side by side comparison of d2x and s5

d2x



s5



both with the tokina fisheye 10-17

both the same pp in irfanview gamma to 0.9 and contrast +10

kind regards
arthur

You see this is the problem I have with people trying to compare two images displayed on a monitor on a web site..

Apart from colour differences and the fact that the pictures are different I am not sure what point you are trying to make.

The subject matter to me looks inappropriate for checking resolution or indeed colour as none of us could know what the right colours are in such a scene.

I have to confess that's why I can't be bothered to post pictures..I will report my findings and describe my methodology..I think it is much better that folk go off and try it out for themselves ..at 100% usually, from processed RAW files, from known RAW processors and on their own fully calibrated monitors.

Assessments and judgements can only be made when all the variables are known and assessed...?

Its fair I think but inconclusive. Its generally acknowledged that a lens will perform differently on various cameras with respect to color. The S5 image here looks way too red which is interesting as my experience with Fuji suggests a much nicer caucasian fleshtone that what you've shown. The only conclusion I can make of your comparison is that this lens doesn't work especially well with the S5.

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BigPixel / Hawaii

I think it is probably unfair to blame the lens. Although there is usually some variation in colour balance between manufacturers, it is usually only a minor variation from true neutral..particularly with modern coatings.

This is exactly my point..I am guessing these are Jpeg and shot AWB..what is the camera looking at..the bright window behind the scene.

Although the S5 has a good reputation for mixed lighting doesn't mean it can get it right in all cases...

There is no way one can say the S5 or Tokina is "too red" or any other analysis from two snaps taken with two different cameras in "unknown conditions"

At minimum a grey card test would be needed..at least with custom white balance it would level the playing field and one could then make a colour balance assessment.

I go back to my original point..when cameras are tested they should undergo rigorous procedures to establish their colour accuracy (check those gamut charts) and you will see that both the D2x and S5 perform very well for native colour accuracy..same with resolution. etc.

I go back to my point..these images, although fun may be, tell us nothing!!

By all means post images..this forum can certainly be used for looking at pictures but if you are going to attempt to do tests they must be rigorous in removing all the variables so one is only left with the difference one is trying to show.

I blame the magazines a lot for worthless "subjective reviewing"...it started in the Hi Fi industry and destroyed that giving kudos only to outrageously priced Designer Product (which were usually over priced and badly made) because of that company's relationship to journalists who thought they were reviewers..please don't let this happen to photography.

It is one of the reasons why DPreview and BJP, with the right reviewers, and Geoffrey Crawley in AP are probably the only reviews worth reading for an objective appraisal..the rest of the glossies at around £5 per magazine are worthless subjective reviews which actually are no more than more advertising for the manufacturers.

Remember when the D200 and D2x came out..absolutely fantastic, the best, etc...two years down the road, Oh! aren't they noisy and we don't like the colours, but, Wow! Check out the D300, it's awesome.

Yeah, well may be for the next two years at least!!

I actually surprised myself..I just bought the S5..but it's so cheap isn't it..no kudos there then...and it can't be much good, can it with only 6+6mp..too old a spec!!

But the results are beautiful (I know, you guys who have one know that!) I keep having to kick myself when I see the quality..because it's not supposed to be this good, is it..it's nearly two years old in design, so it must be rubbish by now!!!

Think I will just keep taking pictures with it and stop reading reviews!!

hmm there was red light on the ceiling also but I will also check my WB perhaps I had left it at 5000K by accident since I just used my flash before it which can cause the abundance of red in my picture.

I hardly shoot AWB since in incadescent light it will make it mostly to blue. my settings are mostly 3300K without flash and 5000K with flash

I have the D2X and the S5 and have used both cameras extensively for the last two years. The D2X has the most narrow dynamic range of any camera I have used. The D70 is better than the D2X for DR and when you shoot with the D2X in sunshine you have to be very careful to keep the highlights in control. Quite honestly, I don't think you actually can keep them under control with the D2X.

That having been said, the D2X with its auto window of WB is the best camera I have ever used for accurate color. There is a small window on the pentaprism that lets in light and the camera uses that light to establish an auto WB. The accuracy of color that the D2X can produce is absolutely amazing. Shoot in RAW, make sure your subject exposure is within the limits, develop in ACR and make no adjustments at all. Save the resultant file as a TIFF and open the tiff in Photoshop. Adjust for proper exposure, maybe 1/4 of a stop tops, and print and you wil be reproducing the colors you photographed exactly (this assums your printer is also callibrated). Once your illumination light has been set and standardized, you wil be able to reproduce the color scheme of whatever you are photographing and that color accuracy is quite simply amazing.

The resolution of the D2X is also very good. If you shoot with the 60mm Nikon macro you will be able to get remarkable detail and that detail is measurably and visibly better than you can get from the S5. Under any and all circumstances, if you move the lens from the D2X to the S5 and shoot the same scene, the D2X will quite simply walk away from the S5 for resloution.

All that having been said about the D2X, I would not use the D2X for a wedding other than to shoot a formal scene that has a large number of people in it. For general purpose wedding work, the accurate colors are a real problem. The S5 delivers pleasing colors that the customer will like and the D2X delivers accurate colors. Indeed, if her face is pasty white the D2X will deliver that pasty white while the S5 will make her look slightly tanned and it will give a warm glow to her and her world. The colors the S5 delivers are anything but accurate but they are in every way pleasing.

Finally, if you should be required to shoot a bride in full sunshine standing next to a man in a black tux and that man is standing in the shade, either ask the man to move, ask the bride to move or wait till either event happens on its own because you are not going to get a good photo from the D2X. It just isn't going to happen. Meanwhile, the lower resolution, pretty far off in color S5 can just keep clicking away and ....how about that....not only are the photos pretty good, no blown highlights and wow.... the colors look so nice.

I also shoot both the S5 and the D2X and I use the S5 for people work and the D2X for anything without people as a rule. That said the S5 is way more forgiving for exposure and AWB than the D2X. The D2X is NOT a point and shoot camera it has to be set properly for a given situation but it can really be finessed with all the adjustments available to work very well and a lot more resolution than the S5. The D2X takes a lot more time to learn what can be done but the results in its' area are very good.

Again different tools for different tasks. You would not use a sledge hammer to drive a tack to hang a picture. Too many people expect any given camera to "do it all perfectly" there is no such animal, there are some that are more versitle than others but none that are outstanding at everything, personal biases excepted. If you follow the D3 folks it seems that it can walk on water so perhaps someday a single camera may be perfect at anything but not yet.
--
Fred W. Cornelius

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http://dakanji.com

'I make statements based on fact not predictions.'
KMSEA: 12:33:17 PM, Saturday, November 12, 2005 (GMT)

'Human nature being what it is and unlikely to change, these events will
no doubt be repeated in the future.'
Thucydides 400 BC

D2X is "Far better" for what.

Are you suggesting that the D2X is better at ISO 1600 than the S5, or how about for shooting white satin in the sunshine next to black in the shade.....

Your statement is meaningless and your reference location is too.

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http://dakanji.com

'I make statements based on fact not predictions.'
KMSEA: 12:33:17 PM, Saturday, November 12, 2005 (GMT)

'Human nature being what it is and unlikely to change, these events will
no doubt be repeated in the future.'
Thucydides 400 BC

Great comparison.
And keep shooting with the D2X, I'm sure you will enjoy the output.

--
http://dakanji.com

'I make statements based on fact not predictions.'
KMSEA: 12:33:17 PM, Saturday, November 12, 2005 (GMT)

'Human nature being what it is and unlikely to change, these events will
no doubt be repeated in the future.'
Thucydides 400 BC