Medium Format Forum

Register a free account now!

If you are registered, you get access to the members only section, can participate in the buy & sell second hand forum and last but not least you can reserve your preferred username before someone else takes it.

CCD vs CMOS Sensor, 14 bit vs 16 bit

saad

Member
Has anyone wondered what the visual differences are between these two types of sensors? Up to now I have not seen any photographic evidence of how they differ. Will we clearly see the difference?

I am trying to compare the CFV39 with the Nikon D3x which is not a camera to take lightly. If someone has an image that can show this difference, I would love to see it.

Maybe Paul, Brad or Marc know something?
 
I'll try to keep my answer as practical (non-techy) as I can...

CCD vs. CMOS
In real-world terms, differences you see between CMOS and CCD sensors will be influenced much more by other factors (primarily default color choices made by the software for your camera) than by the fact that the sensor is CMOS or CCD.

There will be differences between these two technologies, to be sure, but you are unlikely to be able to look at a photograph and tell, visually.

14 vs 16-bit
This is the part of the chip (CMOS or CCD) which takes the analog voltage from the sensels and turns it into a digital signal. The sensel collects light much like a bucket left outside collects rainwater. If you pick it up after the rain storm, the bucket's weight will be more, the more water it collected. Similarly, after the exposure, the sensel will deliver more voltage the more light it collected.

The sensel will have a minimum (no light) and a maximum (full saturation) voltage it can put out. This voltage will be converted into a digital signal, with the range being represented by either 14 bits (Nikon) or 16 bits (CFV).

In English, that means the entire range of possibilities the sensel can record (from minimum to maximum) will be broken into 16384 different possible steps (Nikon) or 65536 possible steps (CFV).

Note that this does not mean that 16-bit sensor automatically has more dynamic range (as is often touted in forums), it means that the 16-bit sensor has four times the fidelity (or precision) of the 14-bit sensor. You can think of it this way: Dynamic range is a function of how much rainwater the bucket can hold, not about how sensitive the scale is at measuring the bucket.

Ok, so 16 thousand tonal values or 65 thousand tonal values--either sounds like a lot. I suspect you are wondering if the difference is visible in real-world photographs?

The answer is yes, under certain circumstances. You will tend to see smoother shadow transitions, without as much 'banding', particularly if you accidentally under-exposed the image and are fixing it in post.

Nikon D3X vs. CFV
And your final question--these are difficult to compare unless you bring their respective optics into play. And once you've done that, for the most part, the Nikon will not stack up well against the CFV because of the generally superior optics on the Hasselblad (note that the Nikon telephoto offerings are comparable). This is probably the biggest single factor influencing the 'look' of pictures from a given camera.

Second, sensel pitch (physical size) of 5.94 for the Nikon vs. 6.8 for the Hasselblad CFV-39 and 9 (!) for the CFV-16 makes demands of the lenses that put it at another disadvantage. (Smaller is a disadvantage.) Still, Nikon has done admirably here, offering exceptional dynamic range -- particularly for a small format camera -- that arguably rivals medium format (at least according to some measurements).

In addition to image quality, the price, convenience, weight, battery life, size, ergonomics and other features will play a big role, and being, subjective will factor more or less depending on the individual photographer's situation.

In the end, both systems will take some fantastic photographs with the right glass in front of it, so it's a matter of which tool best meets your needs.

-Brad

P.S. Just for the sake of completeness: Throughout this I've implied that sensors turn light directly into voltage. This isn't technically true--they turn light into charge, and that charge is turned into voltage. This detail wasn't relevant to the points I was making so I skipped over it.
 
Wow Brad, you are so cool, thank you. Since you made such an effort to explain this, I started analyzing some pictures I had taken with the D3x via an adapter to the same lens CF135 with bellows and took snap shots of a flower using flash, what I see now is that the CFV39 has definitely a better ability in showing more shades of the same color. I know this is what it is suppose to do, but to see it side by side in a photograph is something that I just managed to do.

I will be glad to send you the raw files if you want.

Thanks again for your time.
 
Brad, which lens or Nikon telephotos are referring to when you say in your post that some are on par with the Hassy lenses. I am in the process of selling off my Canon Gear. I am just starting to list the bodies but I have not sold off any of my glass yet. I am considering a Nikon D700 because of the focus system, lens adjustment, metering, frames per second, and build quality it offers me at a reasonable price level. I also am very concerned with the quality control currently at Canon.

I did look at the 5DII but the focus system and build quality is just not there for me. Of course the new 1D has been announced but after purchasing a 1D and 1DMKII in the past, I really do not want to put that many dollars into a body again and take the loss that comes with it.

I do understand the concept of larger Pixel Pitch. So before I sell of my Canon L glass and make the full commitment to go Nikon I would like to know what lenses you feel compare to some of the Hassy glass. At least I know I am going to get a 5 year warranty on Nikon Glass vs the 1 year Canon offers.

Thanks,

Jason
 
Back
Top