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Author Topic: Experience with Live View DB?  (Read 5575 times)

Drew Harty

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Experience with Live View DB?
« on: July 25, 2012, 09:50:09 am »

Hello,

I am looking for anyone who can give a specific description about their work flow using live-view to achieve critical focus.

I recently switched from an Aptus 65 to an Aptus 10 and find the 2x increase in resolution is pushing the limits of what I can humanly do to achieve accurate focus.  I photograph small-scale natural landscapes where the lens is tilted 5 - 8 degrees on an Arca 6x9 with the orbix geared tilt and the final prints at 40x60 are nearly 1:1 representations of the original scene.  Much of what I photograph is water with objects above and below.  I set focus on the plain of the water and stop down to F/8 - F/11, using predominantly 70mm to 135mm Rodenstock digital lens.  I work with a dark cloth, a Bill Maxwell focusing screens, an 8x loupe, and a little digital angle meter to make sure the angle of the ground glass is not changing or to reset the angle if I rotate the camera slightly.  This is all complicated by the fact that I am often standing thigh deep in water while photographing.  I typically set the near focus, tilt the lens to get the far focus, then go through a series of shots where I am checking focus at 100% view.  After the initial focus setup, I am often blindly rotating the front standard knob or geared orbix knob a percentage of a degree to try and achieve more accurate focus with the DB still attached.  I know this seems counter intuitive, but when I have tried to achieve accurate focus with my eyes using a loupe on the ground glass and not nailed it, the blind focus method seems the next best choice.  Between each attempt at accurate focus--there can  be 2-3 attempts in best case and 5-8 in worse case--I wait for the back to display then, tap 100% view to check first the near focus then the far focus.  

How would using a DB with live-view change my workflow?  Is it simply that the image displays quicker at 100% and is easier to navigate around?  Can you set up live-view to display directly at 100% in a preselected area of the image?

Thanks for any advice,
Drew Harty
« Last Edit: July 25, 2012, 09:56:36 am by Drew Harty »
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #1 on: July 25, 2012, 11:36:27 am »

Those images are beautiful and quite unusual at the same time. Very original work.
Must look even more beautiful on a large print. Do you have a website?
I particularly like the first image. I like how it is delicate, but has almost metalic tones.
I took some photos of me surfing with a kite once and got this metalic look of water surface.
I had the camera on remote control and rigged to the kitesurfing kite. There was fog upwind of me and the sun was coming through it in an unusual way. I'll have to fish it out and post it here.. just for fun. Don't expect to much... it was taken  (blush) with a point and shoot
strapped to the kite..... It was blowing 30 knots and there was a 5 foot shore break...... not a place for expensive gear...

Here is a good article that describes the pros and cons of MFDB liveview. More cons than pros.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/iq_back_live_view.shtml

While the newer backs have vastly improved navigation the actual live view is still flawed by the fact that CCD sensors simply are not designed for live view. It is slow, image quality is low, ND filters are needed to avoid overexposed live view most of the time, it's power hungry and heats up the sensor. At faster refresh rates the quality goes down to the point of making it "disturbing" to look at.
My guess is that in your situation you will be working a bit faster on the back of the camera, but will have to juggle an ND filter in front of the camera.

It has nothing like live view on a 35mm DSLR. Especially if you consider that you can use HDMI with high res on a large portable screen.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2012, 12:23:30 pm by FredBGG »
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2012, 12:03:04 pm »

I know this may ruffle a few feathers, but seeing that you are using 70mm and 135mm and not wider angle lenses you
could take a look at using a Fuji gx680. It's an SLR with tilt shift on all the lenses. The advantage would be that you get to use the focusing screen without having to move the back. You can focus, shoot a shot, verify and go back to the view finder to make your adjustments... and repeat quite quickly. The gx680 has a very nice magnifying loupe viewfinder for the 680. It has an 8x loupe that can be moved around the frame without touching the focusing screen. I have even modified two of these, putting a 16x and a 4x loup on them.
 Fuji also made an adapter for large format lenses so depending on how much room you have behind the lens to focusing plane you might be able to mount the Rodi lenses on the Fuji body. The Fujinon lenses are damn good, but most likely not quite a match for the Rodis. That said the 80mm and 125mm 3.2 are pretty much the best on the GX680 system. The 125mm 3.2 produces a very bright image in the viewfinder making it so much easier to focus. Also the rear element is large and projects well onto the sensor reducing color cast issues.

