SH-2 - Muriwai Beach Again

http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner/henry130&page=4

It was overcast mostly, but there was little wind to spoil the video sound.



The rock in the middle is Motutara Island, the top of it is in the next picture.


The pair that used to nest on the bush is not here this year.

This year, the chicks are earlier than I expected.



The video below has four 120 fps clips in it. Out of the camera these are silent. I recorded extra 30 fps footage, and later extracted the sound from it, slowed it down about 60%, and dubbed that on the silent 120 fps footage. That gave it the Dalek-type sound (as in the Dr Who TV series). Your mileage may vary.


Henry

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ
http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner

Hi Henry,

Very nice scenery where you live.

Were these shot in raw mode or jpeg?

Thank you.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Hi Henry,

Very nice scenery where you live.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Were these shot in raw mode or jpeg?

Click to expand...

They are all JPEGs.

In my experience, RAW does a better job when the lighting is mediocre, but it requires quite a bit of work to get an improvement over the JPEG shot at the same time.

To me, the value of RAW is to get a grip on just how much processing is done in the camera to get a JPEG out. The RAW always requires noise reduction in PP.

In my opinion, the Olympus SH-2 does a better job than the SH-1 and the SH-50 before it, but they all are more consistent over a range of exposure situations than the Panasonic ZS60.

In good light the ZS60 produces JPEGs that can be enlarged for 46x33 inch prints, but the SH-2 still permits passable 33x23 inch prints. This is the biggest size I can get laminated at Warehouse Stationary.

The Olympus SH series has far fewer features than the Panasonic ZS60 - but they all work!

With the ZS60, it is the responsibility of the buyer to set up the camera in such a way that it will not prevent him from getting shots that should not create difficulties in the first place.

Olympus marketing has never caught on that the SH series has just the right set of features for reliable results, thereby forestalling embarrassment in front of friends and the general public.

Henry

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Thank you.

Click to expand...

Thank you Henry.

How do you explain that the Panasonic can produce bigger prints than the Olympus camera, since they both have the same sensor sizes?

I can't understand the meaning of your last paragraph in your answer. You don't think that Olympus realizes how good is their SH series? Could you rephrase it with other words? I think your english is more advanced than mine.

Do you think Olympus will release a third iteration of the SH?

Thank you!

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Thank you Henry.

How do you explain that the Panasonic can produce bigger prints than the Olympus camera, since they both have the same sensor sizes?

Click to expand...

The Panasonic ZS60 has 20 MP, the SH-2 has 16.

After that, it is all to do with the noise reduction. RAW from the SH-2 needs about 30% at good exposure levels. Noise reduction inevitably kills small detail.

On the ZS60, the noise reduction is less in broad daylight, but it hits like sledge hammer as the light goes down. This has been commented on in YouTube videos about the ZS60.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

I can't understand the meaning of your last paragraph in your answer. You don't think that Olympus realizes how good is their SH series? Could you rephrase it with other words? I think your english is more advanced than mine.

Click to expand...

There is not a single Olympus advert that stresses how the firmware has been written to work with the photographer, not against him.

Take focusing. The SH series has just three - ESP/FACE, SPOT and Tracking. In practice, using ESP/FACE I can focus on a blackbird in a tree:


This is number 5 of 6. and all are useable.

The Panasonic has far more focusing options, and ESP and FACE are separate options. You can choose also which areas in the picture will look for focus. Unfortunately, the default assumes you shoot a landscape, and the areas selected are all at the bottom when the cameras is horizontal. One of my first attempts was a tower from a distance, so I had to re-program the camera straight out of the box for a central area.

I had been asked to set up the ZS60 for a friend, and I appear to have been reasonably successful. But in my opinion, a travel zoom camera should not require re-programming before you can do anything with it!

SPOT focusing on the SH-series does the moon:


This has 4x digital zoom, so it is not perfect.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Do you think Olympus will release a third iteration of the SH?

Click to expand...

They did the SH-3, but it was never intended to be sold outside Japan.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Thank you!

--
Jean-Pierre

Click to expand...

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ

Henry Falkner said:

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Thank you Henry.

How do you explain that the Panasonic can produce bigger prints than the Olympus camera, since they both have the same sensor sizes?

Click to expand...

The Panasonic ZS60 has 20 MP, the SH-2 has 16.

After that, it is all to do with the noise reduction. RAW from the SH-2 needs about 30% at good exposure levels. Noise reduction inevitably kills small detail.

On the ZS60, the noise reduction is less in broad daylight, but it hits like sledge hammer as the light goes down. This has been commented on in YouTube videos about the ZS60.

Henry Falkner said:

I can't understand the meaning of your last paragraph in your answer. You don't think that Olympus realizes how good is their SH series? Could you rephrase it with other words? I think your english is more advanced than mine.

Click to expand...

There is not a single Olympus advert that stresses how the firmware has been written to work with the photographer, not against him.

Click to expand...

Henry,

You mean that the SH-2 is very well designed but there's no publicity around it? I love my SH-1, I bring it with me on my summer bicycle rides. So versatile, so powerful. I just wish it had less sharpening artifacts impossible to get rid of in camera.

