Revisiting an old friend

Discussion of all digital SLR cameras under the Minolta and Konica Minolta brands
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classiccameras
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Revisiting an old friend

Unread post by classiccameras »

I decided recently to bring my old Olympus E-510 (my first DSLR) and 14-54 F/2.8 lens out of retirement to see how it stood up to my Sony Alpha A-57 with standard 18-55 kit lens and my Canon 550D with standard 18-55 STM kit lens. I haven't quite mastered posting pictures but the results surprised me and not what I was expecting. Taking a series of pictures of some flowers, (not close ups) in bright sun and all cameras set on P and standard capture mode Jpeg, the Olympus which is only 10mp exhibited the sharpest pictures even at 100% crop, colours were nicer but then Olympus were always the best Jpegs in the business. The reviewers often say you don't really need more than 12mp unless you are making huge prints, and how many apart from the pros really do.
Any body else tried a back to back test with their old DSLR, it would be interesting to compare notes.
PS, I think I will take the old Oly our more often.
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the_hefay
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Re: Revisiting an old friend

Unread post by the_hefay »

Earlier this year I unpacked my my a100 and was pleasantly surprised at the results. It too is in the 10mp range. About the only thing I really missed were the live view and the ability to digitally zoom to verify manual focus.
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bakubo
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Re: Revisiting an old friend

Unread post by bakubo »

classiccameras wrote:The reviewers often say you don't really need more than 12mp unless you are making huge prints, and how many apart from the pros really do.
This video about making big prints from 16mp by a National Geographic photographer is good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39tFGoO4008

It is, I suppose, a Panasonic sponsored video, but still good, I think.

Since 2006 I pretty much have had no concerns about printing. What really brought it home to me was a gorgeous landscape photo exhibition I saw in Vancouver, BC of big 20x30 inch prints made from a 6mp Nikon D70s and 18-200mm VR lens. I emailed the photographer and he told me what he used for the trip to China. He used medium format film before this.
classiccameras wrote: Any body else tried a back to back test with their old DSLR, it would be interesting to compare notes.
PS, I think I will take the old Oly our more often.
A few months ago I processed some old 8mp Canon 30D raw files from a trip to Thailand using LR 5.7. I was a bit surprised how good they were. Part of that is probably because the raw processing of LR/ACR has improved a lot over the years so it does even better with old raw files.
classiccameras
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Re: Revisiting an old friend

Unread post by classiccameras »

I suspect a lot is to do with pixel density but I also suspect a good lens is far more able to do the sensor justice as its not being pushed to its limits. My Friends 10mp Nikon D80 produces superb IQ and that has a CCD sensor.
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mikeriach
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Re: Revisiting an old friend

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I'm hearing good things there. Maybe I should load up some of my old 6mp Dynax 7D shots and see how they look.

Mike
All my Sony SLT gear gone. Still got my RX100 though.
classiccameras
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Re: Revisiting an old friend

Unread post by classiccameras »

I think my Jpeg IQ, has not improved that much in quality as each new higher MP camera has been purchased, in some respects they have got worse. From my experience, unless you are doing huge enlargements, 8-12 MP is the best level, and I remember Nikon saying that 12mp was their ideal mp number. Of course they have all progressed to very high pixel counts now but I don't think IQ has progressed at the same rate.
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