What's wrong with this picture? A350 vs A580

Ok...I'm on my second A580 now and I'm having the same problem. My photo resolution is 2X better on my old A350 (using same 1.7 50mm lens)

I went through all the obvious problems like IS, RAW, ISO, DRO, etc, etc....

http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=mckfamilyphotowebsite&page=mckfamilyphotowebsite/pictures&album=448

74 is A580
84 is A350

What am I doing wrong?! Or should I return the A580 and buy an old A350....this is nutz.

Edited by Shootist - 19 May 2011 at 01:47

up-dated with the images above...take a look

Yep...shooting in Fine on the A580 and the A350...strangely - the A350 shoots the same image at 3.8 Megs and the A580 at 2.7 Megs total file size. Does this mean the A350 has a better fine image jpg than the A580?!

Also....when I looked at the raw photos the A350 was also much better.



Edited by Shootist - 19 May 2011 at 01:57

Hmmm.... not the best way to see the pictures as they change too quickly, the settings & framing obviously change & you can't see the exif info.....

Also look at the doorknob between the two pictures. Either the focusing is quite different between the two which is not very helpfull here, or you are using vastly different apatures which will lead to variation in the quality of image.

Mescalamba wrote: Ofc theres slight possibility that A350 had lighter AA filter than A580, which would result in same or higher resolution, but its very unlikely..

As far as i'm aware there is very little difference between the two - AFAIK the AA filter strength affects the amount of IR getting to the sensor hence older cameras such as the A100 are a lot more responsive when using an IR filter. The A580 produces pretty much exactly the same results as the A350 in this respect so i would expect the AA filter to be pretty much the same strength.

Edited by Tanglefoot - 19 May 2011 at 02:33

Also - what ISO are you using? The CCD sensor in the A350 is superb at 100ISO & i would imagine it giving the newer sensors more than a run for the money at 100ISO.

The problem with the old CCD sensors is that they are USELESS at higher ISO - if i want a clean image i find even 400ISO unacceptable on the A350 - whereas the newer CMOS sensors romp at higher ISO sacrificing a tiny bit of performance at lower ISO.

I don't actually know, but there is a possibility that the native ISO of the A580 sensor is 200ISO...? If that is so then 100ISO is just a computerised extrapolation of the data which may result in a tiny loss of information. If this is the case it might be better comparing 100ISO on the A350 with 200ISO on the A580, just changing the shutter speed to keep exposures the same?

Now I think we're starting to get to the source of the problem....

These are ISO 100

I went ahead and shot some ISO 400 shots (of my same laundry room again) with the A580 on manual focus....a bit sharper - bizarre but true. Nowhere near the A350 on IS0 100 tho.

That said....I'm a purist - I shoot IS0 100 almost exclusively of brightly lit landscapes or use a tripod - I'm as "Ansel" as you get in the modern era - don't want to sacrifice a single pixel for anything. If this is "progress" I'm happily quite retro...yes, quite.

Huh....looks like I'd better cancel that sale on E-Bay and save myself the $850 bux....I must say - I am *ASTONISHED*


Edited by Shootist - 19 May 2011 at 02:53

Shootist wrote: Ok...I'm on my second A580 now and I'm having the same problem. My photo resolution is 2X better on my old A350 (using same 1.7 50mm lens) I went through all the obvious problems like IS, RAW, ISO, DRO, etc, etc.... http://cmd.shutterfly.com/commands/pictures/slideshow?site=mckfamilyphotowebsite&page=mckfamilyphotowebsite/pictures&album=448 74 is A580 84 is A350 What am I doing wrong?! Or should I return the A580 and buy an old A350....this is nutz.

A350 is a very very underrated camera.I still have the A350 and the A550 too but rarely use them after getting the A580. Comparing the A350 and A550 on low ISO leaves you in no doubt. The A350 is far better with totally clean pictures and fantastic colors. The A550 produces much grainier results and is tight out poor at ISO 800 surprisingly enough (an ISO value just in between the best circumstanses and teh noisereduction that sets in at 1600).

But the A580 is absolutely fantastic (if you haven't got a "lemon" with other problems klike focusing issues or so). The A350 gives even the A50 a match at ISO 100 but there is so much more to it. The A580 har close to two stops better DR values and that is a thing taht counts too, not to mention the high ISO performance difference.

I am a fotographer that take most of my pictures on low ISO sa A350 has served med very well but A580 is so much useful since it can cope with a so much broader spectrum of conditions than the A350.

I looked at the pictures in the link you posted and I don't think they are good enough for a serious comparison either.