Nikon D2x High Speed Crop (7MP) Vs Panasonic LX1 3:2 Ratio (7MP)

It might seem strange to compare the pride of the Nikon fleet with a digicam, but I thought I'd give it a try.

It occurred to me that when set to High Speed Crop the Nikon D2x captures a 7MP frame (3216px X 2136px). Likewise, when set to the 3:2 Ratio setting the Panasonic LX1 captures a 7MP frame (3248px X 2160px). Also both cameras are able to shoot RAW files that can be processed in Adobe Camera Raw (I used v3.2).

The stage was set, so I tripod mounted my Nikon D2x and my Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1, blocked the sun from their lenses using a black cutter and set the self timer of both cameras to 2 seconds. I shot fully manual exposures using the full range of ISO options available on both cameras. Both camera's were also set to 'Full Sunlight' white balance.

The JPEG image attached to this thread shows the captured frames from both cameras at the top, with three separate 'pixel peepin' crops from a single camera exposure shown from left to right.

The four different examples (2 from each camera / a low ISO and a high ISO) have been compared because I feel they share some similarities (ISO Noise) and some differences (Resolving power and acutance).

When considering what you're looking at, keep in mind that the twelve mega-pixel CMOS sensor of the D2x is 23.7mm on the longest side (approx 15.9mm when in High Speed Crop Mode). Alternatively, the LX1 has an eight mega-pixel CCD sensor that is approximately 8mm on the longest side when set to its native 16:9 ratio setting (approx 7.8mm when set to the 3:2 Ratio setting).

It's therefore fair to say that, when set to the High Speed Crop mode, the D2x sensor is roughly twice the width of the LX1 sensor. Not surprisingly, at 80iso the LX1 displays about the same amount of noise as the D2x when it's set to 400iso. Likewise, at 400iso the LX1 displays about the same amount of noise as the D2x when it's set to 1600iso.

Whilst I know you’re looking at a JPEG, I still wish to ask the question, what do you see?

Das Bosun

The first thing that strikes me is the difference in saturation and colour balance between the cameras in your selected white balance setting.

Does this change if you use the RAW converter's white balance tool to click on one of the grey patches on the colour checker?


The second thing I notice is a difference in contrast and rendered detail from the two cameras; I immediately suspect that the optics of the Panasonic isn't up to the same standards as that of your D2x + your selected lens.

At ISO 400, the Panasonic's contrast and detail rendition is awful. Dear auntie, look at that shadow area ...

As mentioned, the white balance of both camera's was set to 'Sunlight', but I also used the ACR color picker on the Grey swatch (second in on the bottom left) to set the white balance. Both cameras were used under full sunlight conditions, so the white balance barely changed when I swatch white balanced. Therefore these results should reflect a closer color rendition, but as you can see the Panasonic delivers a much flatter color rendition than the D2x.

The optical difference was the biggest surprise for me (which is also the major source of the color rendering difference). It's as though the Panasonic images are all flared, but like I suggested both cameras were shaded from extranious light by a black cutter.

You get what you pay for.

Das Bosun

I am puzzled why you have chosen focal lengths to give equal FOV, but then used the Nikon with a far larger aperture (diameter). The aperture diameters are about 7.5mm for the Nikon, 4mm for the Panasonic, so that the Nikon is gathering light three or four times faster, while having about half as much DOF. If the lower DOF is acceptable and the faster light gathering ability is desirable, why is the Panasonic stopped down instead of wide open? On the other hand, if the Panasonic is stopped down to get more DOF, why is not the Nikon stopped down to about f/11 or f/16, as would be needed to get equal DOF?

Sorry if I repeat myself, but comparisons allegedly showing the inferior high shutter speed/low light performance of a smaller sensor are meaningless if the smaller format is put at a disadvantage by using an aperture smaller than the maximum available and so small that it gives more DOF than the aperture used with the larger format. This is confusing lens speed with sensor speed.