EOS-1D Mark II sharp, no worries here

[Derek Hawkins]

2. An eight megapixel sensor is going to pick out any sharpness /
resolution issues with the lens and focusing. A good lens,
accurately focused and with the correct DOF is needed for 1:1 pixel
sharpness.

I'm convinced that less than stellar AF performance is the source of most sharpness complaints. One would think that this would be confined to Canon's entry level DSLRs but sadly this doesn't seem to be the case.

Having just started to evaluate the Mark II I'm surprised to read
questions over this camera's sharpness.. There are a few important
points to remember:

1. The image processing for the 1D series apperas to be different
(to a higher standard) than other EOS digitals, tonal transitions
are smoother, sharpening artifacts virtually non-existant.

2. An eight megapixel sensor is going to pick out any sharpness /
resolution issues with the lens and focusing. A good lens,
accurately focused and with the correct DOF is needed for 1:1 pixel
sharpness.

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds. It's a much lower sharpening level
than most other digital SLR's and provides you with noise free and
sharpening artifact free images. HOWEVER if you prefer your images
sharper out of the camera just increase sharpening to around level
2.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

The images below are 100% crops from some 1D Mark II JPEG images.
Lens used was the EF 28-70 mm F2.8 L.







PS. Please don't ask me when the review will be posted.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[Melanie Kipp]

Thank you Phil. I am thrilled with this shot.

I hope you don't mind... I cropped 3 parts of the original... and ran them through my usual work flow. I applied FM's Intellisharpen to these crops at it's lowest setting.

I also resized the original and did the same processing. See them here ( warning dial ups, these have minimal compression )
http://www.caughtintimephotography.com/PhilsMK2Shot.html

http://www.dpreview.com/temp_img/GR2O0135.JPG

2.9 MB. In-camera sharpening level 2, 28-70 mm F2.8 L.

--

 

[ARB1]

http://www.dpreview.com/temp_img/GR2O0135.JPG

2.9 MB. In-camera sharpening level 2, 28-70 mm F2.8 L.

--

 

[Gandalf89279]

http://www.dpreview.com/temp_img/GR2O0135.JPG

2.9 MB. In-camera sharpening level 2, 28-70 mm F2.8 L.

--

Looks very nice Melanie, certainly helps to calm the fears of
those of us with the Mark II on order.

--
George Guinn

 

[Daffy_Duck]

This is a flawed test but it supports my theory so I'm going to post it anyway. Below are Phil's shots from the 1D and 1D Mark II and their histograms.



It seems that the new 1D is either more conservative with it's exposure or the result of better dynamic range is being seen here. Some have complained of images looking flat in comparison with the 1D. It seems that the histogram is more compressed and thuis has more of a gray haze appearance until the levels are adjusted. This is a very imperfect test. It would be better to have pictures of the same scene with both cameras.

 

[Daffy_Duck]

I should have explained that what I was showing was that there is more "open space" on both sides of the histogram on the Mark II image. Full size of that image can be found at:

http://public.fotki.com/MeiAndChris/misc/hist_compare_1dand1dii.html

 

[Ick]

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Sure, I think Phil is a Legend too, however, I am going to disagree
with him in saying that these photo's are sharp. Given that +2
sharpening has been applied, I still see quite a 'softness' in his
images. I know that this setting can be changed further but what is
this saying about the RAW images which would be produced or at a
setting of '0'.

JPEG users would love to see that the camera can produce sharp photo without post processing. The camera sharpness value from 0 to 5 works quite well (I had a doubt on that point) Thanks Phil for your intervention and your crisp Big Ben shot!

RAW users are obliged to post process every pictures. They will change their sharpening parameter if needed regarding the value they used with the 1D or 1DS. As soon as they could get a sharp image, what's the point in getting exactly the same default sharpness since we are obliged to post process the file. Site here: http://homepage.mac.com/ipi/mark2/1D2.html shows good RAW Processed image to me (the first 15 shots are stored in JPEG but came from RAW).

FRED

 

[Gandalf89279]

Thanks for posting the image. Wonder if you could allow us to
download a full blown RAW image similar to this jpeg, so we could
experiment on our own? I'll have my own Mk2 by Tuesday, but it
would be nice to have something to play with over the weekend.
Again, thanks.

Ray Amos -
1D Mk2, 1v and EF lenses from 17-500mm.

Ray here is a link to a raw file

http://www.f20c.com/stuff/GL6C0031.CR2

It was posted in this thread on the RG site.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=231369&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

--
George Guinn

 

[Teski]

Looks like your time and effort will help to calm many of these people that are panicking. Hopefully they can rest now.

Teski

Having just started to evaluate the Mark II I'm surprised to read
questions over this camera's sharpness.. There are a few important
points to remember:

1. The image processing for the 1D series apperas to be different
(to a higher standard) than other EOS digitals, tonal transitions
are smoother, sharpening artifacts virtually non-existant.

2. An eight megapixel sensor is going to pick out any sharpness /
resolution issues with the lens and focusing. A good lens,
accurately focused and with the correct DOF is needed for 1:1 pixel
sharpness.

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds. It's a much lower sharpening level
than most other digital SLR's and provides you with noise free and
sharpening artifact free images. HOWEVER if you prefer your images
sharper out of the camera just increase sharpening to around level
2.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

The images below are 100% crops from some 1D Mark II JPEG images.
Lens used was the EF 28-70 mm F2.8 L.







PS. Please don't ask me when the review will be posted.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[Phil Askey]

Sorry but I really haven't started testing the camera yet.. I'm still going through my familiarization and usage stages, my time with the camera ..