Down side is that the Fuji gx680 is rather heavy and for your shots that appear to be shooting down it would be somewhat tricky looking down into the waist level loupe viewfinder.

One thing you can also explore with the 680 is stitching. There is a stitching back made for the 680 by kapture group. This would offset the quality difference in the lenses as I'm sure the Rodis are not twice as sharp as the Fujinons.

The Fuji gx680 would not be a substitute for your tech camera, but might be a nifty sidekick.

One other tip. Fujinon made or still makes a very nice loup that is phenomenally well corrected and very bright. Quite large
eye piece rear element. I use it with my large format cameras and it's the best I've found.

IF you want to PM me your email I can send you documentation (PDF format) that I have put together on the gx680 system.
Covers all the lenses, focus ranges, subject size etc etc.
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theguywitha645d

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2012, 01:00:22 pm »

Have you confirmed your ground glass is in the correct position with regards to your sensor?
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yaya

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2012, 01:09:13 pm »

Hello,

I am looking for anyone who can give a specific description about their work flow using live-view to achieve critical focus.

I recently switched from an Aptus 65 to an Aptus 10 and find the 2x increase in resolution is pushing the limits of what I can humanly do to achieve accurate focus.  I photograph small-scale natural landscapes where the lens is tilted 5 - 8 degrees on an Arca 6x9 with the orbix geared tilt and the final prints at 40x60 are nearly 1:1 representations of the original scene.  Much of what I photograph is water with objects above and below.  I set focus on the plain of the water and stop down to F/8 - F/11, using predominantly 70mm to 135mm Rodenstock digital lens.  I work with a dark cloth, a Bill Maxwell focusing screens, an 8x loupe, and a little digital angle meter to make sure the angle of the ground glass is not changing or to reset the angle if I rotate the camera slightly.  This is all complicated by the fact that I am often standing thigh deep in water while photographing.  I typically set the near focus, tilt the lens to get the far focus, then go through a series of shots where I am checking focus at 100% view.  After the initial focus setup, I am often blindly rotating the front standard knob or geared orbix knob a percentage of a degree to try and achieve more accurate focus with the DB still attached.  I know this seems counter intuitive, but when I have tried to achieve accurate focus with my eyes using a loupe on the ground glass and not nailed it, the blind focus method seems the next best choice.  Between each attempt at accurate focus--there can  be 2-3 attempts in best case and 5-8 in worse case--I wait for the back to display then, tap 100% view to check first the near focus then the far focus.  

How would using a DB with live-view change my workflow?  Is it simply that the image displays quicker at 100% and is easier to navigate around?  Can you set up live-view to display directly at 100% in a preselected area of the image?

Thanks for any advice,
Drew Harty

Hi Drew, some beautiful images you're showing here!!!!

You did not mention if you're using a Rotaslide sliding back on your F69 or a separate ground glass. If you're taking the back off, fit the GG on, focus and then remount the Aptus again, it is most likely that you're altering the focus plane. With the sliding back this is a bit more controllable but might not be perfect

If you never use the movements on the rear standard and only use the tilt on the front one, then you may consider getting an Rm3Di since it is much more solid than the F so changing between the back and the GG (or sliding them across) is not going to alter the focus plane and you can use your existing lenses (albeit mounted into R lens boards). The R can replace the front standard on your F by the way...

However if you are considering a Credo instead on your Aptus-II 10, then I can say that for your type of work Live View will actually work quite well. I've done quite a bit of outdoor work with it and if your scene doesn't have large bright areas then the sensor will not get saturated. Also when you zoom in to 100%, the refresh rate goes up and as it only renders a small portion of the image, saturation becomes less of an issue (You can try this with your Aptus-II 10 tethered to see the difference between full screen preview and 100% zoom). In my experience this process is faster than checking focus with a loupe on the GG and is more accurate...

The best way to find out, obviously, is to try it for yourself ;)

Please let me know if you need any further assistance

BR

Yair
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Steve Hendrix

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2012, 07:32:52 pm »

Drew -

My perspective is that - in its current implementation - Medium Format Live View (in-camera) will not provide much of an advantage for you over your current setup for focusing. More importantly than Live View, the ability to accurately (and quickly/easily) review focus is the dominant factor with the new Phase One IQ/Leaf Credo products, when it comes to arriving at a properly focused image. I may be guilty of underselling Medium Format Live View - and YMMV - but for my personal use, and in the context of quite a few discussions with my clients, it is not the solution. It may be helpful, but it's not a slam dunk.

