550D/GH13 comparision shot

Can I just ask -- where were all you "sharper doesn't necessarily mean better" folks when the HVX was all the rage??!?!!

Sigh.

:)
Broke and happy with our HV20's while at the same time wishing we had deep pockets like you and Kholi so as to afford out own HVX!!! :happy:
 
Keep bashing the GH13 guys, gonna make it that much easier for me to find some GH1s when I'm ready to buy :)
I love love love my Canons but as they say "I don't see no rings on these fingers!" I'm not married to my camera brand. It's just damn peices of metal, platic and glass with an electrical charge running through them, and if one of them is clearly better... oh well. The Canons were clearly better than the original GH1- TO ME, and now the GH13 is clearly better- TO ME. You may or may not feel the same, and that's completely alright with me, but you ain't shooting my ****, I am :)
So in the wise words of the "Scribbler"-
Go shoot it up *****! (I might have added the last part)
 
Okay, some comparison shots. I took three cameras out, and shot side by side by side. It was not easy. Anyone trying to do a comparison like this, alone, is going to encounter a tremendous amount of potential oops-es. I standardized on determining the exposure by using the GH13's histogram, because the 7D doesn't have anything like that. I used an 85mm ZF on the GH13, and a 100mm ZF on the 7D, always locked at f/8. Both were kept on ISO 100, and exposure was changed solely by using the shutter speed.

In other words, this is the best glass you're gonna get, at the sharpest aperture you're gonna get, and they were mostly focused at infinity, so there are no focus errors here guys.

The third camera was along for the ride, and used auto-exposure.

All images were brought into PhotoShop and used auto-contrast/auto-tone/auto-color. There's no point in chasing the color differences or getting distracted by them. This didn't make them perfectly matched, but it made them better.

I used the widest-dynamic-range setting on each, being Neutral on the 7D and Smooth on the GH13. I set sharpness to the middle setting on both.

I am pretty sure I didn't screw this up, and that these shots are absolutely representative of what these cameras do, given the fixed exposure method I had to employ.

I didn't get all the shots on all three cameras all the time, so sometimes there will only be two.

I have named the shots A, B, and C. That doesn't necessarily imply which of the cameras those shots were from. In some comparisons, the 7D might be "A" and the mystery camera "B" and the GH13 "C"; in other shots it might be the GH13 as "A" and the 7D as "B", etc.

If you see differences, it ain't the glass. And it ain't the focus. It's the camera. So let your eyes, instead of your inner fanboyism, do the judging... :D

The photos are uploaded here:
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison1-A.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison1-B.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison1-C.jpg

http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison2-A.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison2-B.jpg

http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison3-A.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison3-B.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison3-C.jpg

http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison4-A.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison4-B.jpg

http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison5-A.jpg
http://dvxuser.com/barry/ThreeCams/Comparison5-B.jpg
 
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Wow! one these kids is not like the other ones, one of these kids needs lasik, and I think it's obvious what that kid's name is...
 
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First Set was HARD! But we (son&myself) chose C. It was B & C then the color threw us off. But then again were no experts. ...moving to the 2nd set.
 
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OverALL

C

B

C Dark but details were crisp.

B

A

ALL tough to choose. Very Close.

If I were you Barry I would give this a weeks time and kind of tally up the results.
Im itchin for more though...That was fun.lol
 
Thanks so much, Barry. Excellent comparison. I like that you didn't say which is which -- nice touch.

Of the first images (Comp 1), I like C the best. Highest DR, sharpest, best color. B is close behind. A is distant third. For the second set, (Comp 2) I like B more, but the difference isn't as marked.The third, (Comp 3) I'll take C. I'm guessing the A, B, and C cam from this test are the same A, B, and C from comparison 1. (Comp 4) A does not look great here. Definitely B for this one, as far as I'm concerned. (Comp 5) B has A beat for detail, I'd say.

I'll take whichever camera shot frame "Comparison1-C" and "Comparison3-C" -- but, the diff between those and the camera B counterpart images isn't huge. Low-light stuff would definitely help in deciding (hint, hint)

Invaluable stuff. Waiting anxiously for the camera reveal (though I think I have some idea what's what)...
 
I'll play:

Comparison 1
A: Canon
B: GH13
C: Mystery Camera

Comparison 2
A: Canon
B: GH13

Comparison 3
A: GH13
B: Canon
C: Mystery Camera

Comparison 4
A: GH13
B: Mystery Camera

Comparison 5
A: Canon
B: Mystery Camera

The mystery camera out-resolves the other two I believe, but the image is noisier most of the time. Both the other two seem to be similar in the foreground, but off in the distance, the codec of the GH13 seems to retain a bit more detail. The GH13 also seems to alias a lot more due to it being sharper in certain parts of the image.

