[HDR-photo] Canon 7D or SONY Alpha 850 - which one would you buy?

[Yuval Levy (HDR Mailing List)]

thanks for looking beyond the simple capture, Davis.

Davis Bacon wrote:
> I have a Canon XTi/350D and will eventually upgrade to the 7D, I do 
> panoramic as well and have enough Canon lens to continue with them. It 
> all depends on what glass you have and what you expect from it. I also 
> have a Sigma lens and recently found extreme limitations with there 
> optics, so much so that I refuse to buy another Sigma lens.

Indeed glass is a critical factor. The second-most critical in my 
opinion. I doubt the Sigma 8mm (or the Tokina ATX) have enough 
resolution to feed the 18 megapixel APS-C sensor of the 7D with detail.

And anyway it is the application (expectation, as you call it) that 
drives the choice. If the application was 360°x180° I'd find the 7D 
overkill. No need for a good viewfinder. And the very high pixel density 
is more than what any of those fisheye lenses can feed into it.

I still love my current kit for 360°x180° at web resolution. If I was to 
improve it, I'd go 450D + Samyang 8mm; or 500D + Tokina ATX. But that's 
not the application at hand.


> I also have a large format printer and found that the higher the 
> resolution the more you have to invest in the rest of your work flow, IE 
> computers and storage. Be wary of the amounts of data that these new 
> cameras will generate.

Sure, it's a pipeline and one need to address the bottlenecks.

I have large enough computing and storage facilities. They are commodity 
nowadays. I've just added another 2TB to my storage. Most of my 
processing happens in batch mode, overnight, so I don't care if the PC 
has finished working at 2AM or at 8AM.

The most critical factor, one that will never become commodity, is your 
time. Many shoots are a one in a life time opportunity, and in my 
opinion it should be maximized. No matter if it causes pain further down 
the process - that pain is only temporary.


> You mention large prints and low noise high ISO, what about the output 
> device? Can the gamut of output device match the gamut of the camera? 
> The dynamic, brightness and colors of the camera and computer screen 
> might be more than the output device can handle?  The printer output 
> capability may be much less than what the camera can achieve.

Unlike you I don't own a printer. I want access to the latest printing 
quality and I get it by going to the print shop that has it. There is 
enough competition between them to make some things negotiable. So far I 
have mutually beneficial relationship with three shops in my area. They 
like to work with me because I push their boundaries (think of it as 
R&D) and for me it's amazing prints on the latest technology and 
materials at a reasonable cost.


> What is the point of the camera purchase if the printer doesn't match up.

there is storage in between capture and print. Print technology will 
eventually catch up. The opportunity for the shot, however, may not come 
back.

My philosophy is shoot the best you can, make sure you can store it, and 
  wait for the printing technology to catch up. You may get to sell the 
same work twice - once with current printing technology today, and once 
with improved printing technology tomorrow.

Yuv