I would echo Yair's comment about your camera setup, however. Adding an RM3Di body and converting your lenses to R Bayonet can add some more precision and flexibility to your setup, while still maintaing the ability to use your existing configuration.


Steve Hendrix
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Brian Hirschfeld

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2012, 08:58:11 pm »

I agree with Steve that the current Live view is not the best option for you, it works fine if there is a lot of light but any sort of challenging lighting conditions it starts to degrade its performance rapidly...I also agree with Steve that the IQ/Credo focus mask is much more helpful for determining critical focus but I do not know how it performs with camera movements. However I assume since Yair and Steve didn't mention it wouldn't work, that it works just fine. 
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2012, 10:05:27 pm »


However if you are considering a Credo instead on your Aptus-II 10, then I can say that for your type of work Live View will actually work quite well. I've done quite a bit of outdoor work with it and if your scene doesn't have large bright areas then the sensor will not get saturated. Also when you zoom in to 100%, the refresh rate goes up and as it only renders a small portion of the image, saturation becomes less of an issue (You can try this with your Aptus-II 10 tethered to see the difference between full screen preview and 100% zoom). In my experience this process is faster than checking focus with a loupe on the GG and is more accurate...

Yair

How about using focus mask for setting up his tilt and them zoomed in live view for fine focus and checking.
Seems to me that focus mask would be a better way of previewing the tilts focus as you see the whole image and have focus mask show you the sharpest areas.

It would be really handy for tilt fine focus to be able to preset two 100% zoom areas and be able to toggle quickly between them. Would be particularly handy for this type of subject
as the content is quite abstract and hard to navigate by image detail zoomed in. Toggeling quickly between the pre established zoomed in areas would make fine tunning tilt more user friendly.

Just an idea.
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Drew Harty

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2012, 09:26:30 am »

Thanks everyone for the kind words about my landscape photographs.  For years, I shot with an 8x10 and 4x5, but since working with a MFDB my work has taken on greater expressive qualities because of the ability to experiment more while shooting, the ability to work with images on the computer the day I shot them, the absolutely noise or grain free smooth values, and the scale I can print which opens up the images and changes the experience of viewing them.  

Also thanks for all your observations and info about shooting with live-view.  Unfortunately, it sounds like live-view isn't an option that would improve my work flow significantly.  One of my goals in shooting and putting together a camera system is to simplify my shooting process so I can concentrate on the subject matter, and live-view with its extra power requirements and need to adjust for light levels seems like a poor trade off for what I might gain.

A few other comments:

Fred thanks for the suggestion of the GX 680.  I am always up for looking at a new solution that would work for me.  The most significant problem I see with the Fuji is that it doesn't have a geared tilt mechanism. There is no way I could achieve accurate focus on the Arca without the geared tilt mechanism. 

At the suggestion of Bill Maxwell, I have had my Arca and Mamiya 645 checked and adjusted so the CCD is in the same plain as the ground glass.

Yair, I work with a ground glass and not a sliding back.  I was under the impression that a sliding back would introduce less precision than simply swapping out the ground glass and DB.  I will look into it.  I have looked at the RM3DI, and the problem for me, other than the loss of the ability to do horizontal stitching, is that the front lens board only tilts 5 degrees
I would guess about 40% of the time I am tilting the lens 5 - 7 degrees.  I also do a lot of horizontal stitching, particularly now that I am working with a 2:3 format instead of a 4:3 format.

Brian, your comment about live-view's poor performance in low light makes it clear live-view would not work for me.  I shoot a lot at twilight, which is what gives water in my images the metallic quality Fred noted.  Even with the relatively clear image of the Aptus 56 zoomed in at 100%, it is sometimes hard to tell if somethings is sharp or not when you don't have hard edged objects in a scene.

Fred, I agree with you 100%, the graphic interface could be improved to facilitate accurate near/far focus when tilting the lens.  After I have seen the initial composition, achieving accurate focus is the most time consuming and frustrating part of shooting, when tilting the lens.  Seems like the industry is just catching up to the demands of critical focus using high resolution DBs.  I read an article that said the depth-of-field scales on all lens are off by 2-3 stops when shooting with high resolution digital sensors because the depth-of-field scales are based on a pre WWII circle of confusion for film and not digital backs.  I have confirmed this myself shooting with my Mamiya 645/DM 56 and using a Lecia A5 laser distant meter. 

