5DS-R DR test on DPReview

[LOALTD]

"There is a bit of Canon hate in there. It's not uncommon for people to want to tear down the big dog. Intel, Microsoft and other market leaders experience the same thing."


Who cares? Corporations are not people. Is hating them going to hurt their pwecious wittle feelings?


Are people married to their camera brand? Is Canon going to get jealous if you flirt with other cameras? Afraid they're going to loose the house in the divorce if you leave Canon?


At the end of the day, much of this forum boils down to:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-purchase_rationalization


"Post-purchase rationalization, also known as Buyer's Stockholm Syndrome, is a cognitive bias whereby someone who has purchased an expensive product or service overlooks any faults or defects in order to justify their purchase. It is a special case of choice-supportive bias.


Expensive purchases often involve a lot of careful research and deliberation, and many consumers will often refuse to admit that their decision was made in poor judgment. Many purchasing decisions are made emotionally, based on factors such as brand-loyalty and advertising, and so are often rationalized retrospectively in an attempt to justify the choice."




I'm a photographer. I care about what people say about my images, not about what brand of camera I shoot with.

 

[Orangutan]

But of course nobody is going to admit that and you see it in the people parroting on about "the system", etc, when "the system" is irrelevant for most purchasers.

Each person defines "the system" as suits their own needs. If you need just the body and kit lens for family photos, then you should make your purchase decisions based on that "system." In that case, several brands will do for you. "The system" merely refers to the collection of equipment that best meets your current and anticipated needs. A good example of this: we've had several on this forum say that if Nikon had TS lenses to compare with Canon's they would buy Nikon kit, and that's completely reasonable. If I were starting now I might well buy Nikon kit because it does have all the things I need, but I can't justify the expense of change relative to my needs.

It doesn't really matter what "most purchasers" want, nor the total system as a collection. The way business works is that each individual makes their decisions based on individual needs. Then the manufacturers attempt to address the needs based on market research. There's nothing to be upset about -- just buy what you need from whatever manufacturer, and don't take Canon's market strategy as a personal insult.

 

[jaayres20]

All of the RAW images I have opened in LR are very impressive. I read the review but I am not quite sure the reviewer is completely unbiased and therefore took the best image to show off the 5Ds. There is a lot you can do to an "objective" test to make the results show what you want. Just look at polls that supposedly show public opinion. You can get a poll to say whatever you want. Regardless the 5Ds looks fantastic, the noise is better than I expected and the colors are superb. Can't wait to get one. Did he use an f/22 shot? F/22 is a little narrow for the best results correct?

 

[gary samples]

After looking at the raw files have my 5Ds-r is on preorder @ B&H

 

[STM Photography]

Being a passive CR user for a while, I just have to add my take on the DR debate now before I will return to passive mode again. Not that the debate wouldn't be hot enough already, but there are a few aspects that I can't remember being mentioned here.

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me. If some of you think that getting all the tonal values in a shot is only a matter of correct exposure, I can only assume that you have spent more time on this forum than outside in high contrast scenes. Of course, in many cases you can help yourself with bracketing. Then again I wonder how many people here have actually already done some exposure blending by hand. I am asking because without some advanced techniques such as the use of luminosity masks it is sometimes almost impossible to do perfect blends which really hold up in a big print. It is all a matter of technique (and time) to pull off some perfect exposure blending, I just want to say it is not at all as easy as many here make it sound.

I am mostly a landscape/cityscape photographer and started out with a Canon 6D, which I loved right from the very beginning. When the A7R came out, I felt obligated to test it but I really wanted to dislike the Sony body in order to to save myself some money.
When I looked at those A7R files, I was blown away by just how much better the overall image quality and the detail level was. Keeping that body was one of the best decisions I have made. I soon realized how limiting the Canon DR was for my shooting style and that bracketing simply was not necessary in many cases now. It gave me the freedom to do some advanced stuff such as long exposure panoramas and to return from Iceland with a couple of shots that I had not seen before. That freedom certainly is inspiring! I have printed (and sold) some of these images up to 150x61cm in absolutely astonishing quality. Trust me- doing this with any Canon body would have been virtually impossible (unless you tried to bracket long exposures but good luck merging images with cloud movement and spending all the sunset for a single final frame). Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, you will find a long exposure panoramic image below. To have a look at similar stuff, feel free to visit my website.

