Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5]   Go Down

Author Topic: 3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe  (Read 34928 times)

Quentin

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1222
    • Quentin on Facebook
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #80 on: February 10, 2009, 04:34:07 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Temple are a fascinating subject!

 

Quentin
Logged
Quentin Bargate, ARPS, Author, Arbitrato

Quentin

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1222
    • Quentin on Facebook
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #81 on: February 10, 2009, 04:43:52 am »

The following image was shot with a D700 and 85mm F1.4 Nikkor using three rows of images and PTGui.  Like yours, Bernard, hand-held due to tripod restrictions.



Quentin
Logged
Quentin Bargate, ARPS, Author, Arbitrato

BernardLanguillier

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13983
    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernardlanguillier/sets/
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #82 on: February 10, 2009, 04:54:10 am »

Quote from: Quentin
Bernard,

Very impressive, as is your dedication to getting it right.  What was wrong with results from stitching software, like PTGui?

Thanks.

The first thing is that it was impossible to get pleasing colors in both shadows and lit parts with a single raw conversion per frame (except for the foreground where I decided to keep bluish shadows that are more natural). So I had to overlay frames anyway to handle that part.

The second thing is that C1, that I initially intended to use for all conversions, was unable to handle purple fringing in the strongly backlit trees, raw Developper did a much better job on that part. So more overlay to do there.

Finally, I had to use two sets of images to handle the DR of the scene (I had shot 3 images 1 stop apart from each other, but ended up only using the darkest and lightest ones). I tried both the Fusion and true HDR rendering of PTgui, as well as the Autopano Pro auto HDR, but I couldn't get something pleasing with either.

In the end, hand overlay was a much better option that would have been reasonnably fast had I decided to go that route since the beginning. I guess that this is the good thing about being mostly an amateur, I can afford to waste time like this to get an image the I want it to be.

Cheers,
Bernard

BernardLanguillier

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13983
    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernardlanguillier/sets/
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #83 on: February 10, 2009, 04:57:12 am »

Quote from: Quentin
The following image was shot with a D700 and 85mm F1.4 Nikkor using three rows of images and PTGui.  Like yours, Bernard, hand-held due to tripod restrictions.

Brilliant Quentin, thanks for sharing. Did you have to do any HDR to handle the contrast or were single frames enough?

Mine was in fact shot on tripod.

Cheers,
Bernard

Quentin

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1222
    • Quentin on Facebook
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #84 on: February 10, 2009, 07:17:38 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Brilliant Quentin, thanks for sharing. Did you have to do any HDR to handle the contrast or were single frames enough?

Mine was in fact shot on tripod.

Cheers,
Bernard

Hi Bernard,

Thanks - no HDR because of the tripod ban, and I found the dynamic range of the D700 dealt well with the contrast range, being biased towards preserving highlights and using the excellent detail recovery in the shadows.  Also the fast prime meant a reasonably realistic depth of field (comparable to a LF film camera) and faster shutter speeds.

If I had the opportunity I would have preferred to use a tripod and pano head but this was in Vienna and I was shooting next to toursits with their compacts, with my camera stuck through the grille as a service was in progress (a plus because in meant fewer people milling about and not seated for the service).  Given that the circumstances were not exactly conducive for high quality photography, I was quite pleased with the result.

Quentin
« Last Edit: February 10, 2009, 07:18:20 am by Quentin »
Logged
Quentin Bargate, ARPS, Author, Arbitrato

pegelli

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1664
    • http://pegelli.smugmug.com/
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #85 on: February 10, 2009, 07:49:25 am »

Quote from: BernardLanguillier
Clearly so.  Another thing, closely related, is that you probably end up playing nicer if you use the same guitar all the time, since you'll get to really know it in depth.

Cheers,
Bernard

Very much agree. Another testimony on a contentious subject: what is better, in body or in lens anti-shake.

A good friend of mine has a Canon 40D and 100-400IS, I have a Sony A700 and 100-400APO.
We set up a test at 400 mm and ~ 1/60th of a second exposure. Out of ~50 shots we got similar results with regard to motion blur.

After resting our arms a bit (no beer !) we took each others camera and repeated the test. We both got significantly worse results. In talking it over afterwards (now with a beer) we determined that my friend was probably put of by a non stabilized viewfinder image and for me the reverse.

Conclusion : the best camera is probably the one you have and know well.

Not a scientific test by a long shot, just an illustration of a practical thing we both enjoyed doing.

Sorry for a bit off topic, but still partly relevant when comparing numbers in a scientific test vs. performance out in the field.
« Last Edit: February 10, 2009, 07:51:41 am by pegelli »
Logged
pieter, aka pegelli

Mark D Segal

  • Contributor
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 12512
    • http://www.markdsegal.com
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #86 on: February 10, 2009, 09:49:48 am »

Quote from: Quentin
The following image was shot with a D700 and 85mm F1.4 Nikkor using three rows of images and PTGui.  Like yours, Bernard, hand-held due to tripod restrictions.

Quentin

Bernard and Quentin, thanks for posting those excellent stitched photographs. They demonstrate once again that the end-point of all this technical discussion is the production of fine photographs, and they prove yet again that one can buy all kinds of gear at widely varied price points, all of which will perform very well when used within their design parameters and the images intelligently processed by competent photographers.

Mark
Logged
Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
Author: "Scanning Workflows with SilverFast 8....."

Ray

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 10365
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #87 on: February 11, 2009, 09:30:42 am »

Quote from: Quentin
The following image was shot with a D700 and 85mm F1.4 Nikkor using three rows of images and PTGui.  Like yours, Bernard, hand-held due to tripod restrictions.

 .
Logged

Quentin

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1222
    • Quentin on Facebook
3 Feb, 2009 - Eyes vs. Numbers - Which to Believe
« Reply #88 on: February 11, 2009, 06:24:12 pm »

Quote from: Ray
Quentin,
Impressive interior of a church (cathedral), but I'm wondering about that out-of-focus structure, lower left. Are you trying to divert the attention of the viewer towards the right, which at this size seems sharp and in focus, and perhaps more interesting. But I can't help the feeling of a slight annoyance that the detail on the left is blurred   .

Hi Ray,

Its just a depth of field issue.  The object left is closer, and I was shooting, out of necessity, pretty wide (about F2 - I ought to check the files but don't have them on this computer) with the 85mm F.1.4 to avoid camera shake.  I could crop, but I prefer the whole view.  

cheers

Quentin
Logged
Quentin Bargate, ARPS, Author, Arbitrato
Pages: 1 ... 3 4 [5]   Go Up