It is a glorious sunny Spring morning at the WaimeaBeachHouse in Kauai. Many of the plants on our property are in full bloom. Cactus, Crown, Hibiscus and Orchid are flowering – full stop.
Given the situation, I decide to capture the imagery with both a PHASEONE IQ4 150 and Nikon Z9 camera system.
The subjects will be the four plants. The images will be captured in the early morning. Each camera will capture an image taken within moments of each other. All settings will be established manually and be the same for each camera. Only the Focus and White Balance setting will be automatic. The images will be captured hand-held.
The images are presented as captured without any manipulation, except for cropping, such that the subject can be seen with material detail on the Website. The camera’s native color profile is embedded into each image.
Cactus
Prickly Pear with Z9 – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Prickly Pear with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
The sun is just above the tree-line to the east and is shining directly on the plant. Both images reveal the plant nicely. In general, and specifically in this image, the PHASEONE IQ captures the White Balance closer to what I see than the Nikon Z9.
A Post and photo-shoot about this Cactus is located [HERE].
Capturing Kauai – Cactus Bloom on Kahakai
The photo-shoot captures the plant at a another level. The images are captured using the IQ coupled with an Architectural\Technical (Cambo) camera and Rodenstock Lens.
Hibiscus
Lemonade Hibiscus with Z9 – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Lemonade Hibiscus with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
The sun is low to the sky and is backlighting the plant. Both images reveal the plant with depth.
Another Lemonade Hibiscus with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Another Lemonade Hibiscus with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
The sun is really kicking in during this capture. So is the wind. Both images are solid.
Orchid
Orchid Maroon & White with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Orchid Maroon & White with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
The sun is low to the sky and from the left (east) is backlighting the plant. The images are fairly similar in White Balance. However, the PHASEONE image is more closely aligned with what I experienced.
Orchid Yellow, Violet & White with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Orchid Yellow, Violet & White with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
I really like both of these shots. The sun is hitting onto the face of the plant. With this image, the White Balance of what I experienced sits between the Nikon Z9 and PHASEONE IQ, but closer to the Z9.
Orchid Violet & White with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Orchid Violet & White with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Both of these shots work for me. The sun is hitting onto the face of the plant. With these images, I believe the sun perked up a bit for the PHASEONE. I would normally do a re-shoot.
Orchid at HIGH-NOON
Orchid Yellow, Violet & White at HIGH NOON with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Orchid Yellow, Violet & White at HIGH NOON with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
A possible shoot never really ends for me. I am rarely not thinking a possible shot when something comes in view. As I was fixing the gate of our fence – street side – at Noon time… The orchids under our Plumeria tree presented this view. The sun was over-head and slightly behind the tree and flowers. Noon is not the Golden Hour, and rarely presents a good time to capture memorable images. That is unless, forest, jungle and tree cover with piercing light come into the mix.
Crown
Crown with Z – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
Crown with IQ – © Jeffrey H. Lubeck & MESH Art LLC – all rights reserved.
I really like both of these shots. The sun is hitting onto the face of the plant. With this image, the White Balance of what I experienced sits between the Nikon Z9 and PHASEONE IQ, but closer to the IQ.
*** Thoughts and Worthless Trivia ***
This Post is not intended to be a pixel-peeping A-B comparison between PHASEONE and Nikon. This Post is not intended to be a full-out photo-shoot. Both are conducted and presented in a completely different manner. This Post is about plants that are flowering in the yard of my home, it is the weekend, I am looking for a mental break, and have two types of cameras handy.
The Reality
Most of what is discussed below only comes into play when you are desiring the highest quality image printed on the highest quality papers and or at large sizes. Computer screens displaying images in a Post generated using Word Press (such as this one) render the differences somewhere between insignificant to meaningless. For example, WordPress only allows files in JPG format (8 BIT Color) to display. Most computer screens display images at 72 DPI (not 300 as captured.).
Gear Details
The PHASEONE capture is traditionally warmer (i.e., Higher in Kelvin) and Nikon cooler (i.e., Lower in Kelvin). In either case, adjusting the White Balance of the image can get close to if not exactly how I experienced the shot. The PHASEONE [AS SHOT] White Balance often matches exactly what I feel I experienced.
With these types of very close up shots, the Nikon Z9’s world-class [AUTO] focus and stabilization system presents itself front-and-center. It is rather remarkable. The PHASEONE [AUTO] focus system is otherwise outstanding. However, does not (sic., pretend) to match that of Nikon in closeups when pinpointing a small target with other objects very, very, nearby at a different distance. In short, it may take a few shots on AUTO FOCUS. More often than not with the PHASEONE in this setting, I shoot in Manual Mode and use the LIVE VIEW on the Digital Back to ensure proper Focus.
I used a 35MM lens for the shots. The Nikon Z S 35MM 1.8 Prime lens. The PHASEONE Blue Ring 35MM 2.8 Prime Lens with PHASEONE XF body.
The Z9 captures images in 35MM FULL FORMAT at 45 Megapixels in14-BIT Color RAW uncompressed. AUTOFOCUS was AFC Single Point. Uncropped image size in pixels 5,504 (H) by 8,256 (W) at 300 pixels per inch or 18.3 (H) by 27.5 (W) in inches. File size is 266 MB.
The IQ4 captures images in 4×5 FULL FORMAT at 151 Megapixels in 16-BIT Color RAW uncompressed. AUTOFOCUS was Single Point. Uncropped image size in pixels 14,204 (H) by 10,652 (W) at 300 pixels per inch or 35.5 (H) by 47.3 (W) in inches. File size is 877 MB.
Gear Details (A Visual Comparison)
Manual Settings
I like a low ISO setting. Given the early light and tree cover, 35-50 ISO was not going to happen. I settled on 200 most of the time. I did get to use 64 ISO on the shot of the Crown and Cactus. The lower the ISO the less noise in the image. The IQ will go to as low as 35 ISO natively. The Nikon will go to as low as 64 ISO natively. The Nikon has a LOW 1 (50 ISO) and LOW 2 (35 ISO) additional setting.
I like the lens operating in the middle of its range in terms of aperture (f-stop). This is usually around f8 – f11. These settings provide wonderful depth (bokeh) in the image.
If I am shooting outdoors and hand-held at a relatively still target, 1/250s to 1/320s is a solid shutter speed. I can shoot the PHASEONE and Nikon at lower speeds hand-held, but wanted to keep things simple. Nikon can go materially lower given it is a smaller and less heavy set of gear – that also has industry leading image stabilization technology.
I shot each image with the same settings for an apples to apples outcome.
