50D in da house

[Loupey]

Picked up my 50D today.

Will test it tomorrow and report back to this thread. Birds in the morning, high school football in the evening. I think I will lock in at ISO 3200 and perhaps even 6400 at night just to see what it can do.

[col64]

ooh ooh , Hurry up , I have to wait til `Sometime this month` for mine , supposed to be a lack of 50d in the whole wide world !!!!

[Photo-John]

Oooooooooh!

I've got a huge mountain bike freeride event to shoot this weekend. Maybe I'll pick one up to shoot with. That would be a sweet test. Thanks for reminding me. And congratulations on the new camera. I'm psyched for you! Looking forward to seeing how it works out for you.

[Loupey]

Here's a quick shot at ISO 1600.

Uncropped image along with a crop at actual size (unresized).

Shot RAW with slight processing for cut, color, clarity - but WITHOUT any sharpening or noise reduction during post processing. However, the camera was set with the high ISO speed noise reduction set to Standard (though I don't know if this setting comes through on RAW images).

Manual focus, manual exposure.
500mm f/4L IS wide open at 1/500s (exif data included)

The photoshop file is 86MB :eek6:

[Loupey]

Another example - this one at ISO 3200.

Same exact settings as before (still 1/500s at f/4 - as the hawk is in cover).

Again, slight PP done but WITHOUT sharpening nor any NR.


(please pay attention to the noise characteristics and not on my failure to capture the subject sharply nor "artistically" - no critiques from you N&W members )

[Loupey]

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the high ISO performance using SOOC JPEGs.

I turned the in-camera noise reduction to OFF for these.

Image quality - fine
Picture style - standard
color space - sRGB
Lens - 24-105mm f/4L IS (at 105mm, closest focusing distance)
Aperture - all at f/5.6 (shutter speed changed to compensate for ISO)


Again, the crops are at 100% size.

[Loupey]

Same samples but with the NR now turned on.

[Loupey]

That's all for now. Hope it was helpful.

Like I said, I'll shoot some football tonight and might even give AF a shot May not have those examples up until Monday tho.

[AgingEyes]

Here's a quick shot at ISO 1600.

Uncropped image along with a crop at actual size (unresized).

:

The bird looks great, Loupey!

[rongarrett]

Looks like ISO 1600 is going to be the highest practical setting. The camera antomatically goes as high as this setting according to manual. Looks like Canon has come thru on their promise for this camera to have one stop better noise performance.

I would be very interested in it's low light focusing speed. This area is the only disappointment my 40D has given. I, like you use a 500mm range for birds, { I use a 400mm F/2.8 with a 1.4 extender which gives 560mm F/4.0 }. When using this combination in the full woods, where it is always shady, I often have issues with deer images.

I have a 50D on order, but it has not yet arrived.

[Loupey]

Looks like ISO 1600 is going to be the highest practical setting. The camera antomatically goes as high as this setting according to manual.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. In Manual, Tv, Av, and P, you have full choice of ISO's including H1 (ISO 6400) and H2 (ISO 12800).

Enabling Highlight tone priority, however, limits the high end to ISO 3200.

[Loupey]

Friday Night Football

Capture Mode: JPEG, Large/Fine (all)
ISO: 6400 (all)
Shutter Speed: 1/1000s (all)
Aperture: f/2.8 (#1 & #3), f/3.5 (#2)
AF/AE: manual/manual (all)
Picture Style: Standard (all)
High ISO Speed Noise Reduction: Standard (all)
Highlight Tone Priority: Off (all)
Crop: none (all)
Lens: EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (all)

[Loupey]

Marching Band:

Capture Mode: JPEG, Large/Fine (all)
ISO: 800 (#1), 3200 (#2, #3, #4, #5)
Shutter Speed: 1/250s (#1), 1/90s (#2), 1/125s (#3, #4, #5)
Aperture: f/2 (#1), f/4 (#2), f3.5 (#3, #4)
AF/AE: manual/manual (all)
Picture Style: Standard (all)
High ISO Speed Noise Reduction: Standard (all)
Highlight Tone Priority: Off (all)
Crop: none (all)
Lens: EF 35mm f/1.4L (#1), EF 24-105mm f/4L IS (#2), EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (#3, #4, #5)

[Loupey]

Outdoor Festival

Capture Mode: JPEG, Large/Fine
ISO: 200 (#1, #4), 400 (#2, #3, #5)
Shutter Speed: 1/250s (#1), 1/500s (#2, #5), 1/750s (#3), 1/1000s (#4)
Aperture: f/5.6 (#1, #2, #4, #5), f/6.7 (#3)
AF/AE: manual/manual (all)
Picture Style: Standard (all)
High ISO Speed Noise Reduction: Standard (all)
Highlight Tone Priority: Off (#1), On (#2, #3, #4, #5)
Crop: Slight (#1, #3), none (#2, #4, #5)
Lens: EF 24-105mm f/4L IS (all)

[Loupey]

All in all, the 50D seems to deliver on Canon's promises.

The main difference I found right away was the LCD. The display is now beautiful, bright, and crystal clear. Not being one to use the LCD other than to check the histogram, I found myself thoroughly enjoying viewing the images.

The ISO performance was better than I expected at the high end (although the performance in the ISO 200~800 range seemed only marginally better than the 40D).

The image quality, SOOC, seemed to have that "3-D" look that is similar to the images from the 5D. Image quality, in general, is very good on this camera.

