gdanmitchell wrote: bernardl wrote:
There are applications where both cameras will perform well.
There are applications where the much superior DR of the D850 will save the day.
This has been known for years.
There are almost no situations in which the either camera's slight differences in performance will "save the day."
As a person who uses multiple brands, systems, and formats I can tell you that either of these cameras is going to have plenty of DR, and that the other differences are really minimal. (I have not had to do an exposure blend since I've had the 5DsR.)
When it comes to DR, you'll find yourself in one of three situations with a given photograph:
1. The dynamic range of the subject is well within the capabilities of virtually any camera. This is the most typical situation.
2. The dynamic range is larger than that of essentially any modern camera that we're likely to have. This is the second most likely scenario. No matter what camera you use, you'll need to find ways to deal with this situation.
3. The dynamic range of the subject is too great for one camera that you might use but another otherwise equivalent alternative has just enough extra DR to make the shot work. This is the outlier of the bunch. It happens, but it is quite rare.
Regarding #3, also keep in mind that DR ranges do not provide hard limits on what you and cannot do. It isn't like (to make up an example) the camera will work with 10 stops of DR but fail with 10.5. There is essentially a roll-off in performance that manifests as perhaps a bit more noise in the frame (and a slightly increased amount of NR in post) in some areas of the frame, but the difference is typically so small that you would not be able to notice it.
There's a lot of mythology built up about these things, and "motivated reasoning" often plays a pretty big role in how it is perceived. If it were really the case that system A was miles beyond system B, we'd see this clearly in the photographs made with the two systems — e.g. you'd walk into a gallery, look at the images, and exclaim, "Ah! Obviously THAT one was done with System A!"
But it doesn't work that way.
System choice involves a whole bunch of parameters, not just a single soft datapoint about something like DR. Your feelings about the brand and the specific system weigh heavily. (They also play into the motivated reasoning about other factors.) What you and your friends/cohorts are familiar with makes a difference.
Fortunately, in the end, you'll find that there are outstanding photographers producing excellent work of all sorts using every one of these systems in all sorts of variations of mirrorless/DSLR, format, and more...
... and if you waked into a gallery full of large prints from all of them you would be completely unable to tell which came from which of them.
The 5DsR is a very competent camera, and it produces excellent image quality. This is also true of the excellent comparable cameras from Nikon. If you are already comfortable with one of these brands, and especially if you are already invested in lenses and other accessories, stick with the brand you have. Worry less about brands and specs, and focus more on the visual aspects of your photography.
Take care,
Dan
Dan,
What modern Nikon/Sony do you have extended first hand experience with if I may ask?
As far as I recall all the excellent images I saw you publish were all captured with Canon bodies and very much felt like you were concentrating on situations were DR would not be an issue.
Concentrating on once photography is certainly an excellent piece of advise but it is IMHO simply misleading to claim that DR isn’t relevant or that all cameras perform the same. All my friends shooting Sony come from Canon and they all left because of insufficient DR.
The issue is so real that Canon themselves decided to bake in NR in the low ISO raw files of their mirrorless bodies.
Frankly the only reasonable advice at this point in time is to guide people towards the better performing camera and that is clearly the D850.
Cheers,
Bernard
Feb 13, 2022 at 04:33 PM
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