Woke up this mornin’, feel ’round for my shoes
You know ’bout that baby? Got them ol’ walkin’ blues!
Woke up this mornin’, … an’ feel ’round for my shoes.*
Or “the camera as artist”.
Four shots taken with four different cameras. Each set to shoot monochrome (not colour desaturated later) and on automatic to let the camera choose exposure. I tried to frame them all as close as possible with their widely different focal lengths, and shoot as quickly as possible to prevent severe light changes (natural lighting). The only processing was reducing image size from native (not the same on any of them) to 640 pixels wide.
Which do you think gives the best rendering?
Of course I could take any one of them and tweak the contrast, brightness, et cetera – but that isn’t the point of the exercise. I think one of the major failings of digital photography is too much reliance on processing and not enough concentrating on getting it right out of the camera. The manufacturers don’t help there, with the way they design the controls and bury things in menus. As it was none of these cameras has a simple switch for going between colour and monochrome; it’s in the menus for all of them. I understand Fuji makes several models with such a ‘film switch’ but they are pricey beyond reason for me.
Here’s what happens when you get “artsy” with it:
*”Walkin’ Blues” by Son House circa 1930.
Wandering Words 
Kodak P850. Best tonality and sharpness.
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I agree. The CCD sensor has a wider range and ‘softer’ feel to it. The CMOS sensors have less latitude and present a ‘harsher’ image. And you can see the poor ol’ V1003 is failing.
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Marc, I also think the P850 is the more defined image….. if your interested…. Look at the Fuji XE1, it has the “film features” you mention and is available at a resonable cost.. checkout MPB for excellent 2nd user bodies.. I can highly recommend their services… very professional and also excellent value with a warranty as added security, I can vouch for the XE1 as I use one and love it… along with a XT1, Fuji really do make a superb camera …. check them out Marc…. rgds L
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Thanks. Unfortunately here in Canada everything imported is too expensive, due to our saggy dollar. The Fuji XE3 is one I wrote about and how even a ‘bargain’ version is an unjustifiable expense for me.
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I agree with the earlier comments, the Kodak P850 is far better than the others, a very pleasing tonality.
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Interesting experiment Marc, I think I might try this myself…
Do you use mono images straight out of camera, or would you want to process these anyway?
I know I have three cameras I can think of that I’d use b/w images straight out of camera as they have the options on board for higher contrast. The other few always come out too low in contrast, and too grey for my liking, so I’d run them through one of my Snapseed presets.
I can see why people prefer the P850 image, from the CCD sensor. It does appear more organic, less bright and harsh, then the others.
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These were shot B&W in camera, Dan. I tried to ‘equalize’ things as much as possible, just letting the cameras pick exposure. I think we see a good difference between the CCD and CMOS sensors here. With the added proviso that the V1003 is slowly dying; notice how ‘flat’ that image appears? When I want a good shot from that camera I always have to tweak the contrast and colour now. Alas!
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I just wondered if all of these were usuable for your tastes, if there was enough control in camera to get the b/w look you like, or if you always had to use some kind of PP afterwards anyway.
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As a rule I shoot colour and then desaturate if I want B&W, giving me the most choices. In this case I shot them in B&W to begin with to see how the cameras would handle it. And I didn’t want the ‘distraction’ of colour.
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