Thanks for all your helpful comments,
Drew Harty

« Last Edit: July 26, 2012, 10:44:41 am by Drew Harty »
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2012, 09:42:39 pm »


Fred, I agree with you 100%, the graphic interface could be improved to facilitate accurate near/far focus when tilting the lens.  After I have seen the initial composition, achieving accurate focus is the most time consuming and frustrating part of shooting, when tilting the lens.  Seems like the industry is just catching up to the demands of critical focus using high resolution DBs. ......

It would be nice to be able to start by viewing the whole frame on the LCD. Then pick two spots to zoom in on. Then have the back display both spots zoomed in in a split screen.

Would be very handy for tilt focusing.
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dchew

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #10 on: July 28, 2012, 06:27:27 am »


Yair, I work with a ground glass and not a sliding back.  I was under the impression that a sliding back would introduce less precision than simply swapping out the ground glass and DB.  I will look into it.  I have looked at the RM3DI, and the problem for me, other than the loss of the ability to do horizontal stitching, is that the front lens board only tilts 5 degrees
I would guess about 40% of the time I am tilting the lens 5 - 7 degrees.  I also do a lot of horizontal stitching, particularly now that I am working with a 2:3 format instead of a 4:3 format.


Drew,
It looks like you tend to shoot longer lenses.  If tilting on wides is not as great a priority, I believe the Alpa STC will do precisely what you want.  The 0-12 degree adapter will work with anything longer than ~ 80mm, and you can tilt either the lens or the back.  The STC is great for horizontal (or vertical) stitching, although limited to 18mm.

In regards to LV, I echo what others have said.  In my opinion the post-capture viewing quality at 100% along with focus mask are the more useful features of the new backs; not live-view.

Dave
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #11 on: July 28, 2012, 03:25:40 pm »

I recently switched from an Aptus 65 to an Aptus 10 and find the 2x increase in resolution is pushing the limits of what I can humanly do to achieve accurate focus.

Doing the math the resolution increase is actually "only" a 51.921 % increase. It is very important to keep in mind that resolution is a linear function. MP count is a surface area
calculation. Resolution is described by lines per millimeter, not by lines per square millimeter.

With that in mind the percentage of resolution increase between a D800E and the Aptus-II 10 is only a 26.821 % increase.
That is calculated on using a full frame with both cameras. It is also quite easy and quick to do two shots with the D800 using lateral shift
with the tripod attached to the lens (with an adapter) and do stitches to get a wider format and more resolution.
Attaching the tripod to the lens means you move the camera not the lens for stitching. You can really stitch with close up subjects with significant subject depth if you move the lens.

Now with that in mind there is the issue of dynamic range. The Dynamic range of the D800E is higher than that of MFD Backs.
Personally I find that for print sizes of 40x60 you really have to look close to see a difference in resolution of about 25%.
However in natural light conditions with deep shadows and highlights more dynamic range is going to be more evident, especially if you are doing post to your images and using
color filtering in your black and white conversions.

In consideration of lenses... the Nikon 85mm tilt shift lens, the PC-E model is excellent. The 24mm is too. The 45mm, the oldest is due for a refresh.
You could also use the Schneider TS lenses.

I am pointing this out because you want or would like better live view. With the D800 you have a very high refresh rate with live view
and very quick navigation. You can also connect the camera to a PC tablet and get live view on a big screen, but being over USB it is not full res.
Then there is another option. You can connect to a field HDMI monitor. There are HDMI monitors with focus peaking, viewing hoods etc.
There is also a low budget HDMI option using a Motorola cell phone laptop screen and keyboard. Just plug the HDMI in and the live view
is displayed on the 11 inch screen. These can be found for under 100 bucks. Color quality is so so, but for focusing it's great.

Also seems to me that a small DSLR would be more practical in the field.

Here is an interesting comparison between the d800E Nikon PC-E 24mm tilt/shift lens  and
 the IQ180 back on an Arca Swiss Rm3d with a Schneider 35mm APO-Digitar XL

Their conclusion:

Quote
At 30×20 inches, you can see subtle but clear differences between the IQ180 and the D800E. Not all of them weighted in favour of the medium format camera, though. For instance, the D800E produced much more pleasing shadow areas on the prints of the photographs produced to test dynamic range.

Resolution and detail of the IQ180 prints was better than that of the D800E prints – but not massively. Again, the difference was there, but it wasn’t huge. Certainly not €30,000 huge.

And we were stunned just how close the D800E ran the IQ180 when the files were printed at 60×40 inches, which is bigger than many dining room tables.