I agree that for some photographic genres with very controlled lightning conditions DR is secondary and many casual shooters will be happy with what dynamic range they got out of their cameras.
Depending on your genre however, you will be faced with dramatic, high-contrast light and if you really try to break the boundaries (or save yourself a lot of pain) you just need the gear that enables you to handle those situations.
The A7R has opened some new creative possibilities for me. I would love a Canon 5dsr with comparable dynamic range and I would happily be back with Canon again- I am however not that optimistic.

I will now return to passive mode.
To some of you- please let other photographers decide for themselves what they actually require in a camera body and be glad that Canon DR suffices for your needs. There is no reason for undue sarcasm towards people who spend their time outside, know their gear and technique and still use all the DR they can get to eventually make for the most important final product- a high quality print.

Good light everyone.

 

[Loswr]

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me.

It's beyond you how some people can decide for themselves how much DR they need?

 

[LOALTD]

Being a passive CR user for a while, I just have to add my take on the DR debate now before I will return to passive mode again. Not that the debate wouldn't be hot enough already, but there are a few aspects that I can't remember being mentioned here.

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me. If some of you think that getting all the tonal values in a shot is only a matter of correct exposure, I can only assume that you have spent more time on this forum than outside in high contrast scenes. Of course, in many cases you can help yourself with bracketing. Then again I wonder how many people here have actually already done some exposure blending by hand. I am asking because without some advanced techniques such as the use of luminosity masks it is sometimes almost impossible to do perfect blends which really hold up in a big print. It is all a matter of technique (and time) to pull off some perfect exposure blending, I just want to say it is not at all as easy as many here make it sound.

I am mostly a landscape/cityscape photographer and started out with a Canon 6D, which I loved right from the very beginning. When the A7R came out, I felt obligated to test it but I really wanted to dislike the Sony body in order to to save myself some money.
When I looked at those A7R files, I was blown away by just how much better the overall image quality and the detail level was. Keeping that body was one of the best decisions I have made. I soon realized how limiting the Canon DR was for my shooting style and that bracketing simply was not necessary in many cases now. It gave me the freedom to do some advanced stuff such as long exposure panoramas and to return from Iceland with a couple of shots that I had not seen before. That freedom certainly is inspiring! I have printed (and sold) some of these images up to 150x61cm in absolutely astonishing quality. Trust me- doing this with any Canon body would have been virtually impossible (unless you tried to bracket long exposures but good luck merging images with cloud movement and spending all the sunset for a single final frame). Just to give you an idea of what I am talking about, you will find a long exposure panoramic image below. To have a look at similar stuff, feel free to visit my website.

I agree that for some photographic genres with very controlled lightning conditions DR is secondary and many casual shooters will be happy with what dynamic range they got out of their cameras.
Depending on your genre however, you will be faced with dramatic, high-contrast light and if you really try to break the boundaries (or save yourself a lot of pain) you just need the gear that enables you to handle those situations.
The A7R has opened some new creative possibilities for me. I would love a Canon 5dsr with comparable dynamic range and I would happily be back with Canon again- I am however not that optimistic.

I will now return to passive mode.
To some of you- please let other photographers decide for themselves what they actually require in a camera body and be glad that Canon DR suffices for your needs. There is no reason for undue sarcasm towards people who spend their time outside, know their gear and technique and still use all the DR they can get to eventually make for the most important final product- a high quality print.

Good light everyone.

Your work is incredible, STM, thanks for sharing. Great post as well, couldn't agree more.


High DR is not necessary for many types of photography, but it is for the stuff I like to shoot, and apparently you as well

 

[jrista]

Thank you for posting, STM. Your photos are amazing, truly. Love your style, the contrast and deep shadow detail, and the color. Beautiful work. I agree 100% with everything you've said, and appreciate the way you put it. Best of luck with your photography, you have some wonderful skill!

 

[Click]

Welcome to CR STM Photography. Awesome shot. 8)

 

[Orangutan]

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me.

It's beyond you how some people can decide for themselves how much DR they need?

(1) Read his post more carefully, the part about "and others."

(2) Is this all you have to criticize about the post, just some editing?

 

[3kramd5]

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me.

