cyvideo
Veteran
I was pointed to the following websites. One which I have never visited or heard of before being:
PDN Photo District News
https://pdnonline.com/
About us:
https://pdnonline.com/about-us/
Was quite surprised to find a whole lot of DSLR and Mirrorless cameras tested here for best dynamic range. Some rather surprising results though you must read through their testing procedure thoroughly to understand how they come to their conclusions. As far as I can see there are links on each camera outlined which take you through a full review/test on each camera. You will also have to register with PDN if you want full access to their camera tests. You also really need to read how their testing is carried out. Some quite intense test procedures are gone through to end up with the results they release. Also one needs to pay attention to any caveats when mentioned.
How we test a camera for TIPA
https://www.tipa.com/_assets/pdf/TIPA_Camera_Test_Image_Engineering.pdf
I also found their "The Best Cameras for Color Reproduction, Ranked" pretty surprising
https://pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/the-best-cameras-for-color-reproduction-ranked/
All in all a pretty interesting find I thought. As they point out every f-stop equals a doubling of contrast. I was surprised to see how well some unexpected cameras did. Also lower on the results were many of the cameras I expected to do well.
The measurements they perform are defined in the*ISO14524 and ISO15739 standards. (The complete IE test methodology can be found here.)
The dynamic range of a camera is defined by the contrast between the highest luminance that can be reproduced and the lowest luminance that can be reproduced. The highest luminance that can be reproduced is limited by clipping. Thus, if a bright object is rendered to the maximum digital value (for example, 255 for an 8-bit image), an even brighter object will not get a higher digital value, and the information is lost.
The lowest luminance is limited by noise. So as soon as the signal-to-noise (SNR) gets too low, the information is lost and an even darker object cannot be differentiated. While the ISO standard defines the threshold based on the signal theory with SNR=1, Image Engineering uses a slightly more diffcult threshold of SNR=3, based on their* two decades of experience in digital photography.
The dynamic range is a ratio which can be expressed in different units. Image Engineering report the dynamic range normally in the common unit “f-stops” or “EV” (Exposure value). Every f-stop equals a doubling of the contrast. A dynamic range of 10 f-stops equals a contrast of 1000:1.
THE CAMERAS WITH THE BEST DYNAMIC RANGE
https://pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/medium-format/the-best-still-cameras-for-dynamic-range-ranked*
#1 LEICA Q2 Delivers 14.5 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#2 CANON EOS R Delivers 14.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#3 LEICA CL Delivers 13.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
# 4 CANON EOS M50 Delivers 13.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#5 OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK III Delivers 12.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#6 CANON EOS RP Delivers 11 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#7 FUJIFILM X-H1 Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 3200
#7 CANON 6D MARK II (TIED) Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#8 FUJIFILM GFX-50R (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#8 FUJIFILM X-E3 (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#9 PANASONIC LUMIX G9 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 200
#9 SONY A6400 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#10 SONY A7 III Delivers 10.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#11 SONY A7R III Delivers 10.2 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#12 SONY A9 Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#12 PENTAX K-1 MARK II (TIED) Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#13 PANASONIC GH5S Delivers 10 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#15 FUJIFILM X-T3 Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#16 LEICA M10-P Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800 & ISO 1600
#17 SONY RX100 VI Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 125
#18 FUJIFILM X-T30 Delivers 9.5 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#19 PANASONIC LUMIX S1 (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#19 PANASONIC LUMIX S1R (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#20 NIKON Z 7 Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 64
#21 NIKON Z 6 Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#22 NIKON D850 Delivers 8.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 3200
THE CAMERAS WITH THE BEST DYNAMIC RANGE AT BASE ISO
#1 LEICA CL Delivers 13.6 stops of dynamic range
# 2 CANON EOS M50 Delivers 13.4 stops of dynamic range
#3 OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK III Delivers 11.2 stops of dynamic range
#4 CANON EOS R Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range
#5 CANON EOS REBEL SL2 (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range
#6 PANASONIC LUMIX G9 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range
#6 SONY A6400 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range
#7 LEICA Q2 Delivers 10.3 stops of dynamic range
#8 SONY A7 III Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range
#9 SONY A9 Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range
#9 PENTAX K-1 MARK II (TIED) Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range
#10 FUJIFILM X-E3 Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#10 SONY RX100 VI (TIED) Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#10 SONY A7R III (TIED) Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#11 FUJIFILM X-T30 Delivers 9.5 stops of dynamic range
#12 FUJIFILM X-H1 Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range
#12 CANON 6D MARK II (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range
#13 CANON EOS RP (TIED) Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range
#13 NIKON Z 7 (TIED) Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range
#14 FUJIFILM X-T3 (TIED) Delivers 9.1 stops of dynamic range
#15 NIKON Z 6 (TIED) Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range
#15 PANASONIC GH5S (TIED) Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range
#16 LEICA M10-P Delivers 8.8 stops of dynamic range
#17 PANASONIC LUMIX LX100 II (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range
#17 FUJIFILM X-T100 (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range
#17 NIKON D850 (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range.
