1623 - Rock Steady

2011-03-28

Yes, yes, I know, this is no proper Image of the Day. This is just a test image, but this is part of my review of the Panasonic DMC-LX5, and the technical data of this image are quite remarkable.

I was standing down in the garage, my back leaning against a pillar, the elbows braced against the body, the camera held in the most steady position, and it took me four attempts to get this image, but still:

ISO 80, f2 and 1s. Yeah, that’s right. One second. Hand-held.

How’s image stabilization on this camera, you ask? Remarkable, I say 😛

Shooting at f2 with a DSLR brings a considerable DOF penalty, thus even though you may get a sharp image, the depth of field is so shallow, that the image frequently still looks wrong. The smaller sensor of the LX5 captures a higher DOF, thus f2 is perfectly usable, as you see.

The Song of the Day is “Rock Steady” from the 1972 album “Young, Gifted And Black” by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. See a live performance on YouTube.

There are 5 comments

Juha Haataja   (2011-03-28)

"DOF penalty", that is a good term. Small sensors do have some good properties... A small mini-tripod helps even in handheld photography to get a stable shot at 0.5...1 second exposures. You get a nice stable grip, eliminating some degrees of freedom. Although I guess having the EVF and stabilizing the camera against your face is a good technique also.

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andreas   (2011-03-28)

One second, with concentration and some luck, I guess that's the maximum. Today I tried another garage shot, this time it was 1.3 s, but I couldn't hold it at all. Anyway. With the DSLR, 1/4 s is the maximum that I can use with similar (im)probability of success. Which ever way you look at it, I see a two to three stop advantage for the LX5 over the D300 with 17-50/2.8, at least when motion blur is not a problem. But then, I can of course put the 50/1.2 on my D300 🙂

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Ted Byrne   (2011-03-29)

Curious the un-noisy detail in the shadows. But particularly interesting in the detail not so much in the shadows but in the black paint on the black car. Now the ISO of 80 helps to explain the large lack of noise. But the tonal range in the black paint is quite acceptably deep - a characteristic that goes beyond sharpness and even contrast. Now some of that is a tribute to the lens used, but much is also an interesting comment upon the processor. It's a step beyond the black dog on the black background at night test. An interesting technological accomplishment, eh?

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Ted Byrne   (2011-03-29)

BTW... nice light balance as well. Was that a camera preset or a PP adjustment?

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andreas   (2011-03-29)

This is a RAW conversion, and because I have no camera profiles for the LX5, there is always a deviation from the in-camera JPEG. Still, this cam is pretty good at distributing tones over the full possible dynamic range.

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