Chart man strikes again - 7D vs adapters vs bare cameras

[Lenilenapi]

Draw your own conclusions:
The unlabelled chart is a Canon 7D with a top quality Canon zoom lens f 2.8 ISO 100.
All other charts were shot with video camera lenses wide open (worst case) though Nikons might be closed more to keep 35mm lens out of the issue.
Caveats:
- All charts are quite compressed (generally just a hair softer than the originals)
- They were not always shot at the same time under the same circumstances, so are not perfect comparisons.
- Nevertheless I think they are generally accurate for rough comparisons.
- The EX-1 and HVX clean camera images were compressed a couple of times to get them small enough for posting here.
- The HVX shot might be a little extra compressed but I'm not sure as it was shot longer ago.
- CHARTS AREN'T THE ONLY WAY TO EVALUATE A CAMERAS IMAGE

 

[Lenilenapi]

more charts

 

[astigmatic]

wow the ex1 is resolving beyond the chart. The D7 chart is crooked so aliasing kicked in so it's hard to tell..
by the way, is this using the upgraded optics on the sgblade? thanks for posting this.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Astigmatic,
Are you saying the aliasing on the 7D kicked in because the chart is crooked ( i.e. that it has astigmatism perhaps?)

That would surprise me. It seems more likely to simply be the higher resolution . in real life everything is crooked.
I've shot many of these charts and never noticed Moire suddenly jump in because of the angle of the chart. Actually that would be a much more serious problem its because of higher . There does seem like a notable difference between horizontal & vertical resolution and Moire on the Canon though.

I'm quite surprised at the lower resolution of the Canon and how good the adapters on the EX-1 look in contrast to it. Barry did predict this so I give him credit. I'ld like to do more real world tests though and see if there is a way to lose the moire in post.

Canon still makes very pretty pictures.

 

[Dennis Wood]

Stillmotion had posted up old footage of the world's first all Brevis35 wedding shot with several EX1/Brevis MP.2 rigs and our Zeiss lenses You can read the comments here. The adapter look is still unique and many would argue it's still more filmic. My theory here is that because every single adapter design out there uses a diffusion surface (at least 2-5 microns thick), this is a better match for the emulsion depth of film substrate. No question though that it's more work using adapters than DSLR cams. It's funny that there is still no "magic bullet", however we have plenty more options for making beautiful images. No one has any excuse for lack of creativity, thought, or vision!

After spending 3 days this week at Stillmotion's EVO workshop, I've never been more charged up to get our new stuff out there. The participants there truly impressed me with their attitude about pushing creative envelopes, something we can relate to on a daily basis. I used my iPhone pretty much exclusively as my blogging tool. Jeeps, even our cell phones have become part of the kit. Hmm, 35mm adapters for iPhones?

 

[Dennis Wood]

Btw, Lenny how about a test series from the HPX500, EX1, XHA1, (with and without adapters) vs the 7D and 5D? We can do this with the same 50mm Zeiss f1.4 lens on all of the platforms.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Go for it Dennis.

 

[Avenger007]

I'd be interested in an HPX300 + Relay + Blade, Brevis, Ultimate vs 7D / 5D. CMOS vs CMOS.

Edit: Also test with Zeiss ZF Primes rather than Canon zooms. For example a 50mm and a 25mm, wide open and at a 4 or 5.6.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Yeah I'll get on that right away.

 

[Dino]

Yes, Lenny, let's see you mount that Blade on the only relay lens in production, the Letus 1/3" relay lens(in addition to the 1/2" and two 2/3" models)! Ditto Brevis on Letus relay lens.

I did mount an Ultimate on the end of the stock Fuji lens w/HPX300. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just don't open up the Fuji lens all the way--with or without the Letus.

 

[Lenilenapi]

Jeff, Yes - I have nothing else to do why not run tests all day every day.

Avenger it looks like you've got all that gear - why don't you run those tests?

 

[Huy Vu]

On a somewhat related note, it seems like Letus slashed prices on the Ultimate and all of their relays. Still not within my price range, unfortunately.