To me, it's not about deciding that Canon provides enough DR for me (I'll leave that "and others" off; not my place to choose other people's gear). It's about learning to work with the equipment I have to get the results I want. I own several 5Ds and one one A7R. The range of the A7R doesn't make the range of the 5Ds deficient. It doesn't change my approach (YMMV).

Maybe if I bought camera with the best available DR in a reasonably high resolution package (red epic dragon w/ 16 stops at 19MP) it would change how I shoot, but that game is too rich for my blood.

 

[Loswr]

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me.

It's beyond you how some people can decide for themselves how much DR they need?

(1) Read his post more carefully, the part about "and others."

(2) Is this all you have to criticize about the post, just some editing?

I read it. There is a difference between 'decide for themselves and others' and 'decide for others', had he stated the latter I'd have no objection.

Reading the rest of his post, you'd think that landscape/cityscape photography with large prints as an output was impossible before Exmor, and that no one could be using Canon equipment for such purposes today. Not a very defensible position, IMO.

 

[STM Photography]

How some people on this forum can "decide" that Canon provides enough DR for themselves and others is beyond me.

It's beyond you how some people can decide for themselves how much DR they need?

(1) Read his post more carefully, the part about "and others."

(2) Is this all you have to criticize about the post, just some editing?

I read it. There is a difference between 'decide for themselves and others' and 'decide for others', had he stated the latter I'd have no objection.

Reading the rest of his post, you'd think that landscape/cityscape photography with large prints as an output was impossible before Exmor, and that no one could be using Canon equipment for such purposes today. Not a very defensible position, IMO.

With my reduced capabilities as a non-native English speaker I think my post was still easy enough to understand, no need to pull a single sentence out of context if the content is still plain enough.

As for if the position is defensible or not: I would like you to tell me what you would have done in said situation with the Canon body of your choice (long exposure scene for the silky and magical waterfall effect and in order to keep harsh clouds from detracting from the soft waterfall). A Canon solution to that problem would be interesting to know. Btw the final image is stitched from 3 single images (75 sec each) and the light only lasted for a couple of minutes. Yeah, not shoot it at all in the first place?

To all the others, thank you very much for your kind words! I really appreciate it!

 

[jrista]

Hi
what a nice picture
please tell me how can you obtain these shades?
I have myself a Canon 5dmk3 and have problem with RAW and to get out the details, nuances in the lowest levels

It looks like there is a bit of soft contrast technique being applied. There are a few ways to achieve that...it looks like he has his own technique. But I would look up "soft contrast landscapes" for some insights.

 

[Loswr]

With my reduced capabilities as a non-native English speaker I think my post was still easy enough to understand, no need to pull a single sentence out of context if the content is still plain enough.

Your English is fine, your meaning was plain, I just disagree with your premise.

As for if the position is defensible or not: I would like you to tell me what you would have done in said situation...

A specific situation isn't at issue. Rather, your broader premise illustrated here:

I agree that for some photographic genres with very controlled lightning conditions DR is secondary and many casual shooters will be happy with what dynamic range they got out of their cameras.

So...how is it that professional landscape photographers – who do not shoot in controlled lighting conditions and are not casual photographers – can use Canon cameras? Many do. For that matter, you're a skilled photographer – what did you do before Exmor?

To some of you- please let other photographers decide for themselves what they actually require in a camera body...

Absolutely agree. That is, I agree if you mean that to apply broadly, including to those who frequently make statements such as Canon delivers, "...poor, sub-par, unacceptable IQ."

 

[Loswr]

Sorry, never saw Good Will Hunting. Life's great, though. Enjoying my weekend, I suggest you do the same.

 

[Dylan777]

Being a passive CR user for a while

Welcome to CR STM Photography

Visited your site, beautiful photos

 

[Orangutan]

With my reduced capabilities as a non-native English speaker I think my post was still easy enough to understand, no need to pull a single sentence out of context if the content is still plain enough.

Your English is fine, your meaning was plain, I just disagree with your premise.

The problem is not that you disagree, it's how you disagree. I happen to disagree with STM as well, but I'd prefer to be curious about his meaning rather than argumentative.

Neuro, you remain a contradiction.

 

[Orangutan]

Sorry, never saw Good Will Hunting.

Nothing to be sorry about: I saw it and wish I hadn't. Crappy, formulaic and contrived.

 

[Sunnystate]

Don't you find funny that most rude bullies in the end have thinnest skin? Poor individual.