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Canon 5D mark 4, Hurry up Adobe.

Hi All,

So I have in my hot little hands the 5D mark 4 samples for long exposure / high ISO. But I’m stuck in a holding pattern until Adobe releases the new version of Camera RAW. Once Adobe have a new version available supporting the Mark 4 I will release the results. In order to be consistent all samples need to go through he same testing procedure. Hopefully we will not be waiting to long.

The Flagship, Canon 1DX Mark II, No. 50!

The Canon 1DX Mark II results are now in the Sensor DB, and it’s our 50th camera to be added. WOW 50. It’s taken a few years, but the list is now becoming quite substantial, giving the community some good insight into the level and treatment of noise.

The results are good and there is a significant improvement at 5 mins compared with the 1Dx, which, I think is reflective of the new ISO range, allowing up to 409600 ISO. There has obviously been a sensor change from 17.9MP in the old model compared to 20.2MP in the new model, with the original 1DX slightly better with noise at 1 and 30 seconds. However the 1DXm2 gives very respectable results, and the difference could easily be attributed to the additional megapixels.

Of course the 1D series of cameras is not intended for astrophotography, and it would be hardly the camera to recommend for that task. But it’s nice to see it’s a solid performer none the less.

Again, a big thank you to Walch Optics for providing access to many of the models we test.

Pushing to +5EV, Pentax K1 & PetaPixel

I have been working hard on the Sensor DB, add new features and models. As part of the process of adding newer and better models I have re-processed all of the samples to +2.5EV and +5EV. This allows the noise to be more visible in the samples for comparison. It was getting tougher to determine visually how samples were comparing. With this problem in mind I also added some statistical data to show the RGB noise characteristics and the mean, median and standard deviation are now shown.

New models added include bodies from Fuji, Nikon, Sony, and Pentax, including the new K1, along with the Fuji XPro2. I’m also hoping to add new search features soon to allow searching by sensor size. This will make it easer to compare common models.

I’d also like to thank Michael Zhang at PetaPixel for the great review of the Sensor Database on their site. Thanks for the write up, I’ve had a lot of positive feedback, and it certainly seems to have caused a lively debate.

 

Sensor DB Update

SensorAd1For some time now I have been building and maintaining not only the biggest archive of Aurora observational data and realtime forecasting (The Aurora Forecast Service), but I have also been building a database of sensor profiles for long exposure / high ISO.

Recently I performed an update to the The Sensor Noise DB, allowing you to compare camera models more easily. I hope you find this update useful. I also plan to have the Nikon D5, Pentax K1 and Canon 1D mark II test shots available soon, so stay tuned.

I’d also like to thank Walch Optics for there support, and recommend them as your first point of call for photographic equipment in Hobart.

Gotcha, Buying Secondhand.

I run a local buy/sell page for photography equipment here in Hobart on FaceBook, and I’m also a member of many other similar pages across Australia. Photography equipment can be expensive. So I’m as keen as the next photographer to grab a bargain.

But what is a good price?

Price is very subjective and what people are willing to pay can depend on many factors such as urgency, availability, age and condition.  So I thought I’d give a few points to consider when buying your next body. Since the specifications, age, availability and the like are all subjective I will focus mainly on condition.

Even if a body has issues, it’s not necessarily a reason to pass, but it could help you to determine if the price is right. If you are buying on the internet some of these checks many be impractical to do, but never the less, here is my check list:

  • Condition (External):
    • How does it look externally? To be honest most photographers will baby their equipment, so this is not a good factor to look at. Dust and dirt can be easily removed, but it is worth looking in the hard to get spots to get an idea on how well it has been looked after.
    • Check for obvious dings and the like, even if it still working external marks could indicate internal damage.
    • How worn do the buttons appear? Are there any wear marks, text worn off or shiny buttons?, Glue? Do they all work?
    • Does anything feel worn? (Lens mount, thumb sticks, selection wheels etc)
    • How worn does the tripod mount look, marks around the mount point?
    • How worn are the anchor points and strap?
    • Are there any screws missing? Do they appear to be tight, check lens mount particularly.
    • Are there any parts missing? (Battery cover clip, rubber weather seal boots, view finder surrounds, viewfinder cover for long exposure etc).
    • Check articulated displays have full movement, and display has no issues while moving.
    • Is there any damage to LCD screens caused by excessive sunlight / heat.
  • Condition (Internal):
    • Is the inside of the mirror housing clean?
    • Is there any dust in the viewfinder?
    • Is the sensor clean?
    • Is the battery compartment clean?
    • How worn is the USB port and jacks? Do they work?
    • Are the card slots clean, do the cards click in and out as they should?
    • Is there any corrosion or residue to indicate it’s been used around salt water a lot?
    • What is the shutter count?
  • Problems & Testing:
    • Does this body have any recalls? have they or can they be fixed? cost?
      • Classic examples here include 5D mirror falling off, 5D light leaks, D750 AF light banding issues / shutter issues, D800/D600 oil spots on sensor etc.
    • Are there known issues with this model? Google, know the body, not just the specs on paper, Test for them….
      • Classic examples not covered under recall, D800 asymmetric AF issues, 7D bent CF pins etc.

After you are happy the body and it’s condition, obviously you should test it further if you can, run it through it’s paces, and preferably review the shots before buying.

Happy hunting 🙂

Nikon D500, good for Astrophotography?

