Manifestation of 12-bit conversion?

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RichA - 03 Apr 2007 20:21 GMT

I'm viewing this on an LCD monitor at 32 bits. Notice the
discontinious tones in the snow? Kind of like blotchy blue on white?
Is this a result of lack of colour bit-depth in the A to D conversion
process? Or, it is simply the results of viewing on a monitor, it
wouldn't show up in a print?

http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/olympus/evolt/e410/photography/zoo_anim
als_zoom12.jpg

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frederick - 03 Apr 2007 20:35 GMT

> I'm viewing this on an LCD monitor at 32 bits. Notice the
> discontinious tones in the snow? Kind of like blotchy blue on white?
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/olympus/evolt/e410/photography/zoo_anim
als_zoom12.jpg

Looks like extremely aggressive noise reduction. Blurry and lacking
detail as well as poor dynamic range.

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RichA - 03 Apr 2007 23:00 GMT

> > I'm viewing this on an LCD monitor at 32 bits. Notice the
> > discontinious tones in the snow? Kind of like blotchy blue on white?
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Looks like extremely aggressive noise reduction. Blurry and lacking
> detail as well as poor dynamic range.

It's a jpeg, but strong noise reduction isn't an Olympus trademark.
Unless like Panasonic, they have changed
their philosophy.

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frederick - 03 Apr 2007 23:48 GMT

>>> I'm viewing this on an LCD monitor at 32 bits. Notice the
>>> discontinious tones in the snow? Kind of like blotchy blue on white?
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Unless like Panasonic, they have changed
> their philosophy.

I looked at some of the other Zoo Images photos there, from both the
Olympus and Nikon D40x. Neither look very good to me - soft macro shots
that don't do any favours to the potential that the camera may offer -
such as this iso 100 shot with D40x:
http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/nikon/d40x/artis/artis-zoo-amsterdam_B21.jpg
If they used decent lenses and technique, then at least the starting
point for any comparisons would be there. As it is, all the Olympus
close-up photos I looked at seemed soft, and even the limited detail
that was there gets washed out as the ISO is raised.

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Tom Ross - 04 Apr 2007 07:30 GMT

>I'm viewing this on an LCD monitor at 32 bits. Notice the
>discontinious tones in the snow? Kind of like blotchy blue on white?
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
>http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/olympus/evolt/e410/photography/zoo_anim
als_zoom12.jpg

First, I don't think the white surface is snow. The image was shot at
the Amsterdam Zoo, and none of the other shots from the Butterfly
Pavillion appear to have snow in them.

http://www.letsgodigital.org/html/review/olympus/evolt/e410/olympus_e-410.html

What I think you're seeing are reflections off a whiteish painted
surface and/or a combination of artificial, natural and filtered
light.

Second, that image was taken at ISO 1600. There is a nearly identical
image shot at ISO 800 that doesn't have as much noise.

Is it me, or is the focus soft on this image? I would have expected a
greater DOF at f/10. And the shot was taken with a 40-150 Zoom - you
have to wonder why the focal length for this shot was 86mm.

TR

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