DSLR vs. FILM SCAN COMPARISON
IMAGES MISSION SAN LUIS REY, SAN DIEGO COUNTY |
| This page contains a two image comparison between the Canon 1Ds Mark II and a 6X9cm Velvia film scan. The 1Ds Mark II image was shot in RAW and converted with Canon's DPP 1.5. When these comparisons were made my favorite RAW converter, Capture One, didn't support the 1Ds Mark II yet. Defaults were used for conversion except no sharpening was applied. The 6X9cm Velvia chrome was scanned at 2400 dpi on my Epson 2450 and then resampled back to the exact size of the 1DS Mark II image. The 1Ds Mark II image is has slightly more detail then the 6X9cm image. My Epson 2450 actually has very good resolving power. I recently bought an Epson 4870 to 'upgrade' my medium format/large format scanning capabilities. However, I returned it when I found that it didn't even resolve as much detail as my 2450. The 4870 did produce much less noise in shadow areas but the optical path of that particular 4870 was not very good. I suspect that if this 6X9cm Velvia chrome was drum scanned or scanned in a Nikon 9000 or other focusing lens medium format scanner, the image quality would be closer. FYI, I took a good look at this 6X9 chrome with a 7X loupe and in my opinion my Epson 2450 resolved about 95% of the detail available in this crop. A camera lens optimized for 6X9 certainly would have helped too. The Rodenstock lens I used covers 4X5 and while it is very sharp optic in the center, where this image was placed, it is probably not quite as sharp as a lens designed to be used on a fixed mount 6X9 camera. Final opinion: The 1Ds Mark II should be "competitive" with optimally generated 6X9 film scans. |
| Full image from Canon 1Ds Mark II - The white frame contains the area of the full resolution TIFF screen captures shown below |
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| Canon 1Ds Mark II 24-70 f2.8 L lens @ 27mm and f8 |
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| 6X9cm Velvia @ ISO 40 in roll film back on my 4X5 camera, 65mm Rodenstock lens |
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Oceanside
harbor, 4 images including 10D, 1Ds, 35mm Provia F ISO 100 and 4X5
Velvia film scans
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