There has been much talk about this camera in Prodig, especially in recent weeks so I would really appreciate feedback on specific questions before I commit to this camera.
I am a portrait photographer and work in a studioonly and would want to deal exclusively in the best quality RAW option on the Kodak.
What I like, as demonstrated by the Kodak rep:
Highly customiseable - better than the D1x.
The manipulation of RAW data is much more advanced/better than the much older D1x.
Extremely sharp images capable of aggressive selective cropping without loss of quality..
i.e. it would be possible to pull a 20x16 off a quarter, or less, of the image area without visible degradation.
Very accurate and lifelike skin tones - akin to the Sigma SD10.
Has been described as the "ideal studio camera."
Photodesk
All thumbnails open properly oriented - automatically!
Extremely rapid, global, batch image correction including over and unexposure correction of all images with a single click. With a 12 stop latitude, this should mean that we will hardly have to worry about exposure since all black and white clipping will be corrected with a single click!
Colour balance all images with one click by sampling the grey off a Macbeth Colourchecker.
(Not sure whether this gray balance can be saved and applied to all images from future sessions. As a studio-only photographer, we work in a calibrated environment - so one gray balance should fit all, provided it can be saved as a default).
Wide range of preset profiles (apparently, the 'Events' setting is ideal for studio portraiture).
Turn selective images B&W or Sepia etc - BUT can you save those amended images with a new file name so both original and amended images are retained?
Similarly, can you crop and image and then retain both original and cropped versions with different file names
What I have heard from other users that concerns me:
Camera
Given the very large file sizes - battery life is closer to 40 frames than the claimed 400.
Fringing, although this has all but been eliminated in version 5.0.1 of the firmware onwards.
Software Actually slows down dramatically as processes files. Not as good as Nikon Capture or PS CS Not possible to add own camera profiles
Finally
If the hype is right, it should be possible, with just a couple of clicks, to adjust the exposure and colour balance of a whole days work so that it is near enough right and then only minimal finishing will be required in PS of the images the client chooses - Is this Really True - if so, it would really speed up our workflow.
Is the colour correction really as accurate as claimed?
Is working in Photodesk, with such large files, really fast.
Can Photodesk be installed on more than one machine (I am thinking of image preparation for viewing and manipulation for printing, which are done on two different PCs.
Conclusion
This morning, I was very happy with my D1x's but now I think I have seen a camera that will produce far higher quality (both in terms of colour and sharpness), and allow images to be batch manipulated extremely quickly
Result:- higher quality for less labour.
IS THIS REALLY THE CASE.
All advice gratefully received.
Jonathan
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