Put simply, Nikon has produced a phenomenal camera.

Medium format camera manufacturers have cause for concern.

Here is the test.

http://www.circleofconfusion.ie/d800e-vs-phase-one-iq180/
« Last Edit: July 28, 2012, 03:31:21 pm by FredBGG »
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Drew Harty

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2012, 10:43:29 am »


Doing the math the resolution increase is actually "only" a 51.921 % increase. It is very important to keep in mind that resolution is a linear function. MP count is a surface area
calculation. Resolution is described by lines per millimeter, not by lines per square millimeter.

Yes, my mistake.  I mis-spoke.

With that in mind the percentage of resolution increase between a D800E and the Aptus-II 10 is only a 26.821 % increase.
That is calculated on using a full frame with both cameras.


I am pointing this out because you want or would like better live view. With the D800 you have a very high refresh rate with live view
and very quick navigation. You can also connect the camera to a PC tablet and get live view on a big screen, but being over USB it is not full res.
Then there is another option. You can connect to a field HDMI monitor. There are HDMI monitors with focus peaking, viewing hoods etc.
There is also a low budget HDMI option using a Motorola cell phone laptop screen and keyboard. Just plug the HDMI in and the live view
is displayed on the 11 inch screen. These can be found for under 100 bucks. Color quality is so so, but for focusing it's great.


I conducted a similar test between my 5D Mk II and my Leaf Aptus 65, also approximately 28% difference in resolution.  I worked with the Canon 90mm and 45mm TS-E lens, both very sharp lens, and used live-view at 100% to set focus when tilting the lens.  It was great to work with a true live-view on the camera LCD, but I did think an external quality HDMI screen would be needed.

The bottom line for me was that I simply could not achieve the same print quality from the 5D as the Aptus 65, when printed at a similar DPI.  The 5D files did not hold up well to the degee of value manipulation I could do with Aptus 65 files and the 5D prints never had the same clarity as the Aptus 65 prints. I am not talking about subtle differences seen only through a loupe; in fact, I print on Hahnemuhle photo rag papers with Cone pigmented inks, so there isn't much to see to see when you pixel peep.  On these papers, I think a perceived sharpness is achieved more through contrast differences than actual resolution.  Interestingly, there was less apparent difference in quality between the 5D and Aptus 65 prints when I worked in color, where I don't manipulate values as much.  I would gladly give up expensive digital backs and cumbersome view cameras and lens for the convenience of a DSLR, but for me, from the test I have done, there was too great a print quality difference that I can't justify if I want to demand a good rate for my photography in the fine art market. 
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Drew Harty

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2012, 10:53:05 am »


It would be nice to be able to start by viewing the whole frame on the LCD. Then pick two spots to zoom in on. Then have the back display both spots zoomed in in a split screen.

I agree, this would trump the current implementation of live-view, particularly if you could set the interface to display directly to the zoomed positions. 
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Drew Harty

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2012, 11:02:18 am »

It looks like you tend to shoot longer lenses.  If tilting on wides is not as great a priority, I believe the Alpa STC will do precisely what you want.  The 0-12 degree adapter will work with anything longer than ~ 80mm, and you can tilt either the lens or the back.  The STC is great for horizontal (or vertical) stitching, although limited to 18mm.

In regards to LV, I echo what others have said.  In my opinion the post-capture viewing quality at 100% along with focus mask are the more useful features of the new backs; not live-view.

I have looked at the Alpa cameras and agree they would be an improvement over my Arca 6x9 with orbix, but they are way too expensive for my budget, and ultimately an Alpa wouldn't change my experience of trying to achieve critical focus when tilting the lens significantly--would be the same procedure but with a more precise tool.  
« Last Edit: August 01, 2012, 11:04:29 am by Drew Harty »
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FredBGG

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2012, 11:14:46 am »




The bottom line for me was that I simply could not achieve the same print quality from the 5D as the Aptus 65, when printed at a similar DPI.  The 5D files did not hold up well to the degee of value manipulation I could do with Aptus 65 files and the 5D prints never had the same clarity as the Aptus 65 prints. I am not talking about subtle differences seen only through a loupe; in fact, I print on Hahnemuhle photo rag papers with Cone pigmented inks, so there isn't much to see to see when you pixel peep.  On these papers, I think a perceived sharpness is achieved more through contrast differences than actual resolution.  Interestingly, there was less apparent difference in quality between the 5D and Aptus 65 prints when I worked in color, where I don't manipulate values as much.  I would gladly give up expensive digital backs and cumbersome view cameras and lens for the convenience of a DSLR, but for me, from the test I have done, there was too great a print quality difference that I can't justify if I want to demand a good rate for my photography in the fine art market. 

