A700 ISO Test for JPS

[Marc]

The jpeg looks like it hasn't been denoised at all or not very well. With neat image, the sharpened image looks pretty good, imo.

But that was my point. I took the pics in Raw, opened them in ACR and then into Elements Editor without adjusting anything and saved as jpeg. No denoising was done at all. I would usually use Noise Ninja at this point.

 

[spannerdude]

Wow, that's some effort you've put in there Spannerdude!

Not sure I understand most of it, I'm not very technical. I shot it in Aperture Priority, so I let the camera itself worry about the exposure. Should I have done it in manual? :shrug:

I have to say that I've been very happy with the camera. As I say, I use ISOs up to 1600 when shooting polo and I then use noise ninja. I will certainly try another Raw converter just to see if there is a major difference.

JPS, I hope you find the information you need to make a decision.

The exposure issue is an experience thing. If you were shooting a plane against a bright sky you'd add a bit of exposure compensation, you'd do the same with a portrait against window light. It's just a case of recognising when the frame is full of light and the subject is dark against it, that YOU need to do something about it. Have a look at the cameras histogram occasionally and it will help you spot these situations.
If you look at the Nikon examples posted the game controller is well lit in relation to the background, the camera has enough light to cast a shadow. This will make the shots less noisey to begin with. So a bit of exposure compensation or switching to centre weighted or even spot metering would have improved your test shot immensly.

Not that it's too much of an issue, I think it's plain to see from Slapo and my examples that when you don't use ACR there is no noise issue anyway.

 

[Slapo]

But that was my point. I took the pics in Raw, opened them in ACR and then into Elements Editor without adjusting anything and saved as jpeg. No denoising was done at all. I would usually use Noise Ninja at this point.

Sorry, I thought it was a jpeg from the camera. No offence meant.

 

[Marc]

Sorry, I thought it was a jpeg from the camera. No offence meant.

None was taken. To be honest, I've learnt a lot from this thread alone, so thanks for the education guys!

Actually, the place I bought my bag from yesterday has a studio where they hold all day workshops, so I may sign up for one of those.

Look here

 

[spannerdude]

thanks for all the time and effort you guys have put into this thread these past few days, much appreciated. I suppose my main downfall was believing that the example shots I've seen on review sites were straight from the camera - I should have guessed that the files would have been through some kind of noise filter before being printed.

I'm stuck between going over to Nikon for my second body with the D300 (and having to buy into a new system), or going for the A700 and being able to mix and match my current Sony gear. I do need two bodies really, it's a hard choice I'm going to make this week.

I think the examples shown here suggest that the good image quality demonstrated by the A700 in reviews are genuine and it's only the reviews that slate Sony image quality out of hand that are called into question.

A mate of mine has a D300 and it is a beautifull bit of kit but a camera is just a tool and when you pay your money and take your choice you will get excellent products from all the major players. So I think you have got a difficult choice to make.
I've just had a look on warehouseexpress, simply because it's the top of my favourites list, I'm sure there may be better deals around.
You can get a D300 body for £979, a 24-70 f2.8 (unfortunately not IS) for £999 and a 70-200 IS for £1199. Grand total £3277
Or
A700 Body £699, 24-70 Zeiss £1229, 70-200G £1199. Grand total £3127 and they are all stabilised

You already have a flash that you can control wirelessly from the built in flash and it's capable of HSS so perfect for fill on those wide aperture shots. In your position I'd have an A700 winging it's way to me right now and with the change that I didn't spend on a D300 body I'd have a Tamron 17-50 2.8 on it's way too.
So maybe it's not that hard a decision after all. Unless you specifically want a Nikon badge?

 

[Dogfish_magnet]

Have a look at this post, there's some discussion on buying into a system, and i tend to agree that when you are looking at spending several K on a camera system that theres only 2 players Canon or Nikon.

 

[Marc]

Have a look at this post, there's some discussion on buying into a system, and i tend to agree that when you are looking at spending several K on a camera system that theres only 2 players Canon or Nikon.

Bit of a narrow view in my opinion, but hey, just my opinion!