Best & Worst Cameras for Conversion (Updates Welcomed !)

[JCDowdy]

I would like to know if anyone has any info on suitability of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II ?? 

[dabateman]

36 minutes ago, JCDowdy said:

I would like to know if anyone has any info on suitability of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II ?? 

Yes its possibly my best full spectrum converted camera and I go on and on about it.

I got it converted by Kolari with the dust shaker removed. It can see and do high resolution photos in UVC, if you have an excellent filter and two 15W germacidal bulbs. Its excellent for regular UVA and the IBIS works for handheld UV shots.

[Andrea B.]

Working on the Good List. Wrote some general remarks.

 

Bill Claff

 

10 Best ISO excluding medium format & Leica M

Canon R3 (on Bad List)

Sony 7 III 

Sony 7S

Panasonic S1R

Sony 7R III (on Bad List)

Sony 9 II (on Bad List)

Sony 7R II (on Bad List)

Sony 7C

Canon R6 (on Bad List)

Sony 7S II (on Bad List)

 

10 Best Dynamic Range excluding medium format and Leica M

Sony 7R IV 

Nikon D850 (on Bad List)

Nikon D810

Sony 7R III (on Bad List)

Sony 7 IV (on Bad List)

Sony 7C

Nikon Z 7 II (on Bad List)

Canon R3 (on Bad List)

Sony 7 III

Pentax K-1

 

10 Best Color Sensitivity excluding medium format and Leica M

Panasonic S1R

Nikon D850

Nikon Z 9 ?

Nikon Z 7 (on Bad List)

Nikon Z 7 II (on Bad List)

Sony 7R IV (on Bad List)

Sony 7R III (on Bad List)

Sony 7R II (on Bad List)

Sony ILCE-1 ?

Sony RX1Rm2 ?

Nikon D810

 

 

 

 

[colinbm]

I am not sure why the Sigma fp is missing ?

 

[dabateman]

16 minutes ago, colinbm said:

I am not sure why the Sigma fp is missing ?

 

Biased, just mentally replace the Sony A73 with Sigma fp or Panasonic S1 and you have a camera on the best ISO and best dynamic range list without the PDAF banding problem. 

[colinbm]

Yes, that is correct Dave.

Plus the easiest camera to convert.

[ulf]

5 hours ago, dabateman said:

Biased, just mentally replace the Sony A73 with Sigma fp or Panasonic S1 and you have a camera on the best ISO and best dynamic range list without the PDAF banding problem. 

I have not seen any PDAF banding problem at all with my Sony A7III.  I have searched for it, but not found any.

I might have looked in the wrong way to see it or there are none.

At least the sweet-spot settings for me with the camera show no trace at all in any of several thousands of images.

 

Can you please direct me to some reference for PDAF banding problem with that camera?

[lukaszgryglicki]

I wonder why Nikon D600 is on the good list - this is my only FS camera for years and it works really good IMHO (there are ligth leaks, of course, when trying to push too much), I also have another Nikon D600 FS monochrome (debayered) and it is very good too. Nikon D3200 is also OK (DX format) - this is just from my experience. I don't see any issues related autofocusing IR diodes etc (IIRS, PDAF).

Do you know if Fuji GFX 50R has any of those problems (PDAF, IIRS).

 

[dabateman]

3 hours ago, ulf said:

I have not seen any PDAF banding problem at all with my Sony A7III.  I have searched for it, but not found any.

I might have looked in the wrong way to see it or there are none.

At least the sweet-spot settings for me with the camera show no trace at all in any of several thousands of images.

 

Can you please direct me to some reference for PDAF banding problem with that camera?

Maybe in the past it just got blown up, as something to talk about.  I remember this:

https://m.dpreview.com/news/6974141509/sony-striping-heres-the-fix

 

There were other sites that could show it more clearly,  but maybe that was the intention and not just accidentally showing up.

 

Lukas, the Fujifilm 50R is contrast only AF.  So definitely will not have any PDAF striping problems.  Some have been able to push it out of the gfx 100 and gfx 100s cameras, which do have PDAF. So what you loose in AF speed you gain in image quality. I don't know about IR shutter monitors in the gfx cameras.

[lukaszgryglicki]

Thanks, so it seems I should eb OK, still waiting for answers from Fuji, Kolarivision & Lifepixel regarding IR/UV cut filters...

 

[JCDowdy]

On 5/15/2022 at 3:27 PM, dabateman said:

Yes its possibly my best full spectrum converted camera and I go on and on about it.

