PhotoMaster
11-27-2009, 10:44 PM
So I had some free time tonight.... I decided to Compare my G11 to 40D with a 17-55mm Lens.
The results were not quite what I expected... on a side note, the white balance on the G11 seems to be better than the one of the 40D. Both were shot in RAW mode noise reduction was at 0 for both cameras and sharpening was at 5 for both cameras. 2 second timer was used to avoid shake and camera was a flat table. Faithful was used for both. DDP was used for all RAW settings and images were viewed and compared in RAW mode not jpeg. Since the exposure were different from both cameras and the 40D was Darker, I increased brightness by .50 for it's images to match the G11. Not doing so would give the 40D an unfair advantage, since lower exposes gives us less noise.
At 80 ISO (100 iso for the 40D) the G11 was sharper than 40D. Both had the same level of noise once everything was set to zero. This is quite amazing. Especially since I'm using a 17-55mm lens. Both cameras were set to program and both used a F stop of 2.8. I suspected the G11 lens doesn't suffer as much at the 17-55mm lens does at 2.8.
Exact same test now at 800 ISO for both. Now the 40D choose a f stop of 4.5 in Program mode while the G11 used 3.5 in the same mode. I thought the 17-55mm would be sharper in this case... I was wrong. The G11 was still clearer and sharper. The noise levels were very close. The 40D had slightly lens noise but you have to pixel peep to REALLY see it. Excellent result for the G11.
I really wanted to make the 40D and 17-55mm as sharp as possible to I used a f stop of 10 on the 40D. I also used live view on the 40D and manually focused the shot myself. FINALLY the results on sharpness were the same... Yet it took a lot of work to get the 40D to match the sharpness of the G11.
I shot a new subject with the new settings and the noise levels were still comparable. Again the 40D had less noise, but my a small margin. You can't see it it unless you view them full size.
Overall I'm disappointed and excited. Disappointed because my 40D and 17-55mm lens got their butt kicked in LOW ISO by a $450 camera. I mean that lens alone was $1,150. And I was also expected the 40D do KILL the G11 at 800 ISO. That didn't happen. I'm exited because now I can carry around my G11 and not my 40D for most of my shooting... and not worry about image quality.
The results were not quite what I expected... on a side note, the white balance on the G11 seems to be better than the one of the 40D. Both were shot in RAW mode noise reduction was at 0 for both cameras and sharpening was at 5 for both cameras. 2 second timer was used to avoid shake and camera was a flat table. Faithful was used for both. DDP was used for all RAW settings and images were viewed and compared in RAW mode not jpeg. Since the exposure were different from both cameras and the 40D was Darker, I increased brightness by .50 for it's images to match the G11. Not doing so would give the 40D an unfair advantage, since lower exposes gives us less noise.
At 80 ISO (100 iso for the 40D) the G11 was sharper than 40D. Both had the same level of noise once everything was set to zero. This is quite amazing. Especially since I'm using a 17-55mm lens. Both cameras were set to program and both used a F stop of 2.8. I suspected the G11 lens doesn't suffer as much at the 17-55mm lens does at 2.8.
Exact same test now at 800 ISO for both. Now the 40D choose a f stop of 4.5 in Program mode while the G11 used 3.5 in the same mode. I thought the 17-55mm would be sharper in this case... I was wrong. The G11 was still clearer and sharper. The noise levels were very close. The 40D had slightly lens noise but you have to pixel peep to REALLY see it. Excellent result for the G11.
I really wanted to make the 40D and 17-55mm as sharp as possible to I used a f stop of 10 on the 40D. I also used live view on the 40D and manually focused the shot myself. FINALLY the results on sharpness were the same... Yet it took a lot of work to get the 40D to match the sharpness of the G11.
I shot a new subject with the new settings and the noise levels were still comparable. Again the 40D had less noise, but my a small margin. You can't see it it unless you view them full size.
Overall I'm disappointed and excited. Disappointed because my 40D and 17-55mm lens got their butt kicked in LOW ISO by a $450 camera. I mean that lens alone was $1,150. And I was also expected the 40D do KILL the G11 at 800 ISO. That didn't happen. I'm exited because now I can carry around my G11 and not my 40D for most of my shooting... and not worry about image quality.