Comments on: Which picture was shot with a Hasselblad 39MP $30,000 camera?

By: greg

greg — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:30:46 +0000

DH is correct, as a check of the metadata revealed: The top image is the Hasselblad image, and the bottom one was shot with the Canon.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:30:44 +0000

Bottom is shot on the back.

By: greg

greg — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:32:20 +0000

The point is that it’s so hard to tell and more and more shoots are going to be for electronic media that, for me, it’s not worth the extra $26,000. for the Hasselblad. Sure, it impresses clients on big shoots to have a complicated camera, and if you shoot and print 3′x4′ prints you might need the Hasselblad, but otherwise, I’ll stick with the 5D MKII on the bottom.

By: sylvia

sylvia — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:11:16 +0000

top one…i think?

By: Pablo

Pablo — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:58:03 +0000

My bet is for the top one. It seems it has more detail in the forehead.

By: Snappybook

Snappybook — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:44:42 +0000

Difficult, very difficult. But ’round here we vote for the top one

By: Janek

Janek — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:56:25 +0000

The bottom one looks like the more aggressive Canon tone-curve to me.
Of course there’s no meaningful difference other than that at this kind of size, and under controlled lighting.

You could extend this much further, here’s a comparison I did under similar controlled lighting circumstances between Canon G9 and Nikon D70s a long time ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/janekm/2706857827/ (again, the Canon with the more agressive tone curve even from the RAW)

By: Theron

Theron — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:35:45 +0000

@Chris.

Agreed!

I simply didn’t find the experiment that compelling, or accurate. We could also start to include random film cameras, a 7D, and keep playing the game forever? No? Different tools, different attitude behind the camera.

Photographers have always made the choice of which tool(s) to use for their output, and voice. The topic just doesn’t seem to have a lot of tooth, but it’s being presented as big! eh!

By: dh

dh — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:46:54 +0000

and of course if you are curious enough to check metadata, the top one is ‘blad.
and i wish i had one because while no one can tell at this size and resolution, i bet you could if you made a 3′x4′ print, which i sometimes do (with my canon 5dmk2, sigh.)

By: Chris New

Chris New — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:35:00 +0000

@Theron
I don’t think he’s necessarily saying anyone claims to tell the difference. He’s merely illustrating the point that you can’t tell (easily, without guessing) the difference. It’s just meant to start a discussion about the impact that web display could have on digital workflow (or at least digital input), and whether it’s going to be necessary for rental houses to carry the next 857-megapixel PhaseOne back.

For the record, my guess is that the top one was taken with the Hasselblad, but my hunch is not based on image quality, more on what lenses it appears you were using.