Day: January 7, 2015

Nikon D750 vs Fujifilm X-E2 on test chart

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
 
Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/180

I posted a blog earlier today showing my observations with my moon shots comparing the Nikon D750 to the Fujifilm X-E2. I received many comments that this was not a good test. Well, it wasn’t a test.

Here is a test of the difference between the Nikon D750 and the Fujifilm X-E2 shooting a test image under studio strobes at the same ISO, aperture, and highly close shutter speeds.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/180

You can see the overall image of the test image, and then I came in closer on both cameras. Mind that the 24 megapixel is a larger file and has more information than the 16 megapixels of the other camera.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 18-55mm, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/180

I will let you come to your conclusions about the two cameras. The Fujifilm X-E2 shot 83mm, and the Nikon D750 at 85mm. Again some minor differences.

Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/200

I will let the photos speak for themselves in this blog post.

Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/200
Nikon D750, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 200, ƒ/16, 1/200

Photographing the Moon with both the Nikon D750 and Fujifilm X-E2

by Stanley LearyNikon D750
 
Nikon D750, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 100, ƒ/9, 1/200

I was not planning on comparing the two cameras but ended up noticing quite a difference between the two cameras when taking some photos of the moon.

Fujifilm X-E2, FUJINON XF 55-200mm, ISO 800, ƒ/8, 1/4000

While editing the two photos, I noticed a sharpness in the 16-megapixel Fuji image that wasn’t in the Nikon 24-megapixel. Of course, I would expect the Nikon D750 to be sharper.

Nikon D750, ISO 4000, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000

I just put this photo here shot at 1/4000 to quiet those who think the softness of the D750 was from camera movement. It is the filter.

Until recently, virtually all digital cameras had anti-aliasing or low-pass filter over the sensor. This filter softened the image very slightly to reduce the likelihood of moiré patterning happening in parts of the photo close to the sensor’s resolution limit.

There is no filter on the Fuji, and there is one on the Nikon D750.

The benefit of leaving off the filter is that the camera can record a little more detail and produce slightly sharper images, with less need for post-capture sharpening.

Nikon just introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show this week their new Nikon D5500, whose high-resolution sensor has no optical low-pass filter. It joins the Nikon D810, which doesn’t have an anti-aliasing or low-pass filter over the sensor.

I think we may be experiencing a change in the industry. Since the Nikon D800E, we have seen more cameras without anti-aliasing, or low-pass, filter over the sensor. Removing the filter is because the pixel density of sensors has become so high that there are fewer and fewer patterns that we are likely to photograph with a high enough frequency to cause moiré patterning.