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I had a rare afternoon to myself so went for a drive with the Cambo and D800. I tried to duplicate the shots, to an extent, using both mediums. Unfortunately, and tragically, I dropped my 8 stop ND filter. I was devastated and pissed off to say the least. I managed to grab a couple of shots with it before the unfortunate event.

The Harbour shot with the Cambo is a 31sec exposure (I was happy that I managed to apply a reciprocity factor for the long exposure, apply a passing comment on the net with respect to development times for FP4+ pulled to EI65 and get a good neg). The decent breeze caused a little bit of movement, upon close inspection.

Anyway, here are the Harbour shots:

The sharpness and dynamic range of the D800 is truly astonishing. Even with the 24-70, the ability to render fine detail makes this a fantastic surveillance camera.





Cambo version:




The first of these was shot with the Cambo. Again, I was happy with the result as I solely relied on my understanding and application of the Zone system using my Pentax spot meter. I metered the darkest shadow detail at bottom right and placed that at Zone II, metered the brightest section, which was about 6 stops brighter than the shadow, so it fell nicely at zone VII. (I have since blocked up the shadow detail in my rush this morning to get the scans online).

I haven't cleaned up this one.



D800 version (better composition, in my view):



Criticism welcome.

I like the third image Patrick, however the high key/bright look is putting me off, I think dialing back the exposure and pushing the contrast just a bit would make it better in my eyes.

Spewing about your ND filter, that sucks...

biggerry wrote:I like the third image Patrick, however the high key/bright look is putting me off, I think dialing back the exposure and pushing the contrast just a bit would make it better in my eyes.

Spewing about your ND filter, that sucks...

You're right on both counts. I will recook the 3rd one.

Hi Patrick - with the trainline shots I much prefer the first (Cambo) - it just looks - I don't know - nicer the tones, contrast, etc - it even looks sharper - all good for me

A very interesting comparison...I have to admit that the two cameras certainly have different and distinctive looks, but to pick one as being better really is difficult.

I will have to go with the consensus on the #3

Shame to hear about that ND filter.....

Thanks chaps.

Rodney, the St Leonards image on the D800 is super sharp. Zooming into the Forum building shows remarkable detail - it would have been fun had anyone been on their balcony doing something 'of interest'.

Here is a version of the third with greater contrast. I wanted to ensure I didn't block out the shadows.

Thoughts?

I'd like to see 20' x 16' prints on Ilford Gallery semigloss paper before I make a judgement thanks.

Matt. K wrote:I'd like to see 20' x 16' prints on Ilford Gallery semigloss paper before I make a judgement thanks.

When I get my 4x5 neg holder and some potassium bromide (I think!), I can show you a 16x20 print on Agfa Multigrade RC paper.

The rework looks better Patrick, just for some more food for thought how about...

what Gerry said!

The crop is a good idea, however, I think it needs at least equal weight between the sky and water given similar tonality and, given I will be looking to print this in the darkroom, I am looking to preserve the 4x5 relationship or at least a 1:1.33 relationship.

Reschsmooth wrote:The crop is a good idea, however, I think it needs at least equal weight between the sky and water given similar tonality and, given I will be looking to print this in the darkroom, I am looking to preserve the 4x5 relationship or at least a 1:1.33 relationship.

I thought that might be the case