wow, what a phenomenal image from a Sony DSLR
Seriously? Um… a point-and-shoot can produce the same image. It’s also very clearly post-processed. Sony, Nikon, Pentax, Canon… they could’ve all taken the same quality shot.
Obviously I’m not talking about post-processing, I’m talking about color rendition, the crispness in the paint chipped door, and the brightness in her skin-tone…
Sorry as one of the few people shooting a 5D, and NOT using any PhotoShop, I respect people who take photos, not software pros…
Again, a variety of cameras can extract that kind of detail and color. And don’t even get me started on the stupid “photogs vs software pros” arguments. Almost all professional photographers who shoot RAW have to do some post processing these days. The image above is post-processed, but still looks very natural.
Owning a 5D (I’m assuming the Mark II and not the original 5D) and shooting natural JPEGs isn’t something to go bragging about.
The difference between those who argue about getting everything right in the camera (like Ken Rockwell) versus those who shoot great RAW images and process them in post is that the latter can produce far more dynamic images. And I’m not talking about trying to save a bad image by processing—poorly composed and badly focused images are just bad images.
The only reason I took issue with the surprise regarding the quality of this image coming from a Sony DSLR is that Sony makes fine cameras and sensors (Sony builds the sensors for other great cameras like the Nikon D4). Lenses matter even more. Perhaps this was shot with an amazing Carl Zeiss lens, which could have been super sharp with great color rendition, mounted on a Sony body. To express surprise that such an image could come from a Sony DSLR is to imply that Sony DSLRs are naturally mediocre or just plain bad.
Lastly, all those things you mentioned—color rendition, brightness in her skin tone, sharpness in detail of the paint chips—could have all been enhanced in Lightroom or Photoshop. And in this case, when considering the contrast, the vibrance of the colors and the very subtle vignetting, I’m guessing quite a bit of post-processing went into this image to make it look as great as it does.