I got it converted by Kolari with the dust shaker removed. It can see and do high resolution photos in UVC, if you have an excellent filter and two 15W germacidal bulbs. Its excellent for regular UVA and the IBIS works for handheld UV shots.

 

Thanks!

[Andrea B.]

I am not sure why the Sigma fp is missing ?

 

Because I am not done yet! And it is mentioned at the end of the list. These kind of lists take *days* and *days* to research and to write up properly.

 

I wonder why Nikon D600 is on the good list - this is my only FS camera for years and it works really good IMHO (there are ligth leaks, of course, when trying to push too much).

 

You are telling me the D600 is good and you are also asking me why it is on the good list??? Is there a typo in your question?? 

[Andrea B.]

I am separating the PDAF thing from the IISM thing.

For more about PDAF artifacts:  

For a discussion of PDAF artifacts, I will direct you to Jim Kasson's blog:

https://blog.kasson.com/gfx-100/on-sensor-pdaf-misconceptions/

[lukaszgryglicki]

4 minutes ago, Andrea B. said:

I am not sure why the Sigma fp is missing ?

 

Because I am not done yet! And it is mentioned at the end of the list. These kind of lists take *days* and *days* to research and to write up properly.

 

I wonder why Nikon D600 is on the good list - this is my only FS camera for years and it works really good IMHO (there are ligth leaks, of course, when trying to push too much).

 

You are telling me the D600 is good and you are also asking me why it is on the good list??? Is there a typo in your question?? 

LOL I meant is NOT on the good list... 

For me, even now after years and that crazy sensor oil leak problem - Nikon D600 seems to one of the best full frame cameras to convert to FS/BB cheap and get good results. I would only say that Nikons ffd is too big, especially that it is 1 mm longer than soooo many usable M42 lenses.

[Andrea B.]

Can you please direct me to some reference for PDAF banding problem with that camera?

 

Example of Sony A7 III striping.

https://www.dpreview.com/news/6974141509/sony-striping-heres-the-fix

 

Debunking false claims about Sony A7 III PDAF striping

 

Sony a7 III PDAF striping - FAQS

 

---

 

PDAF striping on the Sony a7R III

 

Sony a7 III, a7R III, a7 II, a7S II, a9 PDAF striping

 

Nikon Z50 PDAF banding

 

PDAF striping in the Sony a7R IV

 

Nikon Z7 PDAF banding FAQS

 

 

PDAF striping on the A9

PDAF striping is a type of artifact that appears on some mirrorless cameras with on-sensor phase-detect autofocus (OS PDAF, or, for the duration of this post, just PDAF). It occurs in conjunction with lens flare, is caused by reflections off the PDAF pixels on the camera’s sensor, and manifests itself as horizontal (assuming the camera is in landscape orientation) light stripes. It often is invisible until the files are push a bit in post.

 

 

 

From Jim Kasson:  LINK

"It is reported to occur in conjunction with lens flare caused by reflections off the PDAF pixels on the cameras sensor. It often is invisible until the files are pushed a bit."

 

From Thom Hogan: LINK

" PDAF striping — This typically occurs when you have light sources in the scene and the lens is producing flare. This occurs on all of the Sony mirrorless cameras, though is most visible on the latest generation A7/A9 bodies, which have more PDAF sensors in them."

• I found Sony to be completely opaque on the details of the cameras such as lossy compression, shutter shock with the a7R, the star-eater algorithm, PDAF striping, and theI found Sony to be completely opaque on the details of the cameras such as lossy compression, shutter shock with the a7R, the star-eater algorithm, PDAF striping, and the like.

 

[Andrea B.]

I have had to resort to generic comments about PDAF:  "PDAF might cause occasional striping artifacts."

I did include some info about the problem under the header:   PDAF-Only Focusing:  Striping/Banding Artifacts Possible

 

Sigma fp is now on the list.

 

I don't know what to.write about Fuji cameras.

[colinbm]

Thanks Andrea

[Andrea B.]

Please look this over carefully and let me know of any errors.

Let me know of anything I should mention but haven't.

 

All unanswered questions are highlighted in Cyan.

 

This conversion topic does not cover point-n-shoots.

[colinbm]

Sigma fp

Mirrorless, Full Frame, Short FFD
Big rear screen.

Unusual camera! Viewfinder and hot shoe are add-ons.
Very easy to DIY convert to full spectrum.

• No IISM ????
• No PDAF.