Chris Young
PDN Photo District News
https://pdnonline.com/
About us:
https://pdnonline.com/about-us/
Was quite surprised to find a whole lot of DSLR and Mirrorless cameras tested here for best dynamic range. Some rather surprising results though you must read through their testing procedure thoroughly to understand how they come to their conclusions. As far as I can see there are links on each camera outlined which take you through a full review/test on each camera. You will also have to register with PDN if you want full access to their camera tests. You also really need to read how their testing is carried out. Some quite intense test procedures are gone through to end up with the results they release. Also one needs to pay attention to any caveats when mentioned.
How we test a camera for TIPA
https://www.tipa.com/_assets/pdf/TIPA_Camera_Test_Image_Engineering.pdf
I also found their "The Best Cameras for Color Reproduction, Ranked" pretty surprising
https://pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/the-best-cameras-for-color-reproduction-ranked/
All in all a pretty interesting find I thought. As they point out every f-stop equals a doubling of contrast. I was surprised to see how well some unexpected cameras did. Also lower on the results were many of the cameras I expected to do well.
The measurements they perform are defined in the*ISO14524 and ISO15739 standards. (The complete IE test methodology can be found here.)
The dynamic range of a camera is defined by the contrast between the highest luminance that can be reproduced and the lowest luminance that can be reproduced. The highest luminance that can be reproduced is limited by clipping. Thus, if a bright object is rendered to the maximum digital value (for example, 255 for an 8-bit image), an even brighter object will not get a higher digital value, and the information is lost.
The lowest luminance is limited by noise. So as soon as the signal-to-noise (SNR) gets too low, the information is lost and an even darker object cannot be differentiated. While the ISO standard defines the threshold based on the signal theory with SNR=1, Image Engineering uses a slightly more diffcult threshold of SNR=3, based on their* two decades of experience in digital photography.
The dynamic range is a ratio which can be expressed in different units. Image Engineering report the dynamic range normally in the common unit “f-stops” or “EV” (Exposure value). Every f-stop equals a doubling of the contrast. A dynamic range of 10 f-stops equals a contrast of 1000:1.
THE CAMERAS WITH THE BEST DYNAMIC RANGE
https://pdnonline.com/gear/cameras/medium-format/the-best-still-cameras-for-dynamic-range-ranked*
#1 LEICA Q2 Delivers 14.5 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#2 CANON EOS R Delivers 14.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#3 LEICA CL Delivers 13.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
# 4 CANON EOS M50 Delivers 13.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#5 OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK III Delivers 12.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#6 CANON EOS RP Delivers 11 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#7 FUJIFILM X-H1 Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 3200
#7 CANON 6D MARK II (TIED) Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#8 FUJIFILM GFX-50R (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#8 FUJIFILM X-E3 (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#9 PANASONIC LUMIX G9 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 200
#9 SONY A6400 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#10 SONY A7 III Delivers 10.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#11 SONY A7R III Delivers 10.2 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#12 SONY A9 Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#12 PENTAX K-1 MARK II (TIED) Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range at ISO 400
#13 PANASONIC GH5S Delivers 10 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800
#15 FUJIFILM X-T3 Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#16 LEICA M10-P Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range at ISO 800 & ISO 1600
#17 SONY RX100 VI Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range at ISO 125
#18 FUJIFILM X-T30 Delivers 9.5 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#19 PANASONIC LUMIX S1 (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#19 PANASONIC LUMIX S1R (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range at ISO 1600
#20 NIKON Z 7 Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range at ISO 64
#21 NIKON Z 6 Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100
#22 NIKON D850 Delivers 8.9 stops of dynamic range at ISO 3200
THE CAMERAS WITH THE BEST DYNAMIC RANGE AT BASE ISO
#1 LEICA CL Delivers 13.6 stops of dynamic range
# 2 CANON EOS M50 Delivers 13.4 stops of dynamic range
#3 OLYMPUS OM-D E-M10 MARK III Delivers 11.2 stops of dynamic range
#4 CANON EOS R Delivers 10.9 stops of dynamic range
#5 CANON EOS REBEL SL2 (TIED) Delivers 10.8 stops of dynamic range
#6 PANASONIC LUMIX G9 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range
#6 SONY A6400 (TIED) Delivers 10.6 stops of dynamic range
#7 LEICA Q2 Delivers 10.3 stops of dynamic range
#8 SONY A7 III Delivers 10.1 stops of dynamic range
#9 SONY A9 Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range
#9 PENTAX K-1 MARK II (TIED) Delivers 9.7 stops of dynamic range
#10 FUJIFILM X-E3 Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#10 SONY RX100 VI (TIED) Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#10 SONY A7R III (TIED) Delivers 9.6 stops of dynamic range
#11 FUJIFILM X-T30 Delivers 9.5 stops of dynamic range
#12 FUJIFILM X-H1 Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range
#12 CANON 6D MARK II (TIED) Delivers 9.4 stops of dynamic range
#13 CANON EOS RP (TIED) Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range
#13 NIKON Z 7 (TIED) Delivers 9.3 stops of dynamic range
#14 FUJIFILM X-T3 (TIED) Delivers 9.1 stops of dynamic range
#15 NIKON Z 6 (TIED) Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range
#15 PANASONIC GH5S (TIED) Delivers 9 stops of dynamic range
#16 LEICA M10-P Delivers 8.8 stops of dynamic range
#17 PANASONIC LUMIX LX100 II (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range
#17 FUJIFILM X-T100 (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range
#17 NIKON D850 (TIED) Delivers 8.6 stops of dynamic range.
Chris Young