Recently I tested the Nikon D500 sensor for long exposure noise, and to be honest it performed a little worse than I expected initially, but the more I thought about it the more realistic I became about my expectations. After all it was the D500, the new D300(s).

There is no doubt that the D500 is going to do great in the reviews, you only have to look at the specs on paper and combine that with the unchanged layout to entice existing D300 owners, and you are on a winner. With 10 frames per second shooting and 153 Auto Focus points it’s going to be a sports or wedding shooters dream.

But what about the long exposure high ISO?

The D500 performed slightly better at 1 second than it’s closest rival the D7200, but performed worse at 30 and 300 seconds. But the more I thought about this, the more it made sense, after all not many general users push cameras beyond 30 seconds, and most will never be taking shots at even 1 second. For sports or wedding use it’s going to be well above 1 second. In some respects I can understand why manufacturers care little about long exposure and high ISO, it really is the 0.05% use case. For all other uses this camera is going to beat the D7200, and possibly any in it’s class*

However it is worth remembering that manufacturing tolerances do occur from body to body, and with this in mind I will be re-testing the D500 as soon as I can get another body just to confirm the outcome.

The results, can be viewed here.

*I have no idea, just speculation.

What Lens for Astrophotography & Aurora?

It seems I can’t go a day without seeing this question at least asked once on a Facebook page or in a forum, so I thought I’d create the go to ‘list’ for lenses that are best suited for shooting the night sky and Aurora’s.

Of course there are many factors to consider when purchasing a lens so I have limited the list below to common lenses used and proven in the field. I have structured the list based on the angle of view and the type of body it will be used on either a full frame or crop. I am only focusing on Canon and Nikon, however brand like Samyang are universal, and can be purchased with mounts for Sony and others.

If you are looking for a lens for your camera this list would be a good starting point.

Lenses with a ‘B’ have a bulbous front element and standard 4×6 filters will not fit.

[table id=1 /]
*Normally deeper space work or stitching involved requiring motorised mounts.

Sony A7R II Long Exposure Tests.

A7R II is the buzz word at the moment in the photography circles, with most reviews holding it in extremely high regard. So naturally I had to test the sensor for long exposure noise.

The results can be seen on the long exposure sensor testing page, and here are my thoughts:

There is no doubt, the A7RII is very impressive, considering the size of the sensor it’s delivering much better results than the D810 or the 5Ds(r). It’s performance is generally much better than the older model (A7R) and it’s results are almost identical to the Canon 6D, keeping in mind the 6D is only 20MP one can’t but help be impressed.

One of the reasons I started my long exposure testing was because no one was doing long exposures at high ISO. All the low light tests performed I could find were at best a second, and in most cases much shorter than a second, in some cases as fast as the body could shoot (1/8000th). But sensor behaviour for longer exposures is not consistent, and in some cases it’s not very linear. What is good for sport is not good for astrophotography.

The A7RII’s sensor behaviour is a very clear example of why this test is important. There is no doubt for general low light work or sport this camera is going to be a killer, but what about longer exposures? At 30 seconds the A7RII is holding it’s own, but starting to loose the edge it had at 1 second, and by 5 minutes significant noise has been introduced into the shot, and it looses it edge to many other models. There is no doubt that Long exposure NR enabled would fix some of this, but not all.

So my conclusion is, it’s going to be an awesome camera killing other models for shorter long exposures (1-10 secs), it is going to match the high end models in the 10-30sec range having the benefit of more MP, but for longer exposures other models start to win out including the 5Ds(r), I’ll be very interested to see how this one goes in the field and I think there is the possibility of further testing to understand the ISO to time relationship, for example higher ISO’s for shorter periods could yield better results than lower ISO for longer periods.

Please keep in mind my tests do not take into consideration other factors such as dynamic range (DR) or how linear the ISO relationship is (ISO-less or not). I am purely interested in the noise (floor) and what you will have to deal with in post.

Playing with the light. ND Filters.

Most good modern DSLR’s have a good amount of Dynamic Range (DR), DR is the measurement from the brightest to the darkest a sensor can capture in one image, beyond this range highlights will be blown and dark shadows will yield no detail. It is normally measured in Exposue Values (EV). A Good sensor will be at least 12, and maybe as high as 16.

But what do you do if the image you are trying to capture has more DR than my sensor can capture? Well there are a number of ways to deal with this, these are the most common:

  • Take multiple exposures to combine into one image, either as a composite merge or a high dynamic range shot (HDR), later models can do HDR in camera.
  • Add additional light to the scene.
  • Use filtering effects to modify the light being exposed.

BPD_1948HDR and adding light are fairly common, but using filters is not very common for night sky photography and Aurora’s. The reason it is not popular is that adding filters reduces the amount of light entering the camera, resulting in either having to use higher ISO settings or longer exposures.

However given the right circumstances using a filter can have great results. I like to use them for shooting Aurora’s provided the Aurora is very bright and it has minimal movement. If the Aurora is bright I don’t need to increase my ISO, and minimal movement like beams in the Aurora will mean I can increase the exposure time a little without blurring any details.

I have found that using a 0.9 (3 stop filter) helps significantly with exposure compensation, balancing out the light Aurora in the sky to darker foregrounds. Not only does it help with the balance and bringing out blacks, but it effectively gives your sensor a 3 stop advantage.

A sensor that can shoot 14 stops of DR is suddenly equivalent to 17.

Suddenly I’m no longer dealing with those horrible black dark areas where the noise hides.