[otoien]

It seems that Nikon DX cameras do not get much mention here beyond Z50. Although I do not have personal experience with full spectrum models (my D40x is IR-720 modified), I thought they should be mentioned: In the different astro fora, the D5100, D5300 in particular, and D5500/D5600 are very popular and reasonably priced alternatives and know to have very good sensors from D5300 and up. Some in those fora use them full spectrum modified with external filters, others modded for increased H-alpha sensitivity. Typical exposure times used are in the 1-10 min range. I have used my D7100 up to 5 min exposures. I recently tested my unmodified D500 for a 50 min exposure and there is not even amp-glow to notice, just hot pixels. Admittedly the electronic viewfinders seem really attractive for IR and UV purpose - I miss preview of focus on my D40x.

[Bill De Jager]

16 hours ago, otoien said:

It seems that Nikon DX cameras do not get much mention here beyond Z50. Although I do not have personal experience with full spectrum models (my D40x is IR-720 modified), I thought they should be mentioned: In the different astro fora, the D5100, D5300 in particular, and D5500/D5600 are very popular and reasonably priced alternatives and know to have very good sensors from D5300 and up. Some in those fora use them full spectrum modified with external filters, others modded for increased H-alpha sensitivity. Typical exposure times used are in the 1-10 min range. I have used my D7100 up to 5 min exposures. I recently tested my unmodified D500 for a 50 min exposure and there is not even amp-glow to notice, just hot pixels. Admittedly the electronic viewfinders seem really attractive for IR and UV purpose - I miss preview of focus on my D40x.

My first wide-spectrum DSLR conversion was a D5100.  Later, I replaced with a wide-spectrum D7200 (metering for unchipped lenses and much better controls) until that was superseded by a D610 (full frame sensor quality).  All three worked well in UV, subject to the operational limitations of the DSLR design, though I didn't do long exposures or stress tests looking for light leaks.  I still have the D7200 and the D610, and I'll see if I can do some testing of the former shortly.

[Andrea B.]

It seems that Nikon DX cameras do not get much mention here beyond Z50.

 

Øivind, I did mark a place in the post to add info about small frame Nikons. I just haven't gotten to it yet!

 

I'm having trouble, in general, finding definitive information about those internal IR LEDs for any brand. The retail conversion sites do not always have their information up-to-date !

 

I don't think I remember any complaints about Nikon DX DSLR cameras having IR LED contamination. But I am hesitant to write that until I do a bit more  Internet prowling around.

[Andrea B.]

I thought I should run the test and post a couple of results.

 

 

Nikon D810 Test Result

• body-capped
• ISO 12800
• 30 seconds
• viewfinder closed
• noise reduction OFF
• active D-lighting OFF
• Resized in Photo Mechanic to JPG 2400 x 1600
   

This is *really* dark for ISO 12800. Not much noise.

I forgot to turn off the watermark thing.

 

 

Nikon D500 Test Result #1

• body-capped
• ISO 12800
• 30 seconds
• viewfinder closed
• noise reduction OFF
• active D-lighting OFF
• Resized in Photo Mechanic to JPG 2400 x 1600
   

Not as dark as the D810 at same ISO 12800. Click it up twice to see a bit of noise.

 

 

 

Nikon D500 Test Result #2

• ISO 51200, the highest unboosted ISO
   

Finally we see some noise at the highest ISO. Click it up twice for a nice pixel-y mess.

 

[Andrea B.]

Nikon D810 Test with Deliberate Light Leak

• body-capped
• ISO 12800
• 30 seconds
• viewfinder only partly closed
• noise reduction OFF
• active D-lighting OFF
• Resized in Photo Mechanic to JPG 2400 x 1600

Light leaks produce streaks, blobs or smears depending on where they come from.

[Andrea B.]

Nikon D610 (full spec) Test Result

My D610 developed a light leak around the upper LCD.

 

• body-capped
• ISO 6400
• 30 seconds
• viewfinder closed
• noise reduction OFF
• active D-lighting OFF
• Resized in Photo Mechanic to JPG 2400 x 1600
   

This is the JPG extracted in Photo Mechanic from the raw NEF.

It does not show the light leak from the upper LCD. I don't know why. Strange!

The light leak can definitely be seen in the next example.

 

 

 

This is the JPG saved from a conversion in Photo Ninja (with no edits there).

The light leak can be seen more easily if you click up the photo to 2400 px width.

It is an oblong blob at the bottom of the frame which doesn't look so bad here,

but it can be very damaging to a UV photo.