Camera Labs

Consider the previous samples, the close up shots suffer like any DSLR in that you get shallow DoF so focus is critical. In that scenario I did find I need a bit more control than just using hands, and I used the neck strap tensioned combined with my two arms acting like a tripod on my body. That's as stable as the viewfinder configuration for me as my body stability then becomes the limiting factor. For me, I'd estimate a viewfinder stability advantage over P&S style is less than one stop equivalent so hardly significant.

Pre-focused shutter lag - I haven't timed it. Looking again, it could be as much as a second. But as said before, unless you shooting a fast moving subject you don't notice it. It is more consistently faster than the Panasonic FX33 ultra-compact for example, but the FX33 does continuous focusing by default so the final lag can be shorter.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

oh thanks, so have you try to use camera setting to increase the sharpness? is that helpful to take care of the softness?

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RadiantLite - Cameras and Lenses Comparison Reviews, buying guide, photo taking techniques and other tips
My Portfolio - Some photos from my work

That's probably one for raw, which is low on my priority list. For now it's "good enough" that I want to explore more interesting areas.

One is IR just to see what it does.

Aperture priority at f/8 for all.


Normal shot


With Hoya R72 held in front of lens


IR image with some whitening processing.

Here's the fun part.
Normal shot: 1/160s, f/8, ISO200
IR shot: 1.6s, f/8, ISO1600

I make that roughly 11 stops less sensitive in IR than visible. For comparison, I found the Sony A350 to be about 10 stops less. Enough IR gets through to the sensor for the live view to give an image.

The surprise? That 1.6 second exposure was handheld, with a filter in one hand, and I was holding it normally. That IS really worked there as even at 100% there was no obvious sign of camera shake.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks for the review Popo!! Looking forward to additional thoughts from you. Most of the samples look pretty good, even at higher ISO. Looks better than the E620 at high ISO.

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

Holy! Nice IR! How did you get rid of all that red? Did you do a manual white balance off the foliage and then swap channels and do auto levels in PS? How does the IR of this camera compare to the e420/520?

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https://www.photoshop.com/user/alex_the_great

On the IR: colour processing was colour cast removal on a cloud, followed by further AWB. Note there's a hot spot wit this combo. I didn't do channel swap on this occasion. I can't compare the performance with the other models as I don't have experience of them.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Hi popo, thanks for the great information so far and I look forward to reading more! Any chance of an ISO range test like my High ISO pages?

So, a dim and mostly static scene, mounted on a tripod, IS off, aperture priority fixed f-number (eg f5.6 or f8), and 100% crops from a detailed area at every ISO?

Thanks for reminding me, that's on the "to do" list but quite likely I'll be distracted with a new netbook tonight I'll probably do a similar setup to the A350/50D/5D I done previously so they can be compared too.

Hmm... just noticed I have no remote release. Will have to see what the options are.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Very nice photos. Thanks for doing this review.

It looks like your camera buying addiction has benefits for the rest of us

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PhilipGoh.com

What's next in your purchase list Popo? I am having a blast living vicariously through you!

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!

The subject - I couldn't resist for obvious reasons.



Key settings were aperture priority mode to f/8. ISO varied. Whole scene metering. AWB. Camera on tripod and 2 second delay. Focus on the PEN2. Below lossless crops from camera jpeg (large fine). Other settings as the camera arrived.


ISO100


ISO200


ISO400


ISO800


ISO1600


ISO3200


ISO6400

Notice how ISO100 and ISO6400 are slightly different colour from the mid range. The chroma noise is extremely well controlled, leaving varying levels of luminance noise and general softening as the ISO is increased. Out of the box, the auto ISO range is up to 1600. This seems a reasonable choice for general use as the 3200 setting is where significant noise and detail loss really kick in hard. Not surprisingly 6400 is worse.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I actually dont find the noise too bad at iso3200... what an improvement by Oly! This is the reason why I havent pulled the trigger on the e620, could you imagine an e620 with the TruePic V engine and the new weaker AA filter? Wow!

By the way, when you said you did color processing on a cloud and AWB, did you do this in photoshop?

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https://www.photoshop.com/user/alex_the_great

Yup, I mainly use Photoshop Elements 7.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks, where can I find the setting to do this in PS? I want to make the clouds white and adjust white balance accordingly. I have CS3

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https://www.photoshop.com/user/alex_the_great

Nice samples Popo. Maybe they can somehow release an update for the E620 that will yield results similar to the TruepicV. Looks very usable all the way through 1600.

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Olympus E620 | 25/2.8 | 50/2 | 12-60 | 14-42 | 14-54 | 40-150 | 70-300
Olympus E-P2 | Panasonic GH2 | 20/1.7 | 14-42 | 14-140
Leica M7 | M9 | 21/4 | 35/1.4 | 50/2.5 | 50/1.5 | 70/2.5 | 90/2
Sony NEX-3 | 16/2.8| 18-55
My FlickR!