Having just started to evaluate the Mark II I'm surprised to read
questions over this camera's sharpness.. There are a few

Phil,

Have you any comments on claims about Mark II focusing accuracy
being not as good as with 1D? I'm referring to
http://www.digitale-slr.net/foren/canon/index.php click
"gäste-login" (and go to forum "EOS 1D, EOS 1D Mark II und EOS 1Ds
" and header "MKII Tag II (gestern)").

(In short: poster said about Mark II that about 70% of shot AF was
not hitting the subject. 1D was 100% accurate. He took the camera
to repair for check but they could not check it yet because it is
so new.)

I'm quite sure that was only a defective unit, or bad lenses.

I wonder what happens after people have got their lenses adjusted
to 10D and then put them on Mark II?

--
Pekka
http://photography-on-the.net

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[wtlloyd]

Works for me! Thanks, Melanie.

http://www.dpreview.com/temp_img/GR2O0135.JPG

2.9 MB. In-camera sharpening level 2, 28-70 mm F2.8 L.

--

 

[Gandalf89279]

Having just started to evaluate the Mark II I'm surprised to read
questions over this camera's sharpness.. There are a few important
points to remember:

1. The image processing for the 1D series apperas to be different
(to a higher standard) than other EOS digitals, tonal transitions
are smoother, sharpening artifacts virtually non-existant.

2. An eight megapixel sensor is going to pick out any sharpness /
resolution issues with the lens and focusing. A good lens,
accurately focused and with the correct DOF is needed for 1:1 pixel
sharpness.

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds. It's a much lower sharpening level
than most other digital SLR's and provides you with noise free and
sharpening artifact free images. HOWEVER if you prefer your images
sharper out of the camera just increase sharpening to around level
2.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

The images below are 100% crops from some 1D Mark II JPEG images.
Lens used was the EF 28-70 mm F2.8 L.







PS. Please don't ask me when the review will be posted.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

--
George Guinn

 

[Phil Askey]

That's your choice, everyone has their own level of sharpening... The 1D Mark II provides sharpening levels 0 - 5, I selected 2.

If you feel the camera isn't sharp.. Don't buy it!

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Sure, I think Phil is a Legend too, however, I am going to disagree
with him in saying that these photo's are sharp. Given that +2
sharpening has been applied, I still see quite a 'softness' in his
images. I know that this setting can be changed further but what is
this saying about the RAW images which would be produced or at a
setting of '0'.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[greentoe]

[snip]
Sure, I think Phil is a Legend too, however, I am going to disagree
with him in saying that these photo's are sharp. Given that +2
sharpening has been applied, I still see quite a 'softness' in his
images. I know that this setting can be changed further but what is
this saying about the RAW images which would be produced or at a
setting of '0'.

What it is saying, which has been said over and over, and demonstrated over and over, is that if you put a "low pass" filter (i.e., spatial frequencies above a given limit are blurred out) in front of a sensor...... you get an image that is slightly blurred.

Just as designed.

With the full intent to do an inverse transformation in the digital domain. To not do so is to try to use the tool not as intended.

-gt

 

[Phil Askey]

BTW. The 1D Mark II at level 0 or 1 sharpening reminds me of the EOS D30...

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canond30/page16.asp

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Sure, I think Phil is a Legend too, however, I am going to disagree
with him in saying that these photo's are sharp. Given that +2
sharpening has been applied, I still see quite a 'softness' in his
images. I know that this setting can be changed further but what is
this saying about the RAW images which would be produced or at a
setting of '0'.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[addysdaddy]

Thanks again Phil

 

[Gotya]

Teski

Having just started to evaluate the Mark II I'm surprised to read
questions over this camera's sharpness.. There are a few important
points to remember:

1. The image processing for the 1D series apperas to be different
(to a higher standard) than other EOS digitals, tonal transitions
are smoother, sharpening artifacts virtually non-existant.

2. An eight megapixel sensor is going to pick out any sharpness /
resolution issues with the lens and focusing. A good lens,
accurately focused and with the correct DOF is needed for 1:1 pixel
sharpness.

3. This is the most important point - The default sharpening on
the EOS-1D Mark II is a very conservative level 0 (zero), this is
the same as the EOS-1D and 1Ds. It's a much lower sharpening level
than most other digital SLR's and provides you with noise free and
sharpening artifact free images. HOWEVER if you prefer your images
sharper out of the camera just increase sharpening to around level
2.

I went out on my first shoot with the camera the other day and
before even starting created a parameter set with sharpening level
'2', I'm pretty pleased with the results.

The images below are 100% crops from some 1D Mark II JPEG images.
Lens used was the EF 28-70 mm F2.8 L.







PS. Please don't ask me when the review will be posted.

--
Phil Askey
Editor / Owner, dpreview.com

 

[greentoe]

Just got my 1D2, and done the obligatory cat and flower shots

Seriously though, with my 100mm macro, the detail is stunning.

I've put a pic up, converted with ACR 2.2 with default settings, oh
and it's iso800. I'm perfectly happy with the sharpness (and
noise).

http://www.pbase.com/image/28266013

Right, off to take more pics. Going to Brands Hatch tomorrow too,
so hopefully I'll have some great stuff to show tomorrow night.

--
Cheers,

Stuart Rider.

 

[Iliah Borg]

Looks like your time and effort will help to calm many of these
people that are panicking. Hopefully they can rest now.

Do not even dream Next will come colour saturation, focusing, lens complaints, noise levels, high ISO issues, slow writing speed, etc, etc...
--
no text

 

[Colin K. Work]

Oh and it's iso800.

LOL - hard to resist doing that isn't it? I took a range of shots yesterday in the 100-400 ISO range, and damn, its hard to tell which is which.

Another very happy owner

Cheers,

Colin