July 31, 2015
The Solution To My Canon 5DSr Problem
Searching
The solution? I returned the camera.
The 5DSr is not the right camera for my long exposure work.
Cole
July 31, 2015
Searching
The solution? I returned the camera.
The 5DSr is not the right camera for my long exposure work.
Cole
© 2024, Cole Thompson. All rights reserved.
What now, you go back to your 5D Mark III?
I am hoping to shoot the moon tonight with your lens, if the clouds cooperate
Yes, back to the Mk III.
I might even rent the Sony A7R II and see how it does with very long exposures.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out Cole but you are not going to regret it. I guess packing that many pixels in has its advantage but the noise issue is better addressed by engineers. You need to be able to reliably create images without questioning what result you will get and having to rely on a workaround. Good luck on your search for a replacement!
Thanks Gerry, if I do not find anything better than the Mk III, I’ll still have a fine camera that I have created many good images with. I just was hoping I could crop more and go a bit larger.
I do wonder if technology will ever allow for smaller pixels without more noise? Let’s hope so.
I sure hope technology catches up.. Medium format is still too expensive me. I have some 4 , 8 an 16 minute exposures from a Sony A7R if you would like to look at raw files. They haven’t released the A7R II yet. By the way, that lens that Ed’s talking about is really nice. I had it attached to the A7R but the autofocus was pretty slow when mounted on the Sony.
Cole — My own take is that 24 MPx is the sweet spot for a 36x24mm sensor. At 24 MPx, photo-receptors are larger than in even a 12 MPx APS-C sensor, have been showing excellent low-light performance (low-noise, ability to shoot at high ISO if you wish), and avoid much of the bugaboo of diffraction. Go to more pixels than this and I think you will find issues in the type of work you do (and the type of landscape work I do). Leave the 36 and 50 MPx full frame cameras to the folks shooting fashion, weddings, portraits, etc., at fairly high shutter speeds and fairly wide apertures. Best, Frank
Frank, I think you are right. But let’s hope with time we can have our cake and eat it too!
I loved the new long exposure features in the 5DSr, they were a dream! But the price is unusable images, how ironic.
I am afraid your experience just confirmed my fear. The Sony a7R II is being watched closely with many improvements. I am looking forward to seeing what this new sensor produces in the way of lower noise at high ISO’s. Thanks for your candor in your experience.
I am a long time Sony A900 user (24mp, full frame) and have shot many long exposures up to 8 minutes at ISO 100 and 200 and have never had a noise problem but I certainly/probably have a less discerning eye than you. And, of course, the old A900’s performance might in no way relate to newer Sony products.
Roger, Gerry (above) just sent me a 4 and 8 minute long exposure from an A7, so I’ll get to see how much noise it has. If it’s low, then maybe the A7R II will be low also? I might try renting one and see how they perform.
Wow, that’s rather disappointing. I know how much you were looking forward to that camera. I hope the Sony works out for you.
I just looked at a 3 minute and 8 minute RAW file from the Sony A7R (36mp???) and they were pretty clean. Some hot pixels, but those are easy to deal with.
Thanks for those Gerry!
Yes Cole, 36mp. And you’re welcome!
Gerry, that gives me hope that the A7R II will be clean also.
I’ve taken up to 1 hour exposures, with the a7r, using the full moon as the only illumination. The camera does a noise elimination cycle after the exposure that lasts as long as the exposure itself. It removes almost all of the noise. Here is an example.
http://www.sangre-la.com/previews/mj/mj0020.html?clientid=IDABXORB&ln=en&text=
However, I used ISO50 for that hour exposure.
Here is a noise comparison Sony a7R, a7S and Canon 5D MarkIII
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/4613822764/high-iso-compared-sony-a7s-vs-a7r-vs-canon-eos-5d-iii
Cole,
I look forward to seeing your results with the A7R2.
I know you would never go to the Dark Side, but the Nikons (800e and 810) are really excellent for long exposure. In fact Nikon makes a special (pricey) 810a primarily for long exposure. Here’s what they say:
“A new Long Exposure Manual Mode is implemented, giving users the ability to set shutter speeds from 4, 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 30, 60, 120, 180, 240, 300, 600 or 900 seconds (15 minutes), as well as Bulb and Time settings. Building upon the D810’s excellent low-light capabilities, the ISO range has been optimized from 200 to 12,800 (Hi-2 51,200), for maximum sensitivity with the optimal signal to noise ratio.”
On the other hand, the Sony’s will work well with your existing Canon lenses.
I clicked on the tweet then let out a laugh.
Have you tried the sigma dp0,1,2,3.
Yes, please do share your experience if you try an A7rii. I’m thinking about one of those myself.
What criteria would you use to select a camera and lens specifically for long exposure work?
My perfect camera would:
have a low ISO (25)
produce low noise for very long exposures
not need that time-doubling noise reduction
have a one-button bulb mode
have a built in timer for bulb mode
have a display that shows the “development” of the image
have a timer that displays on the back display
have a programmable shutter delay
have a optical viewfinder
have an automatic viewfinder eyepiece shutter
have a meter not affected by viewfinder light
automatically shut off vibration reduction in bulb mode
be full frame.
Thanks Cole, my pet unicorn says that will be out by the holidays.
A surprising resolution.
But, I’m sure you’ll be fine with the MkIII or the Sony. Or, perhaps, a MkIV or something down the road???
After all, you know that with your vision the camera isn’t the main ingredient. Just a tool that may be more or less convenient.
Still…it’s a shame.
Hey Cole,
Thanks for your post….what a bummer. I’ve been looking at that body for awhile but was concerned about the photo receptor size. I’m keeping my 5D III as well
Cole,
Sorry to hear the 5DSr didn’t work out for you. Maybe you should rent a Sony A7rII along with an adaptor for your canon lenses. The camera went on sale here in the UK last week and from what I have seen online, the camera produces clean and very flexible files. Take a look at the following link.
http://www.onlandscape.co.uk/2015/08/sony-a7rii-compared-with-sony-a7r-and-canon-5dsr/
Cole,
Sorry to hear about your experience with the new 5Dsr. I was hoping this was the camera I have been waiting for. I didn’t see where you posted you main complaint with the camera, but it sounds like it has too much noise for low light and long exposure photography. I have been a Canon user since 1970 and the past few years I have been thinking of stwiching brands. I have been working with the 5D11 and in my opinon Canon hasn’t really done much with thier sensor technology since then. Maybe a Sony or a Nikon is in my future. I hope you settle on camera that gives you all the features you are looking for in your work. Take care, John
I have tried them all.
best camera for (extreme) long exposures is the A7R (mark 1) but only at base ISO… which I always shoot.
I am selling My nikon D810 for this reason. A7R is the way to go and sadly the A7R mark II is even worse for long exposures.
I was initially going to do a comparison between the D810, E-M5II in high resolution mode, and 5DSR I don t think there s a lot of point, because they all each have some fundamental weaknesses, and some strengths what is ideal depends very much on your own needs. The E-M5II has the most accurate color, but the poorest acuity, slowest capture time and worst dynamic range.
Cole, I am very surprised by this post and your experience with this camera.I had no problem with the long exposures on the 5DSR as you can see on my flickr test picture at 1 minute. The other ones at 30 sec or close to that had no problem either. A great camera in all respect, and getting some better results than my 645D. Did you get a bad one? Have your done more tests with it?
Love your pictures by the way.
Any thoughts on revisiting this with the new Canon 5D IV? Hope things have been well, keep those shots coming!