Both of them, I'd use at 720p and be happy with them. Whatever the mystery camera, it looks really nice for deep focus where you have a lot of light.

Of course, I could be all wrong. :) In any case, I'd be confident recommending the 7D or GH1 to anyone.
 
Thanks so much, Barry. Excellent comparison. I like that you didn't say which is which -- nice touch.

Of the first images (Comp 1), I like C the best. Highest DR, sharpest, best color. B is close behind. A is distant third. For the second set, (Comp 2) I like B more, but the difference isn't as marked.The third, (Comp 3) I'll take C. I'm guessing the A, B, and C cam from this test are the same A, B, and C from comparison 1. (Comp 4) A does not look great here. Definitely B for this one, as far as I'm concerned. (Comp 5) B has A beat for detail, I'd say.

I'll take whichever camera shot frame "Comparison1-C" and "Comparison3-C" -- but, the diff between those and the camera B counterpart images isn't huge. Low-light stuff would definitely help in deciding (hint, hint)

Invaluable stuff. Waiting anxiously for the camera reveal (though I think I have some idea what's what)...
You picked almost the same as mine except for the last one. KOOL!
 
No reveals for a couple of days at least, so we can get some more participation... very interesting to see the results.

I also like the idea of folks picking which one they like the most, rather than which one they think must be from a particular camera.

Furthermore, if any of these are absolutely unacceptable to you, that's a valuable piece of info for you to know. And if they're all acceptable... then let's quit arguin' and start shootin'... :thumbsup:
 
You picked almost the same as mine except for the last one. KOOL!
And that was the toughest to pick for me. It's really a draw. I like the coloring of the A image better, but I found B to barely edge it out for detail. But, yeah, neato

No reveals for a couple of days at least, so we can get some more participation... very interesting to see the results.
A couple days! Oh man. I can't deny, though, this is fun
 
No reveals for a couple of days at least, so we can get some more participation... very interesting to see the results.

I also like the idea of folks picking which one they like the most, rather than which one they think must be from a particular camera.

Furthermore, if any of these are absolutely unacceptable to you, that's a valuable piece of info for you to know. And if they're all acceptable... then let's quit arguin' and start shootin'...

We are so lucky to have you with us Barry Green! This is *P E R F E C T*! No one can BLAME anyone for biases and opinions....Blind taste test....Which do you like better? A, B, C....."Which one is Pepsi?" :)

I also agree that a person can choose to like the "softer" image....that just fine! Who cares....different strokes...

(end worship session)

IF I HAD NOT WORKED WITH FOOTAGE LIKE THIS....I would prefer the softer image for "organic image" reasons....having said that, my experience with post processing with HDSLR footy says....THE SHARPER THE BETTER!

After you've added an anamorphic lens, (it will soften)
After you tweek the colors ~just a smidge~ (it will soften more)
After you you compress/export it for online viewing (it will soften EVEN MORE)

This gives VERY LITTLE ROOM FOR ERROR as far as focus goes....(that window is small enough as it is...)
This doesn't even include the fact that WE ALL often shoot wide open because we're not taking time to light the scene properly...making it *MUCH* softer than this F8 footy in broad daylight.

MY PREFERENCE IS THE SHARPER FOOTAGE.

Thank you Barry Green. We're lucky to have you with us!
 
ok, here goes from a total novice. Probably just shows up my lack of experience since I only have seen Panasomic and Nikon and Canon DSLRs. I couldn't help but be influenced a bit by the warmer color in each group...

comp 1:
GH13
mystery
Canon

comp 2:
GH13
Canon

comp3:
GH1
mystery
Canon

comp4:
GH13
Canon

comp5:
GH13
Canon

suspect mystery camers is Nikon D3S...
 
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Ok, now im 100% for canon. Just came back from a screening session on a huge screen, GH1 on big screen SUCKS. Period. I saw it with my own eyes. Looks great, detailed and everything on my 24" at home...blast it off on big screen and fail. Canon with those sensor sizes = BEAUTY.

my apologies for this earlier post, i just found out i was looking at footage that wasnt 1080p, hence want even 720p, was some weird res for web 848x??? anyways thats why it sucked...just came back from reviewing it in 1080p...WOW...i guess all these comparisons are for a reason. bottom line, i defend my canon all the time to the furthest extent...but this? panny you're good. you're real good.
 
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