Actual photos hint at flawed theoretical measurements by bclaff
May 17, 2018
According to the "measurements" and results graphics:
- a Sony A7R3 should provide the exact same dynamic range at ISO 100 as a K-1 II.
- there is mentioning of loss of details for the K-1 II but not for the Sony A7R3
But then we are not primarily theoreticians, but photographers, so the proof lies in the image:
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr144_0=pentax_k1ii&attr144_1=sony_a7riii&attr146_0=100_6&attr146_1=100_6&attr177_0=off&attr177_1=off&normalization=compare&widget=608&x=-0.6873051525279211&y=0.11229493274677838
Raising shadows is the main usage for a lot of sensor dynamic range.
Maybe I am blind, but the actual photo directly contradicts the bclaff's theory curves:
- the Sony A7R3 shows substantial (!) extra noise compared to a Pentax K-1II, so there is no way it has even a comparable dynamic range.
- the Sony A7R3 has massive loss of detail when using the dynamic range to a large extent, much more than a Pentax K-1II, but somehow I only read the narrative of how the Pentax has some detail rendering issues.
The D850 also is much worse than the K-1 II in both dynamic range at ISO 64 (versus ISO 100 of the K-1 II) and detail retention.
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen?attr144_0=pentax_k1ii&attr144_1=nikon_d850&attr146_0=100_6&attr146_1=64_7&attr177_0=off&attr177_1=off&normalization=compare&widget=608&x=-0.6281060958585387&y=0.3381461752929009
That does not exactly leave a very good impression on methodology used and relevancy of these home generated charts.
But I am open for robust explanations for the following questions:
- How is a chart of "photographic dynamic range" not badly misleading and irrelevant if a camera, which is reported as having equal or better dynamic range produces vastly worse / more noisy images when in practice using that dynamic range as exposure latitude to lift shadows in post (e.g. D850 and A7R3)?
- How is explicit and repeated highlighting of tiny "loss of details" in higher ISO shots as a negative item explained, when other models such as a D850 and A7R3 show significantly worse loss of details than a K-1 II on pushed low ISO shots and there is only a silence on this instead of a chapter of text?
How is that not quite biased reporting?
It just don't get it.