I traded in one of my D1's two weeks ago for a 1Ds and the 24-70mm
zoom.
The 1Ds has five color spaces and 3 levels of jpg plus different
compression
levels and raw. Shooting in jpg in any color space and with the least
compression at ISO 100 the resulting images have a great deal of
red/green
color noise. After shooting the first series of test shots and
opening them
it was apparent that something was wrong with the color. The doors
on a
blue car didn't look completely blue even at 33%. At 100% you can
see the
red/green color noise. Asphalt in the street isn't black, its
red/green/black. The sidewalk isn't grey, it's red/green/grey. I was
really surprised when I saw this so out came the remaining D1 to
shot the
same scene as the 1Ds. Blue car, black asphalt, grey sidewalk, no
problem.
Maybe raw processed through Capture One will be different. So I
shot the
same car in raw with both the 1Ds and the D1. Looking at the raw
file in
Capture One shows the same sort of color noise but when processed
to a tiff
Capture One removes most of the noise. No problem with the D1 raw
images.
Using Capture to upsize the D1 image to 12 x 8 at 314 dpi and
looking at the
1Ds image at 12 x 8 with no upsizing needed you can see the
difference extra
pixels makes but the difference isn't that dramatic. The
difference is a
lot more subtle than I thought it would be. Close up people shots
are the
same. More resolution that makes hair look better than the D1 but the
difference is subtle, not dramatic. In my opinion the D1 tops out
at 12 x 8
(8 x10) in quality when printed on the 8500. I can see upsizing
artifacts
in the prints at 8 x 10 using Capture to upsize which was the original
motivation for more MP. So how does the Canon hold up at 200%?
Upsizing
the 1Ds image in Capture One at 200% or Photoshop at 200% and
cutting out an
8 x 10 doesn't produce a quality image in my view. The upsizing
artifacts
are just too much.
Another issue with the Canon is that the camera I had underexposed
by 2/3 to
a full stop consistently not matter the metering. For instance,
using a
light meter to meter the car it shows 125/5.6. The 1Ds is 250/5.6 or
200/5.6 depending on the metering, the D1 is 160/5.6. This usually
isn't a
problem with the D1 because Capture can fix underexposure.
However, Capture
One doesn't do as good a job as Capture in fixing an exposure
problem and
can, under certain circumstances, create banding in dark areas of
the image.
Thinking that I might have gotten a lemon I went back to the store
where I
got the 1Ds and borrowed their sales model to take test images
around the
outside of the store in both jpg and raw. Same exact problems with
these
images. So unless it's two in a row these problems are inherent in
the 1Ds.
Prior to buying the camera I downloaded the sample images from the
Canon web
site and printed them on the 8500. Really beautiful images. But,
if you
look at the picture of the young lady in leather pants at 200% you
can see
the color noise in her black pants and shirt and the grey backdrop.
It's
not bad but it's there. Same thing with some of the images from
dpreview
shot at ISO 100. The river scene with two ladies in the left
foreground
shows a lot of noise in the grey concrete. And a lot of CA on the
left side
of this image.
Another problem I had with the 1Ds is the blooming or fringing that
you get
when shooting contrasting surfaces like backlit trees or even
houses against
a sky. This problem can show up right in the middle of an image
and is
easily seen in 8500 prints.
So I returned the 1Ds and the 24-70 lens to the retailer today. No
problem,
they are a very professional organization and really stand behind
customer
satisfaction. And I'm now waiting for the follow on to the D1x.
.......... please only interested people respond here.
I love the 1D, it is fast, curvaceous, responsive has fabulous
colours and is frighteningly sharp.
I have only two complaints so far, the strap is bad, actually a bad
strap and some of the controls need dexterity beyond human ability.
So please ask anything you like, as long as you are interested as
in how does it compared to the D100 v D1x in specific details.
Email me if you prefer, as we cannot speak openly on these forums
anymore.
[email protected]
--
****
. If you look near the top of these cans you'll see lots of bubbles, I once saw a D60/D100 comparison shot of this and half the small bubbles were missing from the D60 shot.
