anthony kohn
Leading Member
Just thought I'd post a little something about actual cameras, and not the Photokina stuff. In fact the cameras I am talking about are so old, that many of you will consider the tech unusable - the original Canon 1D and the D30 (not the 30d).
A few months back, I picked up a second hand 1d to take my sports shooting to the next level. In that area it has helped, but I still need wotk. Action results wise, the action is captured better, but I noticed no real difference in "Image Quality" over the d30.
However, last weekend was the first chance I had to shoot both bodies side by side (I don't do it for sports), and did it at a wedding party. Here are my thoughts on the two cameras.
1) Both of these cameras are still being referred to by people as having great colour - well the d30 certainly had a fair few comments in the 10d/20d/30d forum about its colour until dropping off the radar in about 2004. The 1d still gets talked about with its CCD sensor. From m results on the weekend, the 1d wins. Not by a small amount, but by an absolutely mammoth amount. For the bridal waltz (actially a tango) the bride switched into an orange dress, and the room had a mix of tungstan and pink gelled lights. The D30 has totally saturated the red channel, makin the dress splotchy. The 1d retained full detail.
2) Exposure - no flash; I used both cameras with evaluative metering and manual. When using AE, both occaisionally missed correct exposure. The 1d was easier to understand where and why it missed, the d30 was sometimes unpredictable.
3) Exposure - flash. Both cameras use ETTL version 1. I was using a 420EX on the 1d (with and without a homemade diffuser) and the 420 and the built in with the D30. This is where the 1d shone, it was a pleasure to use the flash here. The d30 was predictable, but required more thinking and work.
4) Detail - Low ISOs - the 1d has a slight res advantage (4 vs 3MP) and it could be expected to win. However, my results show that the 1d image cropped to about half its area (2Mp) has at least as much detail as the d30's full frame. High ISOs the gap opens up even wider.
5) Noise - reviews have the 1d being about the same as the d30 at high ISO. I think the 1d is far better, producing usable (just) shots at ISO 3200, that are the same or better than the d30's ISO1600. This is prefaced on the assumption that both shots are exposed to the right. Any increase in exposure of teh 1d in PP magnifies noise substantially - and its banding as opposed to random, and its UGLY.
6) Autofocus. Lighting in the venue was bad - really low. Both cameras struggled to AF when the AF assist beam of the 420EX was not used. With the AF assist, the 1d focussed better with the 70-200/2.8 and 50/1.8. The D30 focussed slower but accuratly with the Tok 12-24, which the 1d struggled with (its normally spot on in good light). The 50/1.8 probably focussed marginally more accurately on the d30 than the 1d but was slower.
So all up, I am surprised at just how much better the 1d was, except for the area I expected - AF. It has produced some superb images, that the B&G will hopefully enjoy.
So why am I posting about such old tech
--
http://planeguy.mine.nu/pictures
A few months back, I picked up a second hand 1d to take my sports shooting to the next level. In that area it has helped, but I still need wotk. Action results wise, the action is captured better, but I noticed no real difference in "Image Quality" over the d30.
However, last weekend was the first chance I had to shoot both bodies side by side (I don't do it for sports), and did it at a wedding party. Here are my thoughts on the two cameras.
1) Both of these cameras are still being referred to by people as having great colour - well the d30 certainly had a fair few comments in the 10d/20d/30d forum about its colour until dropping off the radar in about 2004. The 1d still gets talked about with its CCD sensor. From m results on the weekend, the 1d wins. Not by a small amount, but by an absolutely mammoth amount. For the bridal waltz (actially a tango) the bride switched into an orange dress, and the room had a mix of tungstan and pink gelled lights. The D30 has totally saturated the red channel, makin the dress splotchy. The 1d retained full detail.
2) Exposure - no flash; I used both cameras with evaluative metering and manual. When using AE, both occaisionally missed correct exposure. The 1d was easier to understand where and why it missed, the d30 was sometimes unpredictable.
3) Exposure - flash. Both cameras use ETTL version 1. I was using a 420EX on the 1d (with and without a homemade diffuser) and the 420 and the built in with the D30. This is where the 1d shone, it was a pleasure to use the flash here. The d30 was predictable, but required more thinking and work.
4) Detail - Low ISOs - the 1d has a slight res advantage (4 vs 3MP) and it could be expected to win. However, my results show that the 1d image cropped to about half its area (2Mp) has at least as much detail as the d30's full frame. High ISOs the gap opens up even wider.
5) Noise - reviews have the 1d being about the same as the d30 at high ISO. I think the 1d is far better, producing usable (just) shots at ISO 3200, that are the same or better than the d30's ISO1600. This is prefaced on the assumption that both shots are exposed to the right. Any increase in exposure of teh 1d in PP magnifies noise substantially - and its banding as opposed to random, and its UGLY.
6) Autofocus. Lighting in the venue was bad - really low. Both cameras struggled to AF when the AF assist beam of the 420EX was not used. With the AF assist, the 1d focussed better with the 70-200/2.8 and 50/1.8. The D30 focussed slower but accuratly with the Tok 12-24, which the 1d struggled with (its normally spot on in good light). The 50/1.8 probably focussed marginally more accurately on the d30 than the 1d but was slower.
So all up, I am surprised at just how much better the 1d was, except for the area I expected - AF. It has produced some superb images, that the B&G will hopefully enjoy.
So why am I posting about such old tech
--
http://planeguy.mine.nu/pictures