7D vs. GH13 in lowlight
- Thread starter JoeJITSU
- Start date
I'm not sure everyone will be on the same page with this Joe, but I kind of agree...I absolutely love my GH13, have been a GH1 shooter from day one, etc, but I do like me a Canon DSLR for night-time stuff. We should probably even call it underlit because as Barry Green or Kholi might be quick to point out, shooting under street-lights or the reddish glow of a beatnick bar isn't exactly what's considered professional 'low-light' conditions, and in the more professional, lit, even 'low-lit' conditions, the GH1 basically kicks ass. But for the street stuff in way too little light...7 or 5...
I have neither so not debating for one side or the other. No dog in this race AT ALL.
But whats the point of this test? Firstly what lenses are being used? At what aperture? At what shutter speed? (although you could fairly safely assume they were the same I think).
Also, Im not sure about GH13, but those 7d settings are from the optimal settings I know just about everyone is shooting with.
Is the GH13 better in lowlight? Possibly. But this "test" has unspecified variables and isnt using optimised equipment and says nothing.
But whats the point of this test? Firstly what lenses are being used? At what aperture? At what shutter speed? (although you could fairly safely assume they were the same I think).
Also, Im not sure about GH13, but those 7d settings are from the optimal settings I know just about everyone is shooting with.
Is the GH13 better in lowlight? Possibly. But this "test" has unspecified variables and isnt using optimised equipment and says nothing.
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
Not sure how accurate this test is myself. Still, I can't help but point out to everyone who was quoting Philip Bloom about how great the hack has made the once crippled GH1 that he also went on to say this in his comparison....
LINK
I'm done with comparisons. I'm enjoying what I'm getting out of my T2i.
MAH
LINK
I'm done with comparisons. I'm enjoying what I'm getting out of my T2i.
MAH
Bloom also added:
"i have been shooting with it (Gh13) and it’s disappointing for me. The camera is still v poor in low light compared to the Canons."
But he did say the GH1 resolution was better than the Canons, but not low light.
IMO, unlike a lot of people, Bloom seems pretty un-biased. He just tells it like it is from all angles. From what I read, he says that deep focus shots are better with the G13. But low light and for shallow DOF, he prefers the Canons.
But with that said, Tester 13 might just turn the tables on that also since he's done everything else.
"i have been shooting with it (Gh13) and it’s disappointing for me. The camera is still v poor in low light compared to the Canons."
But he did say the GH1 resolution was better than the Canons, but not low light.
IMO, unlike a lot of people, Bloom seems pretty un-biased. He just tells it like it is from all angles. From what I read, he says that deep focus shots are better with the G13. But low light and for shallow DOF, he prefers the Canons.
But with that said, Tester 13 might just turn the tables on that also since he's done everything else.
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One thing too, is Bloom has an older GH1 body...and so do I. I didn't get out of the burn in and was very suspicious of the newer vs older bodies thing, until last week when I shot the exact same patch of white carboard box in Samy's with my camera and kit lens and one of their display bodies and kit lens. Fixed Pattern noise was about 60-80% worse on my September 2009 model. I can't say if Bloom's in the same boat, but FPN makes me shy away from lots of lower light stuff. He does seem trustworthy about using what he likes, too, I agree.
But again for most stuff I love the hacked GH1.
But again for most stuff I love the hacked GH1.
MattinSTL
Sound Modulator
I agree that the canons look better in low light... and so far I also like how the canons handle any "bare bulb" lights in the shot. To me it's akin to the moire issue... you wouldn't shoot a likely moire inducing scene with a cam that doesn't handle moire well... and I'll try to avoid "bare bulb" light sources showing up in my gh1(3) shots. If you look at point source lights in some of these gh1 videos you'll see that even with the hack they tend to bloom the same way they did in the Zacuto shootout. I was hoping that would be "fixed". (specific circles around lights vs. light fading out and/or making the usual lens starburst pattern)
But the thing to keep in mind with all of this is, UNLESS you're in the market to buy a cam right now OR you're not happy with what you're getting from your current cam... you should look at these "tests" with casual interest as you enjoy shooting with whatever you already have
NoxNoctus
Well-known member
...you're not suggesting we actually USE these things for something, are you??
:laugh:
squig
Veteran
The amount of compression has a lot to do with image quality in low light. The 5D is performing better in low light since the 24p update due to less compression per frame. So I expect the GH1 to perform better with less macro-blocking in solid dark areas for instance. The Canons clearly still have the edge. Somebody needs to hack the Nikon D3s, it has the most sensitive sensor coupled with the most compression. It's such a waste.
steventimothy
Well-known member
If the poster has an older GH1, did he burn in the sensor to get rid of the streaking? As somewhat described in this post:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=214784
A quote from someone called Svart:
" I received my GH1, the color banding was so bad that it was unusable. Within a day or so, the color banding had reduced to a usable level although I was not happy at all. Within a week the color banding was not noticeable in well-lit conditions. I then found the "burn-in" procedure which is simply to leave the camera ON for like a week in a dark environment(so you don't get CMOS image burn). I don't have any issues with color banding anymore. Honestly I don't know what causes it but it's certainly gone. Only the (black line) FPN remains when under exposed. I would rather deal with noise like the Canon cameras have than FPN that is streaky and easier to spot but I wouldn't give up the GH1's superior image quality otherwise so I just bought some extra lighting to take care of it."
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=214784
A quote from someone called Svart:
" I received my GH1, the color banding was so bad that it was unusable. Within a day or so, the color banding had reduced to a usable level although I was not happy at all. Within a week the color banding was not noticeable in well-lit conditions. I then found the "burn-in" procedure which is simply to leave the camera ON for like a week in a dark environment(so you don't get CMOS image burn). I don't have any issues with color banding anymore. Honestly I don't know what causes it but it's certainly gone. Only the (black line) FPN remains when under exposed. I would rather deal with noise like the Canon cameras have than FPN that is streaky and easier to spot but I wouldn't give up the GH1's superior image quality otherwise so I just bought some extra lighting to take care of it."
MattinSTL
Sound Modulator
I enjoy these tests as I've been in the market for a new cam... and had JUST bought a 7D a month ago. I kept it in the box as I read and viewed everything I could on the subject... and I really appreciate the effort of all those who have done this.
As long as the test reveals something new... I chalk it up to yet another experiment. There were recently some discussions about the GH1's ISO ratings to be closer matched to a Sekonic meter... and I was interpreting that conversation to mean that higher ISO performance in the 7D was inflated... i.e. that a GH1 set at lower ISO would have equal brightness to a 7D at a higher ISO... and therefore they were closer in performance for low light.
This "test" reinforces (for me anyway) that the 7D is still clearly a better performing low-light cam... regardless of those other debated technical discrepancies. The reason these experiments will keep happening for a while is because of the evolving firmware... and the number of people who have both a hacked GH1, and a Canon... are relatively few.