p.3 #1 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
hiepphotog wrote:
You're welcome . This DNG profile only works in Lightroom. And WB needs to be fixed (Auto would do most of the time). This profile does fix the tendency of shifting blue sky to purple and overall it looks nicer than the Adobe one.
to be picked up by Camera Raw or LightRoom. You might have to unhide the folders if you don't see the AppData folder in your user folder.
In my earlier post (on the v1 profiles) I commented that I thought the colors were a bit saturated with these profiles. After more extensive use, I think this was just me using Camera Neutral for a long time, which is quite unsaturated. I still dial back the saturation a little with these, but I think it's more about personal taste than absolute correctness.
I just made these and have not tested them extensively. Owners with the humidity resistant glass filters, please give them a try and let me know what you find. People reported good results with the v1 profiles, especially improvements in blue skies.
Michael
Update Nov 9 - Did some shooting this weekend under difficult lighting with good results. Still needs a large Magenta shift (I need to understand why) in LR but good results overall....Show more →
When you have a chance I would love to hear how you contrast v1 and v2, Michael.
I have v1, which shoots well enough I don't fell impelled to upgrade.
And again, sincere thanks: without you I doubt we would have the mod.
retrofocus wrote:
Good summary thread about an otherwise spread-out topic and then much harder to find information. Results coming from A7R II modifications should be maybe listed and summarized separately in the future from the A7/A7R/A7S Kolari-modified posts.
Every version is different. Stock or Mod. (Perhaps excepting the A7/A7II) Our original thread became so long it was very hard to find things, but this thread is compact so far and seems the logical place for A7r2 results, which I also await with much curiosity.
I agree there is every reason to hope it will be the best yet, and perhaps truly on the level of the M240 with M glass.
What impresses me most about the r2 is much improved color distinction and as Derek helped me realize, a lack of vignetting.
p.3 #3 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
We (k-h.a.w. and I) would like to give a big thank you to Ilija at KolariVision for loaning us an A7RII.Mod. We also know that without him (and Michael), this mod would not even be available.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen, it took us a while to organize all the test pictures we shot last Sunday. The amount of info is quite big, 900+ shots. It took us literally the whole day to do these. I admit that I underestimated the time it would take to go through these.
This is a comparison between the stock A7RII and the Kolari.mod A7RII. So this is going to be the index post for A7RII’s tests. I’ll add test links to each lens.
TESTED LENSES:
M Lenses: (sorted by focal length)
Zeiss ZM 15 f/2.8 Test 1
Leica WATE 16-18-21 f/4 Tests: 16mm, 18mm, 21mm
Leica Elmarit 21 f/2.8 ASPH Test 1
Leica Summicron 28 f/2 ASPH Test 1
Leica Elmarit 28 f/2.8 ASPH Test 1
Zeiss ZM 35 f/1.4 Test 1
Leica Summilux 35 f/1.4 ASPH (non-FLE) Test 1
Leica Summicron 35 f/2 ASPH Test 1
Leica Summilux 50 f/1.4 ASPH Test 1
Leica Summicron 50 f/2 APO Brief Remark
Leica Summicron 50 f/2 Test 1
Leica Summicron Rigid 50 f/2 Test 1
Leica Elmar-M 50 f/2.8 Collapsible Test 1
Leica Elmar 65 f/3.5 Visoflex Test 1
Leica Summicron 75 f/2 APO Test 1
Leica Elmarit 90 f/2.8 M Brief Remark
Leica Elmarit 90 f/2.8 Brief Remark
Leica Tele-Elmarit 90 f/2.8 Brief Remark
Leica Tele-Elmar 135 f/4 Brief Remark
Sony FE Native Lenses: (sorted by focal length)
Sony Zeiss 35 f/2.8 Test 1
Mitakon 50 f/0.95 (unexpected) Test 1
Sony Zeiss 55 f/1.8 Test 1
Sony G 90 f/2.8 Macro Test 1
We used only one tripod, the Jobu Algonquin. All tests had been done using 2-sec delay, WB set to Daylight, manual focus only. We also used electronic first curtain shutter to avoid shutter vibration, but there would be exposure inconsistency. We attempted to match the exact framing by using the battery grip method, but the Meike grip failed us. So there was a very slight change in framing, but that should not affect anything.
We mostly ran two aperture series for each lens on each camera, center-focus and corner-focus. This is to assess the induced field curvature by mis-matching sensor stack thickness. It is also to evaluate the additional astigmatism on the thicker stack.
Due to the huge amount of pictures (we used uncompressed option for this test), we can't provide full resolution files for the full series. It is also well-known that the center experiences no impact on a thicker stack, we would not post any center crop here. We also only include the wide open, best aperture for corner performance on the mod and f/11 crops. We believe this still holds the same merits as posting the full aperture series.
