ISO 80 and Dynamic Range

We have just covered the talk about the the new sensor of the Fujifilm GFX100II and the up to twice readout speed.

• Fujifilm GFX100 II Engineers and The Truth About the “New” Sensor and “Up to Twice” Readout Speed

At the end of that article, when I listed the reasons why to get the GFX100II instead of the GFX100S, I wrote the GFX100II has 30% (or 1/3rd of a stop) better dynamic range.

And since I noticed this is another thing that some people struggled with, I decided to elaborate now more in depth.

After testing the dynamic range, Jim Kasson (linked below) agreed that yes, dynamic range is increased, but not by 30%. Jim says:

At ISO 80 those folks at Fujifilm have dropped all the data below the nominal black point, slicing off the left half of the histogram, and cutting the measured read noise in half of what it would normally be. […] You’ll still get slightly improved FWC — but I don’t measure the claimed 30% improvement — and decently low read noise. So it’s an improvement, but not a huge one.

Now, whatever Fujifilm does in terms of software, that has been measured by Jim and I won’t argue that. And it is true that this does make ISO80 dynamic range look crazy good.

But what Fujifilm at the end of the day said, is that there is a 30% dynamic range increase.

What does this mean?

Well, 30% expressed in stops means about 1/3rd of a stop improvement. As a reference, 1 stop increase means doubling the amount of light you let in on the sensor.

So the misunderstand is simple: if the GFX100S has let’s say 14 stops DR, it does not mean that Fujifilm claimed the GFX100II has 18 stops dynamic range (+30%), but 14,3 stops of DR (+1/3). And moreoever, in the X summit the 30% increase is mentioned in the video section of the summit, and Fujifilm has not been clear if it applies also to stills.

What I can say, is that 1/3 DR increase for stills what a Fujifilm rep told me personally during a Fujifilm event. He told me Fujifilm Italy made its own measurements once they got the camera from Japan, and at base ISO they noticed a 1/3 to 2/3 of a stop DR increase.

Now, why did Fujifilm say 30% instead of 1/3rd of a stop, even though they mean the same?

Well, I guess it just sounds better saying 30% rather than 1/3rd of a stop, but of course it can create confusion.

So yes, at base ISO the new Fujifilm GFX100II will give you the better dynamic range over the GFX100S. Also Jim confirms this. But not by a very large margin. Fujifilm says it is 1/3rd of a stop for video, and Fujifilm Italy told me they measured that too for stills.

• Fujifilm GFX100 II – New
  BHphoto / Amazon / Adorama
• GF 55mm f/1.7 R WR – New
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• GF 30mm f/5.6 Tilt Shift – New
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• GF 110mm f/5.6 Tilt Shift – New
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Jim Kasson Articles:

Back in September we reported about the upcoming Sirui Sniper f/1.2 series of lenses. There is also a CineD video that introduces these lenses and we shared it here.

Now the lenses are listed at Indigogo and the campaign will start on November 20.

You can check out the dedicated Sirui Sniper page at Indiegogo here and at the dedicated Sirui page here.

The super early bird price will be of $299 (14% discount, reg. $349).

Two more “Sniper” lenses will be announced in 2024.

This news has been first shared by CineD here.

Over the years, we have seen lots of videos showing us the process of manufacturing cameras and lenses.

And while they all gave an interesting insight in the manufacturing process, they all just gave us a nice, but short look into it.

The video today is different.

In this video shared on the Japanese channel Process X, we enter inside one of the best lens manufacturing companies, Sigma, and we get an almost 25 minutes non stop and uninterrupted look into the art of crafting lenses.

We can see parts and details of the manufacturing process that we have never seen in other videos before.

The video comes with English subtitles. But there is no talk, just 100% video from inside the factory with short descriptions about what they are showing to give the images a proper context.

It really gives us an idea on how much work and care for the details goes into the manufacturing of a every single lens.

This is the factory where also the following Fujifilm X mount AF lenses are made:

• Sigma 10-18mm f/2.8
• Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN
• Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 DG DN OS
• Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN
• Sigma 23mm f/1.4 DC DN
• Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN
• Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN