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Can your 18Mpx camera do this?


Tailwagger

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Two nights ago I decided to run some experiments on L/M/S-DNG modes just to try to understand what value other then reduced file size there was to using the lower resolution modes. I took a few test shots, but it was late, so I didn't do much work on the results and largely just forgot about it.  The next morning I headed out to western MA to deliver a print to a client and did some shooting along the way.  When I got back home last night and uploaded the files, I was a little surprised how fast, given the increased size, they loaded.  A few seconds later, I knew why and my heart sank. I had forgotten to return the camera to full res, hadn't even thought to check and as a result wound up shooting everything in 18Mpx mode.

It's been at least three quarters of a decade since I've dealt with a file of similar resolution (Fuji) and whenever I have gone back on occasion to review shots from 2012-4, I never fail to be amazed at how far things have progressed.  So despite knowing intellectually that pixel count is a very poor yardstick for quality, I was pretty pissed at myself for having screwed up. Now I'm sure all the M9 folks are chucking (or bristling) at that, but, hey, you spend up for a M11 and you want everything it can possibly give. A little disgusted, I turned my attention to the Celtics game, watched them get their asses kicked, figured just wasn't anyones day and went to bed. 

This morning, I figured I'd dig into stuff a little to see just what I came away with and how compromised the results might be.  I impressed. I'm not a Reid subscriber, I don't know what he has had to say on this subject, but I'm now beginning to wonder it there aren't so pretty  good reasons to seriously consider shooting at something other than full res. As I found this interesting, I thought I'd share a shot that somewhat exemplifies what I've found. 

First, here is the original, unprocessed shot, obviously a fair difficult scene... which the metering handled very well IMO. 

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Here is a 100% crop (2480x2480) after exporting the unprocessed file to PS and upscaling 300%.

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Finally, here's a processed version. Personally, I'm impressed with the amount of detail that was recoverable in the sky. I'm wondering if some of that capability was as a result of having a little more latitude due to shooting at 18MPx.

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Not enough experience yet to say, but it make me wonder, at least for difficult scenes, if it might not pay to bracket resolutions. As I wasn't testing things, just shooting, no comparisons are possible, but IMO, there seems to be at least an indication that there may be other reasons to prefer something other than native res. Not surprising, but it seems that Leica took the inclusion of these modes very seriously.  Rather than allowing the philosophy of 'bigger is better' to reject their use out of hand, I think we may find that saving some memory isn't the only reason to consider using them.

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16 minutes ago, Danner said:

I would have been interesting to see what kind of detail the sky would reveal with a full resolution capture.

Agreed, but as I mentioned this was accidental. I think this is a subject worth more investigation.  Perhaps this afternoons M11 tech talk will have some info on this. 

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33 minutes ago, SrMi said:

The new status screen allows quick check of most important settings. It is a great advantage of M11over M10-R. I keep rechecking my M10-R. I can't believe it does not have it :).

As I mentioned a while back over on the M10 side, it struck me that the new system might be able to be back ported to the M10-R at least, though I suspect it wont be. 'spose well see when the V2 support gets added. 

My guess, however, is that you're either a bit younger than myself or have had lasik. My eyesight at a few inches simply isn't good enough to notice the difference between L/M/S on the icon. I checked the screen a few of times throughout the course of the day and never noticed I was in S.  So as a suggestion to Leica, it might be better to change the icon color in addition to the text, say green, yellow, red for L, M, or S. 

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2 minutes ago, Tailwagger said:

As I mentioned a while back over on the M10 side, it struck me that the new system might be able to be back ported to the M10-R at least, though I suspect it wont be. 'spose well see when the V2 support gets added. 

My guess, however, is that you're either a bit younger than myself or have had lasik. My eyesight at a few inches simply isn't good enough to notice the difference between L/M/S on the icon. I checked the screen a few of times throughout the course of the day and never noticed I was in S.  So as a suggestion to Leica, it might be better to change the icon color in addition to the text, say green, yellow, red for L, M, or S. 

Two words: progressive lenses!

I agree that the text is a bit smallish, I need to focus to be able read it. Very good suggestions, could you add them to the thread please (in case Leica is monitoring it):

 

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2 hours ago, Kwesi said:

Quick question. What lens and metering mode were you using?

Also ere you on Auto or manual exposure - trying to get a feel for how the M11 interprets the scene

This particular shot was with the 28mm 'lux.  Metering mode was Center-Weighted... old habits die hard.  Auto, F11, 1/60", ISO 64.   My impression is that the metering has improved dramatically.

Here's another scene from yesterday that perhaps you'll find illustrative. First the unprocessed file. This time the WATE at 16mm, F8 (though reported as 9.5) 1/125".  Again, very difficult scene shot straight into the sun. 

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Now the processed version to my, perhaps no one else's, taste.  In this case, I wanted to emphasize the failing light. I was quite chuffed at the colors of sunset emerging on the horizon.  There was added detail around the sun, but I choose to blow it all out, just cause. Slight crop.

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[EDIT] I'll add that the corner performance of the WATE at 16mm with this sensor is, for me, mind blowing. If I didn't know better, I would have thought this shot was made with the 21mm SEM. 

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Thanks, the difference is jaw dropping!

Going back to your first shot I would have guessed that you used evaluative metering. I remember from the M9 days how the meter was so easily fooled by point light sources leading to a lot of "dramatic lighting" shots - we've come a long way.

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vor 44 Minuten schrieb Kwesi:

Thanks, the difference is jaw dropping!

Going back to your first shot I would have guessed that you used evaluative metering. I remember from the M9 days how the meter was so easily fooled by point light sources leading to a lot of "dramatic lighting" shots - we've come a long way.

After some time I have started to like that behavior of the M9, as it meant you never blow the highlights in those situations. And as this kind of "underexposure" usually meant dropping to lower ISOs, it was easy to pull the shadows as required. But it is great to see how well the M11 handled the highlights, how much of the sky detail was recoverable.

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