990 and more like the 950.

So, don't get "struck" so much with a test of a single prototype. As the British drill seargant says, "...wait for it..."

-iNova

 

[Sherman Stebbins]

No "May" about it. Here is the phrase were I got it from (from section 12):

This option gives you control over the cameras sharpening algorithm which is applied before the image is saved, interestingly if you set it to Auto it will pick Low more often than not.

• Auto - camera automatically selects sharpening setting based on scene content and othersettings.
• High - sets sharpening to High
• Normal - sets sharpening to Normal
• Low - sets sharpening to Low
• Off- disables in-camera sharpening

I'm not being critical of the S85, I loved the review. But in defense of the 995 it appears to be a setting. I'm willing to bet if nikon gets enough complaints, they will change the firmware to reflect it, causing it to use normal sharpening more. I like the softer photos.

Sherm

You need to read the review more. The neet feature with that camera
is that you can use auto sharpening or not and as phil said in his
review the camera tend to go more toward the softer side. Many
photographers like this, so they can put the amount of sharpness
they want. But you can go manual and and set the sharpness you want
(apperently the G1 owner above did not read this). The G1 is a
fabulous camera, but I like the overal quality and control of the
Nikon.

Sherm

You may be right that the 995 may apply less incamera sharpening.
Phil just says the cameras are used at default. Phil also write on
that page:

"The S85's resolution and lens show a fair amount more detail than
the 995 which I feel has been let down by its new 4x zoom lens."

When reading the 995 review i noticed the same particularly in the
battery shot.

Phil wrote:
"The apparent softness of the batteries in the 995 shot was so
surprising that I went back and re-shot the scene but there was no
improvement. Is the "9 series" lens structure starting to show its
age?"

Dh

 

[aa]

No "May" about it. Here is the phrase were I got it from (from
section 12):

This option gives you control over the cameras sharpening algorithm
which is applied before the image is saved, interestingly if you
set it to Auto it will pick Low more often than not.

• Auto - camera automatically selects sharpening setting based on

scene content and othersettings.

• High - sets sharpening to High
• Normal - sets sharpening to Normal
• Low - sets sharpening to Low
• Off- disables in-camera sharpening

I'm not being critical of the S85, I loved the review. But in
defense of the 995 it appears to be a setting. I'm willing to bet
if nikon gets enough complaints, they will change the firmware to
reflect it, causing it to use normal sharpening more. I like the
softer photos.

I'm not being critical of the 995 either. The shots just seemed markedly softer to me and i was quite surprised by this as i've never seen anything as soft from nikon before.

But if the detail is there then i agree with you...i'd rather do the sharpening myself in ps.

Respectfully
Dh

 

[CJ]

I agree about the poor shots with the 995 (in the context of the review and the battery pic). It was suprised to see the G1 take beter pics. But, as mentioned, perhaps the production cameras have more clarity. I was thinking of upgrading from my 990 for the zoom, but I will hold off until I can test one for myself.

 

[JPF]

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot #10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995 whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting this else I will have to have the next latest model!

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[Frances47317]

I believe Phil got "A-level" prototype camera 995.

Frances.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[Turtle Tamer]

So, what level Nikon 995 did Yamada get?

His 995 images are better than the S85, to my mind.

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/pc/docs/article/20010607/yamada.htm

George

Frances.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[JerryO]

Probably give these pre production models out so that people like Phil can critique them,then Nikon can take care of the problems before release. Think Phil will do a new test with a production model? I have seen other reviewers say they would..

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[MariusN]

I have a CP995 and it reports firmware version 1.5. The one reviewed had 1.1. I do not have any problems with sharpness. I do keep it usually on the normal setting. So far I didn't see any loss of image quality (in my pictures) compared with CP990.

Frances.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[Peter iNova]

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More
importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better
than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

If you are using those two images as some sort of standard for internal conviction, then you are dreaming. One is a relatively distant object over fifty meters away surrounded in normal tones, the other a contrasty nearby object surrounded in shadows. A difference of 0.7 EV equivalency would destroy any ability to use them as comparisons, but not as the appropriate exposure for each, given their content.

What you will need for this sort of highlight handling comparison will be shots of the same subject under the same lighting. Try these:





And it would be good to remember that one of these cameras is a prototype...

-iNova

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[Peter iNova]

Sorry about the previous. I pasted page references without realizing they would open up the images themselves. Silly moi. You can append a ".jpg" to these to make them visible.

-iNova

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More
importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better
than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

If you are using those two images as some sort of standard for
internal conviction, then you are dreaming. One is a relatively
distant object over fifty meters away surrounded in normal tones,
the other a contrasty nearby object surrounded in shadows. A
difference of 0.7 EV equivalency would destroy any ability to use
them as comparisons, but not as the appropriate exposure for each,
given their content.

What you will need for this sort of highlight handling comparison
will be shots of the same subject under the same lighting. Try
these:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyDSCS85/Samples/Compared/Multi/cp995_DSCN5570
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyDSCS85/Samples/Compared/Multi/s85_DSC00177

And it would be good to remember that one of these cameras is a
prototype...

