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Re: [OM] dumb question

Subject: Re: [OM] dumb question
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2015 10:06:26 -0600
> "The Nikon D4s offers about 13.3 stops of dynamic range, while the Olympus
> OM-D E-M1 offers about 12.7 stops of dynamic range (both at base ISO)"

Anything past 12 stops is usually going to be more than plenty.
However, I would suggest that these "tests" don't tell the whole
story, because if you crank up the shadows you'll see a pretty good
difference in how the lower bits are handled by the sensors and
pre-raw processing.

A good test is to do a sequence of pictures +4, 0, -4 stops. And then
normalize all three in the raw converter. You'll see how the camera
REALLY handles the highlights and the shadows. But you say that you
would NEVER boost a picture by four-stops in post? Nonsense. We do it
all the time with shadow recovery, contrast/brightness adjustments and
saturation.

You are likely to see strange things in the shadows of the boosted
samples AND color shifts.


> So I really got to wondering.  I of course don't know whether his claim is
> correct.  While I probably can agree that, maybe, older sensors can differ
> a lot - at least people have claimed that - perhaps now with latest sensors
> the "real" gap has narrowed, and there is no discernible difference.  I
> realize factors like AA etc. make differences;  my question is, if all
> these other factors are comparable, whether any differences still exist.
> High ISO does make one area of concern I might understand, but otherwise?

As the old saying goes with automobiles, there is no substitute for
cubic inches. But the gap has certainly closed a lot and don't forget
that the actual fill-factor of each sensel position is a whole lot
higher to modern sensors than before. The pixel pitch of a smaller
sensor is tighter, but the actual efficiency is often times about on
par with the larger senser.



-- 
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
-- 
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