What does Canon's 4:2:2 get you over 4:2:0?

cowpunk52

cowpunk52

Veteran
This is a 200% crop comparison of an EX1R & an XF305. Honestly, they both resolve way past the nyquist limit, so with either camera you're not likely to see a huge difference is resolution. What you do get with the XF cameras is more shadow detail, more subtle texture & less aliasing thanks to it's 50mbps codec & 4:2:2 color sampling.

the EX1R with a nanoflash at 50mbps 4:2:2 would probably give similar results, but with the native 35mbps XDcam codec, you see blocking and smoothing over of texture and detail.

1279649253.jpg
 
I think most of what you're seeing there is the 50mbps vs. the 35mbps. If you really want to show off the difference between 4:2:0 and 4:2:2, try shooting something like a red ball against a blue backdrop (or the other way around).
 
good call - will do that next! :)

Maybe a mod should edit the thread title as to not mislead what's actually at play in the comparison?
 
Yea I definitely see a big difference. I think what's really nice with just the 305 image is most of the pixels seem to be independent. There isn't a lot of grouping going on there and blocking, even in the bricks and solid colors around the image. This is great for Color-correction as the biggest problem with codecs falling apart is you have big chunks of pixels showing up or changing as a group. I'm shocked actually that it performs this well.
 
look at the detail in the brickwork, roof detail, the color cast of the lamppost, and the detail of the siding.

canon wins in terms of the brickwork detail and siding detail. the ex1 seems to win in the lamppost color (i dont know the correct color it is supposed to be, but typically lampposts are yellowish, not 'whore-me-red'), and roof detail.

the canon seems to prefer higher edge and overall contrast to elicit perceived higher detail (look at the shadow details vs ex1), it also seems to have more color cast (might be 4:2:2 vs 4:2:0) vs the ex1.

they both look better than my gear though.
 
Zissou said:
look at the detail in the brickwork, roof detail, the color cast of the lamppost, and the detail of the siding.

canon wins in terms of the brickwork detail and siding detail. the ex1 seems to win in the lamppost color (i dont know the correct color it is supposed to be, but typically lampposts are yellowish, not 'whore-me-red'), and roof detail.

the canon seems to prefer higher edge and overall contrast to elicit perceived higher detail (look at the shadow details vs ex1), it also seems to have more color cast (might be 4:2:2 vs 4:2:0) vs the ex1.

they both look better than my gear though.
Click to expand...

Interesting take. I agree on the color cast of the lamp post - this was not shot by me, so I don't know exactly what CP or PP settings were used. The roof detail I have to disagree with, I think it may be even or the XF winning on detail there; and the EX seems to have higher contrast overall than the XF to give the impression of higher resolution. But honestly, it's really hard to tell, and it's important to remember this is being viewed @ 200%. They're obviously both excellent cameras.
 
Last edited:
You really need to know the settings of both cameras for those comparisons to have a lot of meaning. A lot of EX1 users turn the detail setting off and sharpen in post instead. It affect perceived resolution.
 
Duke M. said:
You really need to know the settings of both cameras for those comparisons to have a lot of meaning. A lot of EX1 users turn the detail setting off and sharpen in post instead. It affect perceived resolution.
Click to expand...

Default camera settings on both.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top