Are all the improvements worth going to the 50D over the 40D? Perhaps if you shoot a lot of low light or ambient light scenes and if you are one to really get use out of the jazzed up LCD or if you plan on doing really large blow-ups. For those looking to upgrade from the 10D, 20D, or 30D, this camera is definitely worth considering.


Helpful?

[greghalliday]

Niiiiice. I'm officially jealous. The problem with the 50D vs. the 5D or the 1Ds is that the 50D is just affordable enough to be frustrating. I want one and could afford one, but my wife would think I'm an idiot to replace my 20D with one. How much better output quality do you think there is at 13x19 with the 20D vs. the 50D?

[col64]

Mine`s coming tomorrow , got my lens ( 70-200) and battery grip and free 8gb card today , free canon bag comes tomorrow also , I`m like a kid in a sweet shop at the mo , sooooooo excited !!!!

[Anbesol]

Greg - 15 megapixels combined with that noise performance, the upgrade from 20D to 50D would have a tremendous impact on 13x19 prints. The larger the print of course, the more important the difference. 4x6 will have virtually no benefit on its own, however you could squeeze in much tighter crops.

Loupey - thanks for the sample shots! Canon never fails to amaze me with their engineering for noise performance. What process have they squeezed into their CMOS this time to reduce noise so significantly?

Also - on the first shot of the girl standing in the bleachers - did it crush the tones of her black pants? Or was the detail retained? And lets see your reflection in the tuba!

[Loupey]

How much better output quality do you think there is at 13x19 with the 20D vs. the 50D?

Hi, Greg - thanks for looking. Let me get back to your question in a little bit. I think I can post some examples shot with my 30D (same 8.2MP sensor as the 20D right?) against a 50D image.

[Loupey]

Mine`s coming tomorrow , got my lens ( 70-200) and battery grip and free 8gb card today , free canon bag comes tomorrow also , I`m like a kid in a sweet shop at the mo , sooooooo excited !!!!

Cool! Please let us know what you think of the 50D after you have had the chance to put it through its paces

Which 70-200mm did you get? All four models are great.


BTW, if you shoot a lot of RAW files, you may find that the 8gb card is a wee bit small.

[Loupey]

Loupey - thanks for the sample shots! Canon never fails to amaze me with their engineering for noise performance. What process have they squeezed into their CMOS this time to reduce noise so significantly?

Anbesol - you're welcome and thanks for looking! I think the gapless microlenses had a big part in it. I was really curious what "gapless" would do to the image quality.

The noise in the predecessors were always "in-focus" noise. The 50D, with the high ISO noise reduction disabled, seems more like "out-of-focus" noise. Easier to reduce during post processing.

Also - on the first shot of the girl standing in the bleachers - did it crush the tones of her black pants? Or was the detail retained? And lets see your reflection in the tuba!

As for the black pants, the detail is there. Below is a shot "forensically" rendered because I was curious now that you mentioned it.

As for the tuba, LOL! - you made me look. I am clearly there - even at ISO 3200

[kwc]

Are all the improvements worth going to the 50D over the 40D? Perhaps if you shoot a lot of low light or ambient light scenes and if you are one to really get use out of the jazzed up LCD or if you plan on doing really large blow-ups. For those looking to upgrade from the 10D, 20D, or 30D, this camera is definitely worth considering.

Helpful?

Very helpful, thanks. I've been pondering upgrading after spotting a 50D in the wild last weekend. As attractive as all your shots are, this is pushing me towards a pass on this generation (I have a 30D and 40D).

From your images it looks to me like ISO 1600 is about what I get with ISO 800 on my 40D -- is this what you're seeing as well? Thanks.

[Loupey]

From your images it looks to me like ISO 1600 is about what I get with ISO 800 on my 40D -- is this what you're seeing as well? Thanks.

Not sure yet - haven't shot enough at ISO 1600 with the noise reduction disabled to make that determination.

I would think (and hope) so as each upgrade I have made in the past yielded a one stop improvement in usable ISO performance (10D at ISO 200, 30D at ISO 400, 40D at ISO 800). And one stop is justification enough for me.

Perhaps in a few more days I will have something with which to compare directly.

[Loupey]

How much better output quality do you think there is at 13x19 with the 20D vs. the 50D?

OK, I think I have a valid comparison. These two were both shot at ISO 400. Uncropped, I resized them both to 13" x 19.5" which yielded 179.7 pixels/inch for the 30D image and 243.7 pixels/inch with the 50D image.

I then cropped out a 3" x 3" section of each image.

Does that help?


Unfortunately, these two images are polar opposites. The hawk in the 30D image is quite far and shot with a 300mm f/4L IS paired to a 2x TC. The kestrel in the 50D image is very close and shot with a 24-105mm f/4L IS.

[Loupey]

As I mentioned earlier, the noise performance at low ISO's seems to not have improved significantly. It seems that each generation pushes the high ISO end out without making significant improvements on the low side.

So I can imagine the noise curve being nearly flat, linear, and practically overlapping for each generation of cameras but then rising steeply at a usable threshold which shifts to the right further for each successive model.


Here are pixel level crops (unresized) taken directly from RAW files (hence the "flatness") of 4 cameras. All at ISO 400 (except the 50D image which is ISO 500). Notice that the improvement is not very dramatic?

So an upgrade may not be a wise choice for those who shoot primarily in these lower ISO ranges (less than ISO 400).