To crop, or not to crop, 1.6x on the 5D!

Here is a little test I did a while back to see whether it was worth my time carrying a 1.6x body along with my 5D.

My goal whatever it took was to end up with an 8mp image from the 5D with the same fov of the 1.6x cropped body.

As everyone knows you cant just crop a 5D image as the end result is something more closer to 5mp, well I specifically wanted & needed 8mp, no less!

By upsizing using whatever tool I found the best, I managed to upsize the 5D image to approx 22mp, crop to the same fov as the 1.6x image & leaving me with an 8mp image.

Here are my findings, not as shabby as one would think.

#1 Original 5D image:

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HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

Interesting test. Two things:

1) The upsized/cropped version from the 5D looks (to my eyes) to actually have a little more contrast and pop

2) I'm seeing what I can only describe as a little bit of CA (slight color fringe) in the white on black text on the 5D @ 100% that I'm not seeing on the native 8Mp image @ 100%. Not sure why that would be since (and correct me if I'm wrong) the lens is usually the major root cause of CA...

Again, very interesting and relevant to me since I have a 20D and a 5D

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #4402911
Interesting test. Two things:

1) The upsized/cropped version from the 5D looks (to my eyes) to actually have a little more contrast and pop

2) I'm seeing what I can only describe as a little bit of CA (slight color fringe) in the white on black text on the 5D @ 100% that I'm not seeing on the native 8Mp image @ 100%. Not sure why that would be since (and correct me if I'm wrong) the lens is usually the major root cause of CA...

Again, very interesting and relevant to me since I have a 20D and a 5D

Well the contrast or "pop" from the 5D image is one reason I like it so much.

As for CA, im sure any slight CA would be magnified by the enlargement process, so its not a good technique for below par photos, they have to be technically as good as possible.

To me the black lines around the 5D shot are still more crisp than the 1.6X camera. Plus the lettering at the bottom still looks sharper.

I vote that the 5D wins all around.

JBF wrote in post #4402969
To me the black lines around the 5D shot are still more crisp than the 1.6X camera. Plus the lettering at the bottom still looks sharper.

I vote that the 5D wins all around.

I have tried similar tests with a 30D before now, but the results were less than perfect, however I seem to be able to get away with this technique by using the 5D, it seems to capture far greater detail & pulls something like this off very well.

I can't wait to see what the upgrade to the 5D has to offer.... not that i could offord one anyway.... lol

From my eyes 5D upsize and crop is still superior.

Nice job here - how about just cropping the 5D image without upsizing it first? Considering that the 30D is 8.2mp and a 5D 12.8, 12.8 divided by 1.6 = 8mp wouldn't that be a better way to compare the two? Even though you are losing 0.2mp on the 5D crop, you have maintained the integrity of the image in terms of actual pixels used and eliminate the software modifiying the image? Doesn't the software add interpolated data between pixels when upsizing?

Happy Holidays to all
Peace
Mark

Nick- You used the same glass on both cameras, right?

OldA1 wrote in post #4403429
Nice job here - how about just cropping the 5D image without upsizing it first? Considering that the 30D is 8.2mp and a 5D 12.8, 12.8 divided by 1.6 = 8mp wouldn't that be a better way to compare the two? Even though you are losing 0.2mp on the 5D crop, you have maintained the integrity of the image in terms of actual pixels used and eliminate the software modifiying the image? Doesn't the software add interpolated data between pixels when upsizing?

Mark, your math is wrong. You're using a conversion for one linear dimension, not the area of the sensor.

An APS-C sized crop from the 5D's image leaves only about 5 megapixels.

OldA1 wrote in post #4403429
Nice job here - how about just cropping the 5D image without upsizing it first? Considering that the 30D is 8.2mp and a 5D 12.8, 12.8 divided by 1.6 = 8mp wouldn't that be a better way to compare the two? Even though you are losing 0.2mp on the 5D crop, you have maintained the integrity of the image in terms of actual pixels used and eliminate the software modifiying the image? Doesn't the software add interpolated data between pixels when upsizing?

Happy Holidays to all
Peace
Mark

So far, this seems reasonable.

And I thought you carried the 30D only in case the 5D broke
I have seen more than enough for me to want to buy a 5D just for a FF camera, but the fact is, I do not want to spend so much on a body just for this, and in the UK 2nd Hand on Ebay they are actually just about hitting HK new prices , if I could pick up a cheap one 2nd hand I would in a jiffy

I wonder how this would have gone had you not told which was which and had a poll on which people liked best. Games like that are fun.

Detail looks to be a toss up with this subject, perhaps something with a more intricate design might be more informative.

Nick, is the black in the 5D crop indicative of the black found on the subject? That seems to be the most glaring difference between the two crops. In the 5D, the black looks more composite whereas the black in the native 8MP crop looks more even with less noise. What about the black edging? On the subject, are they crisp lines or does the black bleed ever so much? (I imagine you'd only be able to tell using a magnifying glass, or the like) In the first crop, the black edging isn't too sharp, whereas the upsized 5D appears razor sharp in this regard. Is this a product of the upsizing?

Neat test, regardless.

Very interesting! Thank you for taking the time to do this and post the pictures.

the whole 100% crop still confuses the heck out of me...I think I understand it but then again I do not.
That being said #2 and #3 are sort of striking in difference.