The fact that you are seeing less difference in color compared compared to  black and white leads me to believe that a lot of what you are after is
dependant on dynamic range. I too find that dynamic range is very important in post for back and white.
It's what is so nice about film. I think that like me you came up against the dynamic range limits of the Canon 5D II.
The D800e is a totally different story having more dynamic range than the 5D II and to a lesser extent digital backs.
I am getting results in black and white with the D800 that I was not getting with the 5D II.
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yaya

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2012, 11:32:51 am »

I conducted a similar test between my 5D Mk II and my Leaf Aptus 65, also approximately 28% difference in resolution.  I worked with the Canon 90mm and 45mm TS-E lens, both very sharp lens, and used live-view at 100% to set focus when tilting the lens.  It was great to work with a true live-view on the camera LCD, but I did think an external quality HDMI screen would be needed.

The bottom line for me was that I simply could not achieve the same print quality from the 5D as the Aptus 65, when printed at a similar DPI.  The 5D files did not hold up well to the degee of value manipulation I could do with Aptus 65 files and the 5D prints never had the same clarity as the Aptus 65 prints. I am not talking about subtle differences seen only through a loupe; in fact, I print on Hahnemuhle photo rag papers with Cone pigmented inks, so there isn't much to see to see when you pixel peep.  On these papers, I think a perceived sharpness is achieved more through contrast differences than actual resolution.  Interestingly, there was less apparent difference in quality between the 5D and Aptus 65 prints when I worked in color, where I don't manipulate values as much.  I would gladly give up expensive digital backs and cumbersome view cameras and lens for the convenience of a DSLR, but for me, from the test I have done, there was too great a print quality difference that I can't justify if I want to demand a good rate for my photography in the fine art market. 

Drew,

In the real world, if you crop an image from your Aptus-II 10 to 2:3 you will be utilising 54 million pixels. That's 18 million more that what you can get from a D800, given a similar distance from the subject and similar lens focal length. It translates to 50% more in terms of captured detail.

Visual resolution is measured by the size of the smallest feature in the image (e.g a leaf, a stone, a person's eye etc.) that can be recognized and if you have more pixels capturing the subject, chances are that the smallest feature captured will be..well..smaller...

This, together with the inherent sharpness of the Dalsa sensor (with no gutters or any circuitry between the pixels so a large and consistent "capacitive" area), 16-bit processing chain and higher quality of your lenses will almost always yield higher print quality, especially in B&W and even more-so when printing large

BTW I still maintain that the best way for you to know if our Live View works for you is to try it yourself...

Yair
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Yair Shahar | Product Manager | Phase One - Cultural Heritage
e: ysh@phaseone.com |

Marlyn

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?
« Reply #17 on: August 02, 2012, 01:03:49 pm »

It would be nice to be able to start by viewing the whole frame on the LCD. Then pick two spots to zoom in on. Then have the back display both spots zoomed in in a split screen.

Would be very handy for tilt focusing.

+1

That would be an awesome feature for us users of Technical cameras.



As for Live view.  The LV on the IQ160 IS clunky, prone to flaring, Noise, etc etc.  But I find it invaluable for accurate framing an some focusing.

However, I find the focus mask far more accurate for assessing focus when using Tilt/shift, and yes On the Phase back, it works for tilts.  ITs evaluating the result of the shot, not caring what lens gymnastics were done to get it.

Regards

Mark.
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rogerxnz

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?--What is Focus Mask?
« Reply #18 on: August 04, 2012, 04:29:56 pm »

Pardon my ignorance, but what is "Focus Mask"? I am looking at getting a Credo 60. Is it a feature available on such backs or is it part of the Capture One software?

The user guide for the Credo backs is not available from MamiyaLeaf's website so I cannot read up about it.
Roger
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Roger Hayman
Wellington, New Zealand

rogerxnz

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Re: Experience with Live View DB?--Anyone used it with a Flexbody?
« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2012, 04:33:04 pm »

Has anyone used LiveView or Focus Mask with a Hasselblad Flexbody? Were either of them useful?

Did LiveView mean you could dispense with using the optical viewfinder?
Roger
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Roger Hayman
Wellington, New Zealand
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