just made 2 simple test image between my D70 and an E1 from my
friend, 2 images with original crop.
would like to hear your opinion.
http://www.pbase.com/littlebabylon/test
In the first pair of images of the cityscape, the Olympus E-1 image
appears to be over-exposed by at least 1/2 f/stop. Both the
highlights (brightest areas) and the shadows (darkest areas) are
uniformly lighter than in the corresponding D70 image. Since the
highlights in the E-1 image are blown-out and the areas which
should be black are not, this exposure can not be described as
anything but over-exposed.
Of course this gives rise to the question about "why" the E-1 image
is over-exposed, but that can't be answered without knowing more
about how the shutter speed and f/stop were determined.
In the second pair of images with the man sitting at the desk, the
lighting of the main subject in both secnes is not equal. In the
D70 image, the man is bent forward in such a way that his face and
shoulders are several inches closer to the main light source -
which apparently is a table lamp. When the light source is this
close to the main subject, just a few inches of variance in
distance can make a big difference. I estimate that in the E-1
image, the man's face and shoulders are receiving about 1 f/stop
less light than in the D70 image.
Thanks for pointing out the differences in exposure settings
between the two cameras, I do agree that it would be difficult to
compare any two cameras without accurate meter readings used to
determine exposure for each, not just setting both cameras to the
same ISO. It's also hard to compare DSLRs in general since each
has its own unique set of in camera processing and levels of in
camera sharpening, the E-1 seeming to be quite low compared to
others. But again, I am impressed with the D70 image quality from
a camera with such a low price. Now if they could just combine
that with a body comparable to the E-1...
Uwe Steinmueller of Outback Photography recently posted 2 galleries
of images which compare images from the Olympus E-1 to the Canon
EOS-1Ds. Except for minor differences in color balance, the images
from both cameras are virtually indistinguishable. Here are the
links:
http://www.jirvana.com/galleries/1ds_gallery_01/index.htm
http://www.jirvana.com/galleries/olympus_e1_03/index.htm
This is really great news for Nikon D70 owners. If the comparison
images by littlebabylon in this thread prove that D70 image quality
is superior to the E-1, by extrapolation it is safe to assume that
D70 image quality is also superior to the Canon 1Ds.
Well...if you read Uwe's post in the News forum regarding his
recent side by side comparisons between the 1Ds and the E-1,
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1000&message=7885782
he does state that "Of course the 1Ds delivers more resolution."
Honestly, I think I would be hard pressed to say otherwise. Even
with the compressed web versions in his gallery, I can notice the
difference, even if it is slight.
This just illustrates how the E-1 is in a class by itself, so to
speak. It doesn't have the resolution potential that higher pro
cameras possess, but it exceeds all consumer level DSLRs in build
quailty. It's a kind of middle ground that unfortunately seems to
open it up for all kinds of criticism.
In conclusion, I suggest that the images we view on websites may
reveal a lot about the photographer - but almost nothing about the
equipment which was used to make the images.
Gene Windell
