Hi everyone,
I talked with the friend of mine who works in San Jose after the digiback for Leica R8 was announced, and once again he gave me very useful comments, which is as follows:
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The CCD N digital incorporated, the 3020 has a pixel size around 12um. The true size is around 11um. Canon's 1Ds is 8.8um. Since it's a CMOS sensor, the real size is probably a little smaller than 6um. See the difference here? The 3020 has a much higher dynamic range on colors.
Not even mention the CMOS sensor has a smaller
dynamic range in nature already, for the same pixel size.
So the comparison of ND vs 1Ds on Contaxinfo is basically a comparsion about color resolution v.s.pixel resolution.
Another good thing about ND is the special anti-aliasing/ low pass filter Kyocera developed for ND. It can preserve high contrast detail better than other digicam's. Some people claim that ND has done too much sharpening so its photos look so contrasy... haha... a big no no. It is really the anti-aliasing filter which does the job!
As I had told you before, the problem with the Philips sensor is that it can eat up lots of power and can get hot quickly. It is a full size 35mm sesnor but in reality, it is only good for digiback to use. ND is basically a scaled down 120 camera plus a digiback. You need to have a different mentality when you use it. You can not just use it like using a D100 or a 10D, keep firing away wherever you you go. If you expect it
to perform like a D100 or a 10D, surely you will be disappointed. On the other side, if you use it
in studio only or you can control the lightling
preceisely, take your time to take every picture,
ND will give you great result... the nice color gradaution,good contrast, and great shadow details. As for noises, you can alwas use software to remove them.
Many people have incorrect perception on raw files. They all think the raw files are the image data dumped directly from the CCD/CMOS sensor. The reality is that there are lots of things needed to be done from the analog signal in the sensor to the digital raw data. Every company has its own way of creating the raw image data. The raw data clwu played with first is actually the CCD test data which will be used as calibration data in the image processor to generate the real useful raw file. On the other side, even the signals dumped from those Canon CMOS sensors have already been processed by the on-chip circuits, they are not *raw* anymore.
In other words, raw image files are not as raw as the words seem. Most of them have been heavily processed. What you can do with those raw data is actually very limited. If you think just by adjusting the color curves....etc and you will get something like Zeiss color, this is a big joke. If you really think you can play magic with raw data file, how about this? Take a portrait picture of a lady with both D60 and 10D(both use exactly the same CMOS sensor)at ISO400, and show me that you can adjust the raw files to make them look exactly the same? Since ND and Phase One's digiback are using the same sensor, too, how about show me that you can make ND's photos look as good as Phase Ones?
The key point is that, the better the digicam is,
the more import the lens performance it will be.
If you can not see this point, probably you will
be able to tell the difference between a Nikon lens and a Contax CY lens anyway.
There are lots of things about a lens... the flare control, the bokeh, the shadow detail,
the color gradation... they will all show on
good sensors. The difference is there, just some
people refuse to admit this.
Oh, the N mount is still the best platform for DSLR among all 135 systems. Now the real problem
is Kyocera has to find a good sensor for it.CMOS sensor is really not a solution.
As for the Leica digiback. It is a good move but pretty much it's just an Imacon product. There is no reason that Imacon can not do the same for Contax... the issue is the price. Also, the 6.8um sensor size is too small. This will degrade Leica lenses' advantages on tonality. BTW, you know you can pay around US$12K to modify a RTS3 to a DSLR?
----------------------------------------------
I talked with the friend of mine who works in San Jose after the digiback for Leica R8 was announced, and once again he gave me very useful comments, which is as follows:
-----------------------------------------------
The CCD N digital incorporated, the 3020 has a pixel size around 12um. The true size is around 11um. Canon's 1Ds is 8.8um. Since it's a CMOS sensor, the real size is probably a little smaller than 6um. See the difference here? The 3020 has a much higher dynamic range on colors.
Not even mention the CMOS sensor has a smaller
dynamic range in nature already, for the same pixel size.
So the comparison of ND vs 1Ds on Contaxinfo is basically a comparsion about color resolution v.s.pixel resolution.
Another good thing about ND is the special anti-aliasing/ low pass filter Kyocera developed for ND. It can preserve high contrast detail better than other digicam's. Some people claim that ND has done too much sharpening so its photos look so contrasy... haha... a big no no. It is really the anti-aliasing filter which does the job!
As I had told you before, the problem with the Philips sensor is that it can eat up lots of power and can get hot quickly. It is a full size 35mm sesnor but in reality, it is only good for digiback to use. ND is basically a scaled down 120 camera plus a digiback. You need to have a different mentality when you use it. You can not just use it like using a D100 or a 10D, keep firing away wherever you you go. If you expect it
to perform like a D100 or a 10D, surely you will be disappointed. On the other side, if you use it
in studio only or you can control the lightling
preceisely, take your time to take every picture,
ND will give you great result... the nice color gradaution,good contrast, and great shadow details. As for noises, you can alwas use software to remove them.
Many people have incorrect perception on raw files. They all think the raw files are the image data dumped directly from the CCD/CMOS sensor. The reality is that there are lots of things needed to be done from the analog signal in the sensor to the digital raw data. Every company has its own way of creating the raw image data. The raw data clwu played with first is actually the CCD test data which will be used as calibration data in the image processor to generate the real useful raw file. On the other side, even the signals dumped from those Canon CMOS sensors have already been processed by the on-chip circuits, they are not *raw* anymore.
In other words, raw image files are not as raw as the words seem. Most of them have been heavily processed. What you can do with those raw data is actually very limited. If you think just by adjusting the color curves....etc and you will get something like Zeiss color, this is a big joke. If you really think you can play magic with raw data file, how about this? Take a portrait picture of a lady with both D60 and 10D(both use exactly the same CMOS sensor)at ISO400, and show me that you can adjust the raw files to make them look exactly the same? Since ND and Phase One's digiback are using the same sensor, too, how about show me that you can make ND's photos look as good as Phase Ones?
The key point is that, the better the digicam is,
the more import the lens performance it will be.
If you can not see this point, probably you will
be able to tell the difference between a Nikon lens and a Contax CY lens anyway.
There are lots of things about a lens... the flare control, the bokeh, the shadow detail,
the color gradation... they will all show on
good sensors. The difference is there, just some
people refuse to admit this.
Oh, the N mount is still the best platform for DSLR among all 135 systems. Now the real problem
is Kyocera has to find a good sensor for it.CMOS sensor is really not a solution.
As for the Leica digiback. It is a good move but pretty much it's just an Imacon product. There is no reason that Imacon can not do the same for Contax... the issue is the price. Also, the 6.8um sensor size is too small. This will degrade Leica lenses' advantages on tonality. BTW, you know you can pay around US$12K to modify a RTS3 to a DSLR?
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