All pictures has been processed (Exposure and Vignetting correction) to give a bright corner for your viewing pleasure . All has been processed using the same default sharpening I am using in LR (40/0.7/100/12). We did not attempt to match the WB since it would make it easier to visually identify the cameras. Other than that, we did not tamper with the results to skew it over one side or the other.
Some of the tests had been on the South side, but later on we decided that the North side is better. So there was a change in scenery.
RESULTS:
All results were organized such that the Kolari.mod camera is on the left and the stock camera is on the right. There will be three apertures' crops for each focal length with center-focus. Only one wide open crop using corner-focus, if available, was included for each lens to show the additional astigmatism.
SHORT CONCLUSIONS:
1. With Kolari mod, the degradation on native lenses is minimal at best for me (at least within the focal lengths we tested). The improvement, however, is tremendous on M lenses. Up to and including 75mm, the modded camera produces better results. At no point did the stock camera produce an equally good result as the Kolari.mod.
2. The widest SLR lenses we tested is a 28mm f/2.8. Sharpness difference is minimal (a little more astigmatism/hazy for stock Sony). Longest we test is a 280mm. There is essentially no difference between stock vs. mod.
3. Small side benefit: lower purple fringing at wide open. But I don't want to read too much into this.
p.3 #4 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Zeiss Distagon ZM 15mm f/2.8
Short conclusions: This lens actually performs better in the corner on the A7RII.Kolari than on the M9 (big surprise to me). Still has some induced field curvature. The stock camera does have more astigmatism besides a strong field curvature.
p.3 #11 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Hiep,
Thank you and K-H for doing these tests. I am amazed at the performance of the corners on the WATE at all 3 focal lengths on the A7rIIM. I hope that my WATE will perform as well on my A7rM when I get it back from Kolari Vision.next week.
p.3 #12 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Many thanks Hiep for getting our images out.
I will occasionally make a comment.
Here is my first one.
I always thought the WATE did pretty well on my M9 and the stock A7r (sic!).
Nevertheless I had prepared some LCC profiles to improve the images.
After our tests I know for sure now that on the A7r2.Kolari.mod the WATE is even better than on the stock A7r2.
It would be interesting to me to see how the WATE compares on the Leica SL and M240, when scaled to the same resolution.
p.3 #13 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Thank you k-h.a.w and Hiep for performing the tests. That's a lot of detailed work!!!
PS.
BTW, have you noticed any differences in colour shift caused by Kolari mod that varied between mod versions and cameras, especially A7R2M sensor vs. 'older' Sony sensors?
p.3 #14 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
hiepphotog wrote:
We (k-h.a.w. and I) would like to give a big thank you to Ilija at KolariVision for loaning us an A7RII.Mod. We also know that without him (and Michael), this mod would not even be available.
+1!
Indeed! Thank you Ilija and Michael! Your work is much appreciated!
I hope you will have available soon the anti-reflection coating in addition to the thinner sensor cover glass and moisture treatment you already provide.
Our results certainly have convinced me to get such an A7r2.Kolari.mod to use again certain Leica M lenses that didn't see much use on a stock A7r2.
p.3 #15 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
charles.K wrote:
Thank you Hiep for sharing these results !!!
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naturephoto1 wrote:
Hiep,
Thank you and K-H for doing these tests. I am amazed at the performance of the corners on the WATE at all 3 focal lengths on the A7rIIM. I hope that my WATE will perform as well on my A7rM when I get it back from Kolari Vision.next week.
Rich
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k-h.a.w wrote:
Many thanks Hiep for getting our images out.
I will occasionally make a comment.
Here is my first one.
I always thought the WATE did pretty well on my M9 and the stock A7r (sic!).
Nevertheless I had prepared some LCC profiles to improve the images.
After our tests I know for sure now that on the A7r2.Kolari.mod the WATE is even better than on the stock A7r2.
It would be interesting to me to see how the WATE compares on the Leica SL and M240, when scaled to the same resolution.
With kind regards, K-H.
PS: Thank you Charles and Rich for your feedback.
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JaKo wrote:
Thank you k-h.a.w and Hiep for performing the tests. That's a lot of detailed work!!!
Thank you for the feedback Charles, Rich and Jack. It was a fun experience for both of us, having a chance to get to know another member.
p.3 #20 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
The sharpness improvement is certainly amazing but the color profile being used needs some major work with the Kolari mod. Given all of the scrutiny over color and the mod, I'm wondering why this is still the case?
. This DNG profile only works in Lightroom. And WB needs to be fixed (Auto would do most of the time). This profile does fix the tendency of shifting blue sky to purple and overall it looks nicer than the Adobe one.