I think that not so many people focus on this particular model, they prefer bigger sensor cameras or smartphones. The compact camera world is slowly dying Henry. I don't think there'll ever be an SH-4 model, even in Japan only.

(...)

You mean you focused on the bird with the ESP/Face mode, and all this between those branches? I will try it, as I only used the spot focus mode so far.

The moon is nicely exposed but very soft on fine details. Did you use the in camera digital zoom? I hope not as this is very destructive.

I am considering getting a Panasonic FZ1000. It's got a bigger sensor, an amzing lens and beautiful colours, better than this good Olympus compact. But it sure won't fit in my pocket.

Henry, you seem to have become an expert with the SH series, stills and videos. Keep on the great work!

Thank you.

JP

Henry Falkner said:

Take focusing. The SH series has just three - ESP/FACE, SPOT and Tracking. In practice, using ESP/FACE I can focus on a blackbird in a tree:


This is number 5 of 6. and all are useable.

The Panasonic has far more focusing options, and ESP and FACE are separate options. You can choose also which areas in the picture will look for focus. Unfortunately, the default assumes you shoot a landscape, and the areas selected are all at the bottom when the cameras is horizontal. One of my first attempts was a tower from a distance, so I had to re-program the camera straight out of the box for a central area.

I had been asked to set up the ZS60 for a friend, and I appear to have been reasonably successful. But in my opinion, a travel zoom camera should not require re-programming before you can do anything with it!

SPOT focusing on the SH-series does the moon:


This has 4x digital zoom, so it is not perfect.

Henry Falkner said:

Do you think Olympus will release a third iteration of the SH?

Click to expand...

They did the SH-3, but it was never intended to be sold outside Japan.

Henry Falkner said:

Thank you!

--
Jean-Pierre

Click to expand...

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ
http://www.pbase.com/hfalkner

Click to expand...

--
Jean-Pierre

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Henry Falkner said:

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Thank you Henry.

How do you explain that the Panasonic can produce bigger prints than the Olympus camera, since they both have the same sensor sizes?

Click to expand...

The Panasonic ZS60 has 20 MP, the SH-2 has 16.

After that, it is all to do with the noise reduction. RAW from the SH-2 needs about 30% at good exposure levels. Noise reduction inevitably kills small detail.

On the ZS60, the noise reduction is less in broad daylight, but it hits like sledge hammer as the light goes down. This has been commented on in YouTube videos about the ZS60.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

I can't understand the meaning of your last paragraph in your answer. You don't think that Olympus realizes how good is their SH series? Could you rephrase it with other words? I think your english is more advanced than mine.

Click to expand...

There is not a single Olympus advert that stresses how the firmware has been written to work with the photographer, not against him.

Click to expand...

Henry,

You mean that the SH-2 is very well designed but there's no publicity around it? I love my SH-1, I bring it with me on my summer bicycle rides. So versatile, so powerful. I just wish it had less sharpening artifacts impossible to get rid of in camera.

Click to expand...

I am retaining the SH-1, and the SH-50, precisely because that line has been terminated. I did a 33x23 inch print from an SH-1 camera original, after enlarging it x3 in PSE13. The sharpening as well as the excessive noise reduction are noticeable:


Check the original size, since this has the ex-camera dimensions.

My business partner loves it though, since she was born in Hawera, about a kilometer from where this picture was taken. She could care less than two figs about the sharpening. It was taken from a moving bus.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

I think that not so many people focus on this particular model, they prefer bigger sensor cameras or smartphones. The compact camera world is slowly dying Henry. I don't think there'll ever be an SH-4 model, even in Japan only

Click to expand...

The SH-3 went off half-**** with 4 MB video at 15 fps. Looks like the bean counters objected to an updated processor.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

You mean you focused on the bird with the ESP/Face mode, and all this between those branches? I will try it, as I only used the spot focus mode so far.

Click to expand...

To me this looks like the firmware writers decided that 'if it moves, that is where the focus is wanted'.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

The moon is nicely exposed but very soft on fine details. Did you use the in camera digital zoom? I hope not as this is very destructive.

Click to expand...

I did use 4x digital zoom - and that is where the detail gets lost. If you want to do better with just an all-in-one camera, you have to look at larger bridge cameras. The most versatile are the Nikon P900 with a small sensor, and the SONY RX10 Mk IV with a 1'' sensor. Neither fit in a pocket though.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

I am considering getting a Panasonic FZ1000. It's got a bigger sensor, an amazing lens and beautiful colours, better than this good Olympus compact. But it sure won't fit in my pocket.

Click to expand...

Over on the Panasonic Compact Forum there is a comparison between the TZ/ZS100 (has a 1" sensor also) and the TZ80/ZS60 (1/2.3 sensor). The TZ100 does surprisingly well with just a 250mm reach. Maybe not for moon shots though.

JeanPierre Thibaudeau said:

Henry, you seem to have become an expert with the SH series, stills and videos. Keep on the great work!

Thank you.

JP

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Henry

--
Henry Falkner - SH-2, SH-1, SH-50, SP-570UZ