Streetshooter
Administrator Emeritus
- Location
- Philly, Pa
Philly, 2nd & Market. GXR 28
View attachment 45117
11-11-0370-Edit.jpg by streetshooter.us, on Flickr
View attachment 45117
11-11-0370-Edit.jpg by streetshooter.us, on Flickr
Lovely light you've captured there Norman
(wish I were on the other end of that phone :/)
So Norman - nice work as is usually the case. You had the GRD3 and now have the GRD4 - how do you like it? In what ways do the upgrade become apparent in street shooting. The images look great, but I can't say they look a lot different at first glance. I know AF is faster, but if you're using snap focus, are the shooting or results different in any notable ways?
Thanks,
-Ray
Norman - one more question: You say that noise control seems to be improved by about a stop - is this shooting raw or jpeg? Are the raw files cleaner to beging with or is this mostly the result of better jpeg noise handling?
I'm mostly just wondering if there's any strong reason for me to upgrade from the 3 to 4 given that I mostly shoot moving subjects in snap focus mode with this cam (so the faster AF and the image stabilization probably wouldn't do much if anything for me). I've gotten plenty of results I'm very happy with at ISO 800. 1600 starts looking pretty rough but is useable and cleans up reasonably well with just a bit of NR in post processing. Unless the new model is substantially better at 1600, I don't see anything to upgrade for.
Thanks,
-Ray
Sorry, I failed to spot this post somehow till now.
I was talking about RAW files. Shortly after my post I got both cams out and shot from 4 different positions around my bedroom in rather poor light at ISO800 and ISO1600 and then compared the 2 cameras. The differences were dramatic. The GRD3 images looked a lot flatter and noisier and the difference was clearly apparent at normal viewing. When I loaded them into Photoshop's camera raw the GRD3's contrast range fell comfortable within my default settings and was showing little or no clipping. The images were somewhat flat and noise was very apparent. The GRD4 was being clipped at both ends and I needed to reduce contrast and use the recovery slider some to prevent clipping. With the GRDIV ISO1600 is very useable, with less noise and greater tonal range and still very workable in pp.
I know that test isn't real world and I think on the street often the differences will not be so apparent but I'm convinced it will increase my keeper rate substantially, especially in tricky conditions. Once you work the RAW files the differences may be harder to distinguish but it kinda reminds me of the step-up I felt when I went from a Panasonic G1 to the GH2. Same/similar sensor but one gave me a whole lot more shooting opportunities than the other. In good conditions you wonder if it was worth the price difference.
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