1DX vs 5D3

[bdunbar79]

Next:

 

[bdunbar79]

The next series was with another person, with the sun directly to the left of the scene, blasting in.

 

[bdunbar79]

Next two:

 

[bdunbar79]

I then traveled inside, much to everyone's chagrin. Please note I shot the White Balance WRONG. I left it in Cloudy just to see if there were any strange colors that could not be fixed in post processing. Again, we did 1DX vs. 5D3 with both CWA and spot metering for each scene.

 

[bdunbar79]

Next two:

 

[bdunbar79]

Finally, TERRIBLE LIGHTING shot on purpose, with very little light, with person sitting in recliner. Same 4 photo/situation sequence.

 

[bdunbar79]

Last two for tonight:

 

[canon816]

Its tough to draw any conclusions looking at these comparisons as they are low res images. To me it almost looks like the 5DIII does a better job rendering detail in shadowed areas.

What conclusions do you draw from these comparisons? Both while using the cameras in the field, and then looking at them on your monitor under high res?

Thanks for doing this...

 

[bdunbar79]

I was merely looking at exposures. I can't comment on detail. You'll have to look at RAW images for that. I cannot post big enough files on here to do anything further meaningful. I'm going to post process them right now and post one from each set, around 3MB.

 

[bdunbar79]

Here are two photos identically shot and identically post processed:

High res versions:

 

[bdunbar79]

Second photo:

 

[bdunbar79]

So finally, I took the worst lighting, the recliner shot, and post processed each exactly the same way again.

 

[bdunbar79]

1DX photo post processed:

 

[bdunbar79]

Well the white balance was still wrong, so I changed from fluorescent to tungsten, which seemed to be a better match. Both still had a green tint to it some places. Also, I had to turn NR up to 80% to get rid of background noise in the shadows. However, that degraded the 5D3 image more than the 1DX. However, it looks like the 5D3 got the colors correct.

 

[bdunbar79]

1DX shot:

 

[bdunbar79]

In these harsh conditions, both camera's photos are equally awful and I don't see any enhanced performance of one or the other. At least with minimal processing I can't. I don't think the determing factor for any sane person is going to be high ISO or IQ differences, because they just don't exist. Speed, shutter durability, AF-point linked spot metering = 1DX. High MP, high ISO, price = 5D Mark III.

I just am not going to find anything. I mean, we can argue that the shadows are cleaner on the 1DX or we can pull more detail out of the 5D3's shadows, etc., but it's not significant enough. The last test will have to be low ISO's, where we saw more green hueing in the shadow areas when people, on a sunny day, were standing in the shade, on the 5D Mark III. I want to see if the 1DX does this or not.

 

[briansquibb]

@bdunbar79 - you are doing a good job there - thanks for putting the significant amount of time in for this testing.

 

[bdunbar79]

Thanks. My last test will not push either camera. I will take both to the car show this weekend and we can just casually examine each photo and maybe reach a conclusion or not. Pushing the cameras is hard to do and it's doubly hard to see any differences in performance with two very high performers anyways.

It is kind of frustrating because if you remember when the 1Ds Mark III was new you COULD push each camera and see a huge difference as the 1Ds3 just outperformed everything at the time. Oh well, I think each are great and seem to have their places for use.

I promised you low ISO so I'll do some car show photos but I also want to test the green hue/shadow issue I've noticed on the 5D Mark III in the shade at high sun.

 

[briansquibb]

Thanks. My last test will not push either camera. I will take both to the car show this weekend and we can just casually examine each photo and maybe reach a conclusion or not. Pushing the cameras is hard to do and it's doubly hard to see any differences in performance with two very high performers anyways.

It is kind of frustrating because if you remember when the 1Ds Mark III was new you COULD push each camera and see a huge difference as the 1Ds3 just outperformed everything at the time. Oh well, I think each are great and seem to have their places for use.

I promised you low ISO so I'll do some car show photos but I also want to test the green hue/shadow issue I've noticed on the 5D Mark III in the shade at high sun.

Looks like I am going to do some testing of the TSE24 on a 1D4 and 1Ds3, perhaps I will go to the Olympic site just to prove what a friendly place it is

 

[bdunbar79]

Here's one thing I can say. If you shoot the WB incorrectly in fluorescent or tungsten temps, you can't correct them in post 100%. If the camera shoots at those temps to begin with, you can. Interesting. It's probably Camera RAW though and not the camera itself, I'm guessing. What else was interesting, is that when I shot in Cloudy and processed the 5D3 image to Tungsten, it corrected almost there. The 1DX didn't come close as it was rather green tinted. This is just interesting playing with these RAW files.

Highlights still can blow in the 1DX images, but not as easily as in the 5D Mark III. And yeah, it seems the shadows look better from the 5D3 vs. the 1DX, although I suppose that could be from cropping and having less MP's. Tomorrow I won't crop one of them and examine this.