-iNova

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[A2]

No need to get so defensive. He was just telling the facts as they were. And pls admit that the 4x lens is a bit dated. Pls check the "battery" pictures again in the 995 review. A difference that big has little to do with G1's in-camera sharpening. I'm pretty sure even if the G1 hadn't applied the sharpening, its lens would still have produced a MUCH sharper picture than did the 995.

Sherm

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[JerryO]

Take in consideration that a Pre production model was used and Nikon updated the camera before dispersing it on the market. Take a look at some of the pictures a few posts back. http://www.allgaeu-freecard.de/coolpix995/ Wolfgang posted theseI think the camera takes sharp clear pics. Let's wait and see how everyone likes it once they recieve the camera, then the "Real Reviews" will begin..

Sherm

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[A2]

Assuming that the prototype is significantly inferior to the production model, that is. However, I would expect that a prototype that has been released for the purpose of being reviewed would be capable of producing pictures with highly similar (if not teh same) quality as a production model.

Why the excuses? I don't have anything against Nikon, but I believe in Phil's review and don't appreciate those who praise the review when it matches their pre-formed opinions or expectations but finds excuses when it doesn't. This seems to happen quite often in this particular forum.

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More
importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better
than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

If you are using those two images as some sort of standard for
internal conviction, then you are dreaming. One is a relatively
distant object over fifty meters away surrounded in normal tones,
the other a contrasty nearby object surrounded in shadows. A
difference of 0.7 EV equivalency would destroy any ability to use
them as comparisons, but not as the appropriate exposure for each,
given their content.

What you will need for this sort of highlight handling comparison
will be shots of the same subject under the same lighting. Try
these:





And it would be good to remember that one of these cameras is a
prototype...

-iNova

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[JerryO]

Nobody is criticizing Phil's review, it was a good and accurate one for the camera he used, but if you read the posts the firmware in the 995's being put on the market is 1.5 and the one Phil had was 1.1. This constitutes changes made by Nikon when they released the camera. At least they are on the ball. Maybe Phil educated Nikon in to making these changes, Ever think they could have sent the prototypes out just to get criticism so they could make changes. Wouldn't it be nice if all manufacturers did this?

Why the excuses? I don't have anything against Nikon, but I
believe in Phil's review and don't appreciate those who praise the
review when it matches their pre-formed opinions or expectations
but finds excuses when it doesn't. This seems to happen quite
often in this particular forum.

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More
importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better
than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

If you are using those two images as some sort of standard for
internal conviction, then you are dreaming. One is a relatively
distant object over fifty meters away surrounded in normal tones,
the other a contrasty nearby object surrounded in shadows. A
difference of 0.7 EV equivalency would destroy any ability to use
them as comparisons, but not as the appropriate exposure for each,
given their content.

What you will need for this sort of highlight handling comparison
will be shots of the same subject under the same lighting. Try
these:





And it would be good to remember that one of these cameras is a
prototype...

-iNova

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh

 

[A2]

This is the best example of the kind of wishful thinking that I was referring to in my previous posting.

1.1 firmware vs 1.5, Nikon sending the prototype out to be critiqued. Have you considered how a camera that took a year to design and put into production could be "improved" and "perfected" within a month or so? Haven't you considered the possibility that a company the size of Nikon would have its own inhouse "experts" to critique and perfect its own products? I'm not saying that Phil's comments have no value whatsoever to Nikon at improving the camera, but I believe more in Nikon's motive as being one of promoting the camera before its release date. That is the best time for Nikon to do this strategically. And haven't you noticed that the comments given by Phil have mostly been favourable (I'm not implying in any way that Phil was biased; as a matter of fact, I believe PHil has always given honest and unbiased opinions.)?

Why the excuses? I don't have anything against Nikon, but I
believe in Phil's review and don't appreciate those who praise the
review when it matches their pre-formed opinions or expectations
but finds excuses when it doesn't. This seems to happen quite
often in this particular forum.

The clarity of the 995 doesn't seem to measure up to the S85. More
importantly (to me), the S85 seems to handle highlights much better
than the 995.

Take a look at sample pic #20 for the 995 and compare it to shot

1. 10 from the S85. The highlights are completely blown on the 995

whereas the S85 retains detail. Look closely and you will see the
difference in other shots with strong highlights.

Trouble is, I much prefer the speed, swivel design & general
ergonomics of the 995! Whatever I get, I need to stop visiting
this else I will have to have the next latest model!

If you are using those two images as some sort of standard for
internal conviction, then you are dreaming. One is a relatively
distant object over fifty meters away surrounded in normal tones,
the other a contrasty nearby object surrounded in shadows. A
difference of 0.7 EV equivalency would destroy any ability to use
them as comparisons, but not as the appropriate exposure for each,
given their content.

What you will need for this sort of highlight handling comparison
will be shots of the same subject under the same lighting. Try
these:





And it would be good to remember that one of these cameras is a
prototype...

-iNova

Just had a look at Phils review of the new Sony S85.
When i saw the pages with image quality where phil compare the S85
to the s75, G1 and CP995. It struck me how unsharp the pictures
from the 995 looked. This new 4x lens seems really to let it down.
Both the G1 and s75 looked much sharper.

Dh