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View Full Version : 1d "classic" mk1 - first pics and impressions (56k ew)


decoyslikecurves
3rd of February 2007 (Sat), 05:49
Hi all,

Yesterday I took delivery of a 1d mk1 off the member here "Lightstream" (who by the way did a fantastic transaction) and having gone out last night, was unable to really test it out, so this afternoon I did a first test, playing with all iso's and etc


I have to say, my pre-thoughts were that I had read a lot of things about noise being bad, banding, etc etc. I wasn't that worried about the 4mp sensor, as I know its a quality one, and MP doesn't matter unless you're printing massive.

I also have a 30d. The lens I use most is a sigma 30 f1.4 EX. Suprisingly, the lens works on the 1.3x sensor on the 1d, even though it is designed for the 1.6 crop sensors. The only drawback is very very slight vignetting, which I actually like - so thats a positive more than anything for me.


Anyway, with the sigma 30 and a nice afternoon I played around.

Needless to say, I absolutely love the camera. It feels beautiful, built awesome, everything is perfect in ergonomics. The AF is blindingly fast, it blows the 30d out of the water.

The 8fps is fun, and probably quite useful.

Heres the part about quality:

First, a little background about me: I love film. I love the way pictures look on film. I still have film rangefinders and use them when i can afford it. I'm an architecture photographer, and I'm starting to get work in photojournalism and fashion/glamour/portrait. I started in DSLRS with 350d, and went to a 30d soon after. I only shoot in raw. The 30d is a good camera, but theres always been something about it I dont like as much as I could. Its in the way the end image looks. I'm not sure what it is.

Anyway, The 1d seems to make more a film image, the noise actually looks like grain, and the detail in the shots is nothing short of tremendous!
Also, the sigma 30 1.4 seems to focus much better on the 1d, more accurately, faster, and more consistantly.

The high ISO images from a 30d have always been good, theres no doubt about that, but I think I prefer the look from the 1D. Theres something about the way the 30ds noise is - it's sort of processed and blotchy. The 1d renders them slightly grainy but retains FULL detail. (all shot raw)

As for the amount of noise in the images, the 1d trails just a little*, but the quality of the noise is better IMO, so I prefer it for personal shots (work calls for clean images so 30d all the way)

*As long as the image is exposed properly, if underexposed, say bye bye to clean noise free image


Anyway, enough opinions, surely what everyone says about the 1D's noise is true, how horrible it is about 800iso etc etc etc.

Well, have a look at these. I'm sorry they aren't too interesting, I was just testing the camera.

ISO 400, F1.6
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/01.jpg

Iso 200, F5.6
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/06.jpg

ISO 1600 f4, focus on trolleys
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/11.jpg

ISO 3200, f4.5, focus on side mirror of my car
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/12.jpg

decoyslikecurves
3rd of February 2007 (Sat), 05:55
ISO1600 - look at how clean it is! f3.2
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/14.jpg

ISO 1250, f2.2
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/16.jpg

ISO1600, f4.5
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q51/fdigital/08.jpg

michael_
3rd of February 2007 (Sat), 06:02
dude is that marrickville metro? :)

decoyslikecurves
3rd of February 2007 (Sat), 06:18
Nope its Sunshine Plaza just outside of Brisbane

Lightstream
3rd of February 2007 (Sat), 06:38
Very nice.. thanks again for the kind words :)

The 1D's autofocus engine is legendary, so in a way I am not surprised to hear your existing glass focuses faster and better. I can say that it exceeds even the current state of the art 5D.. the only things that can possibly do better are its own successors and brethren from the 1-series. This is one thing I am sure I will miss letting it go.. there is NOTHING quite like AreaAF :)

Congrats again on the new camera and may it serve you well! :)

Lani Kai
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 02:41
I had a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and when I tried it on the 1D, I noticed that the corners were darker but the images were still correctable. Try stopping down to about f/11 though, and you're in for a surprise... The corners become virtually useless.
Not that you'd use this lens frequently at such an aperture, but I decided to go for the 50mm f/1.4 instead.

decoyslikecurves
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 03:27
Yeah I did notice that as you stop down, the corners grow darker. I personally dont mind vignetting that much.

I would have a 50 1.4 but its a funny focal length for me - even with the 1.3 crop it's not wide enough and not long enough.

I think i'll be getting a 28 1.8 to fill that void, as it ends up at about my fave focal length - 35mm, and still hits the 45 or so mark on my 30d.

decoyslikecurves
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 03:29
No comments about the noise? I was super impressed with 1600 and even 3200 ISO when exposed well - and I own a 30d.

Lightstream
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 03:32
That's what I love about the 28/1.8. You'll notice I used this lens a fair bit on my 1D, which is why it appears in quite a few photos. It's a beautiful wide 28mm on FF, an excellent 36mm (close enough to 35 really) on 1.3X, and a 48 (close enough to 50 standard) on a 1.6X.

As someone who at one point owned one of each (at the same time), the 28 was tremendously versatile.

Very impressed with your ISO 1600 shots. I think I pixel peep too much ;)

decoyslikecurves
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 03:44
Lightstream, what do you think of the 28 1.8s image quality in comparison to the sigma 30 1.4?

My sigma is very very sharp in the center even wide open if it hits focus properly, corners are good.. Center is sharper than my 70-200 f4L, thought not by much -I hope the canon 28 1.8 can live up to that!

Lightstream
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 05:04
Hmm.. never tested the Sigma and I did not pixel peep the 28/1.8 beyond its initial testing, because it satisfied me it would do the job.

On FF, corners are soft wide open, known issue with the 28. They sharpen up nicely f/2.8-f/4. On APS-C (1.6X) corners are very sharp by 2.8. My copy has excellent center sharpness.

reewik
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 09:40
It really is better than people say. I look at it this way, I used ISO 50 slide film... Now I can use ISO 200 and more!

calicokat
4th of February 2007 (Sun), 09:46
Congrats, good to see the camera landed in good hands ;)