nksyoon
Well-known
So, last weekend I made my annual "pilgrimage" to the Jazz Ascona festival in southern Switzerland. This year I decided to shoot with my R-D1, Summilux 50/1.4 and Elmarit 90/2.8, and left the Canon 20D at home.
It was an interesting experience compared to using the 20D, the main loss being the continuous shooting mode (this was also a gain as I had less files to process). Another problem was the lack of 90mm framelines - I set the 50mm framelines and composed inside those - I would check the LCD every couple of shots to make sure my estimation was OK. A huge plus was being able to carry a much lighter and compact set of equipment. I also liked the capability to keep both eyes open with the R-D1's VF, but only in portrait mode as I'm left-eyed. I really enjoyed using the R-D1 and don't expect to be using the 20D very often from now on!
I shot in raw mode with the camera set to monochrome and mainly at ISO800 (except for the daylight shots) and -1 stop compensation to preserve highlights as many of the musicians were wearing light clothing against dark backgrounds. The noise pattern seems similar to the Nikon D70 and others using the same sensor, and slightly more obvious than the 20D. However, the 20D exhibits very bad banding when you have to push the exposure in post-processing (even with raw). The R-D1 has very little pattern noise which really only shows from +1.5 stops and above.
All photos were processed in Epson Photoraw B&W with -5 edge enhancement and +3 to +5 contrast for the daylight images. No colour filters applied. Slight levels/curves and some USM applied in Photoshop. 1-2 images were processed with Neat Image.
Here are the photos as a Flickr Slideshow and the Thumbnails
Some samples attached below:
It was an interesting experience compared to using the 20D, the main loss being the continuous shooting mode (this was also a gain as I had less files to process). Another problem was the lack of 90mm framelines - I set the 50mm framelines and composed inside those - I would check the LCD every couple of shots to make sure my estimation was OK. A huge plus was being able to carry a much lighter and compact set of equipment. I also liked the capability to keep both eyes open with the R-D1's VF, but only in portrait mode as I'm left-eyed. I really enjoyed using the R-D1 and don't expect to be using the 20D very often from now on!
I shot in raw mode with the camera set to monochrome and mainly at ISO800 (except for the daylight shots) and -1 stop compensation to preserve highlights as many of the musicians were wearing light clothing against dark backgrounds. The noise pattern seems similar to the Nikon D70 and others using the same sensor, and slightly more obvious than the 20D. However, the 20D exhibits very bad banding when you have to push the exposure in post-processing (even with raw). The R-D1 has very little pattern noise which really only shows from +1.5 stops and above.
All photos were processed in Epson Photoraw B&W with -5 edge enhancement and +3 to +5 contrast for the daylight images. No colour filters applied. Slight levels/curves and some USM applied in Photoshop. 1-2 images were processed with Neat Image.
Here are the photos as a Flickr Slideshow and the Thumbnails
Some samples attached below:
Attachments
Last edited:
Chaser
Well-known
Great series, with great toneality throughout.
Aurelius
Well-known
Very very interesting info & very beautiful pictures indeed.
I have read your and other RD-1 owners posts carefully during a week or so. And thanks to your work and words and wonderful pics, is the waiting for my RD-1s a pain! 3 days or so left only ...
I am a fan of PhotoShop Raw processing. But the Epson software sounds quite nice to use. I hope it is better than Olys Studio. My E-1 Raws like PS more, or is it just an excuse?
Hurry UP UPS!
I have read your and other RD-1 owners posts carefully during a week or so. And thanks to your work and words and wonderful pics, is the waiting for my RD-1s a pain! 3 days or so left only ...
I am a fan of PhotoShop Raw processing. But the Epson software sounds quite nice to use. I hope it is better than Olys Studio. My E-1 Raws like PS more, or is it just an excuse?
Hurry UP UPS!
IGMeanwell
Well-known
I love this series ... makes me want to go shoot some concerts!!!
I have never had any experience with the RD-1 ... was that spot metering used for the night shots?
I have never had any experience with the RD-1 ... was that spot metering used for the night shots?
garethc
Established
Wow, what a great set. I particularly like 1 and 3 for their crops. Makes me very glad to have finally got an R-D1 (today)!
back alley
IMAGES
nice stuff nick.
makes me want an rd-1
makes me want an rd-1
spxxxx
Newbie
Excellent - can't wait to get mine .........
Simon
Simon
akptc
Shoot first, think later
Wonderful images, thanks for sharing. The in-focus vs. oof is amazing - aside from obvious skill, do you think it was your choice of lenses, i.e. what if you'd taken a Summicron instead of the 'lux? I ask because I am just learning the differences between these 2.
zuikologist
.........................
Nice shots. The RD1 handles black & white very well.
Hmm, time to start saving for an RD-1....
Hmm, time to start saving for an RD-1....
nksyoon
Well-known
akptc said:
Thanks for the compliments.
I'm not sure about the differences - for 50mm I also have a Summicron and a Hexanon. I've only had the R-D1 less than a month, so am still learning it. At some stage I should do a comparison between the duplicate lenses I have for a certain focal length. I shot very little at 1.4 because the performers were moving about, usually I shot at 2.8-4.