 Digital Outback Photo - Photography using Digital SLRs |
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Digital SLRs Compared by Uwe Steinmueller |
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This page list issues with the digital SLRs Uwe Steinmueller has reviewed so far.
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| All cameras only get used with the highest quality setting available (most cameras support raw format). All comments are based on subjective experience and not on charts. I know this page will find a lot of critique but it presents only my personal view which might or might not help others. On the other side I get questions to compare these cameras all the time and the following table is only intended as some guideline. |
| We also collect readers subjective comparisons between two or more of these cameras. |
| Any comments and request for additional criteria please mail to Uwe Steinmueller |
| Criteria |
D1
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D30
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DCS 760
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E-10
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S1
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Experience Reports |
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| Resolution | 2.7 Mega Pixel 2000x1312 pixels |
3.25 Mega Pixel 2160x1440 pixels |
6.0 Mega Pixel 3040x2008 pixels |
4 Mega Pixel 2240x1680 pixels |
3.4MP CCD 6.13MP interpolated |
| Color | Good with Bibble (some have trouble) | Quite saturated (some like it better than others) | Good | Good | Very Good |
| Color Profile |
JPG: NTSC |
unknown | none (sRGB) |
unknown | close to sRGB |
| Resolution | OK | Good | Very good | Good | OK |
| Shadow Details | OK | Very good | Very Good | OK | OK |
| Noise | Low | Low | With AA filter ok up to ISO 200 |
More noise than D1 |
some aliasing |
| ISO | 200-1600 (Banding at 800-1600) | 100-1600 (Noisy at 1600) | 80-400 (Noisy at 400) | 80-320 | 320-1600 |
| RAW available (bit depth) | yes (12 bit) 3.9MB per file |
yes (12 bit) 3.5MB per file |
yes (12 bit) 5.4MB per file |
yes (10 bit) |
N/A |
| Sharpness | Needs Unsharp Mask | Needs Unsharp Mask | Needs Unsharp Mask | Sharp from the camera | Needs Unsharp Mask |
| Software | Nikon Capture with some flaws, Bibble and Qimage as good third party software | Only Canon SW which is flawed | Kodak Photo Desk (needs improvements) | As we don't use RAW there is no need for it so far. |
As there is no RAW there is no need for it. |
| Work Flow | Good with 3rd party sofware | Very cumbersome | No PS plug-in supported yet | Working with JPGs is easy (except of JPG artifacts) |
Good (use of standard SW) |
| Speed | Fast sequences possible, good action camera | slower than D1 not an action camera | slower than D1 not an action camera | OK | OK |
| Buffer Size | 10 RAW photos | 3 RAW photos | 12 RAW photos | ??? | not tested |
| Dust | Big issue, Sensor Swabs not approved, Needs sometimes Nikon service. | Seems to be less an issue (experience will tell) | Gets dust, but Kodak approved Sensor Swabs (they are actually Kodak products) | Should be not an issue as lenses are not removeable |
Very sensitive to dust (even more than with the D1). Sensor Swabs supported. |
| Autofocus | Good (very fast with AF-S lenses) | Good (not as fast as D1) | ok with AA filter | OK | OK |
| Metering | Good (very consistent) | Good (a bit less consistent than D1) | Good (need exposure compensation) | Good (a bit less consistent than D1) | OK |
| Lens compatability | Nearly all Nikon lenses can be used | Many Canon lenses can be used | Nearly all Nikon lenses can be used | Built-in lens and wide angle and tele adapters | Nikon Cannot use AF with AFS lenses and VR is not supported |
| Focal Length Multiplier (**) | ~1.5 | ~1.6 | ~1.3 | N/A as no interchangeable lenses |
1.5 |
| Image Stabilisation | 1 VR lens (80-400) | Range of IS lenses | 1 VR lens (80-400) | no | no |
| Viewfinder | Very good | Very good | Very good | OK | OK |
| LCD | Good | Good | OK | OK (can be tilted and used for focussing) | OK |
| IBM Microdrive compatability | Some have trouble, slow write speed | No trouble reported, better write speed than D1 | No problem (allows 2x1GB) | Not supported by Olympus (we used it with success) | Yes |
| Battery life | OK | Good | OK | 4xAA Ni-MH about 100 photos (cheap solution) |
OK (with NI-MH) |
| Power Up | Fast | Very slow | Slow | Slow | Slow |
| Flash | external flash only, Some report flash problems (*) | Nice internal flash, use with external flash gets great reviews (*) | external flash only (*) | Nice internal flash (*) | internal flash |
| Handling | Excellent | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Size | Big but ok | OK | Very big | Small for an SLR | OK |
| Weight | Heavy | Light | Very Heavy | Light for an SLR | Light |
| Ruggedness | Very Rugged | OK | Very Rugged | OK | OK |
| Fully Professional | YES | Targeted for Prosumers | YES | NO (but for many prof. areas useable) |
No (but for many prof. areas useable) |
| Sample Photos | Photodotcom | D30 Photos | DCS 760 Photos | E-10 Photos | S1 Photos |
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(*) We have very poor experience with flash ourselves. So the statement reflects trusted other resources like Rob Galbraith or Neil Turner. (**) As the CCD has a smaller size as 35mm film images shot with these cameras appear like shot with higher focal length. A high multiplier allows extends the reach of tele lenses but gives some trouble with wide angle lenses. |