Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

digital_AM wrote in post #18456480
Thank you Tim. I'm using Photoshop to stitch the shots. I use Auto Align and then Auto Blend. The key thing in the field is to lock your vertical plane. My FLM ballhead has a dedicated tilt lock knob for this purpose. It prevents the camera from moving side to side as you pan up on a vertical plane. This is kind of a poor man's version of a tilt shift lens. There is a tiny bit of sharpness dropoff when stitching this way but the resulting image still looks great when zoomed in.

I'll have to try that. I have Tilt-Shift lenses, so I may experiment and do a comparison of the sharpness.

navydoc wrote in post #18456521
I wonder if my Husky tripod would work for vertical panos? It has tilt using an arm like a video head that doesn't effect panning and a center shaft that raises the camera platform vertically too.

I think the Husky would work just fine. The key is making sure it is level. While I have an RRS ballhead, I've found that my old cheap metal tripod with a pan-tilt video head works better with my tilt-shift lens when shooting pano's. My cheap tripod doesn't have a center shaft, but it might be interesting to experiment with moving the shaft on a vertical pano. I suppose one could consider moving the vertical tripod shaft up and down as a "poor man's nodal rail."

Created a quick review of the Affinity Photo shadow recovery vs Camera raw.

navydoc wrote in post #18456521
I wonder if my Husky tripod would work for vertical panos? It has tilt using an arm like a video head that doesn't effect panning and a center shaft that raises the camera platform vertically too.

Gene, that should work. Just make sure to level out the tripod.

Timphoto wrote in post #18456543
I'll have to try that. I have Tilt-Shift lenses, so I may experiment and do a comparison of the sharpness.


I think the Husky would work just fine. The key is making sure it is level. While I have an RRS ballhead, I've found that my old cheap metal tripod with a pan-tilt video head works better with my tilt-shift lens when shooting pano's. My cheap tripod doesn't have a center shaft, but it might be interesting to experiment with moving the shaft on a vertical pano. I suppose one could consider moving the vertical tripod shaft up and down as a "poor man's nodal rail."

This vertical merging method is better than shooting up and then doing major keystone corrections in post. Looking forward to your test results.

vinmunoz wrote in post #18456547
Created a quick review of the Affinity Photo shadow recovery vs Camera raw.

Good demo Vinz, have you contacted Affinity directly?

Is anyone going to try out Aurora HDR 2018 for Windows? I think I'm set as far as plugins are concerned. Frankly I probably have too many.

Also, Nick Page has a luminosity masking video tutorial available. He uses Lumenzia primarily but the concepts can be applied to other luminosity mask panels.

http://www.nickpagepho​tography.com/tutorials​/luminositymasks

Desperate times calls for desperate measures


been looking for a small faster than 2.8 35....


been using the 35 ultron, and it certainly hits the spot, great IQ. Too bad, the TAP adapter goes to crap in low light.

Charlie wrote in post #18456563
Desperate times calls for desperate measures


been looking for a small faster than 2.8 35....


been using the 35 ultron, and it certainly hits the spot, great IQ. Too bad, the TAP adapter goes to crap in low light.

Hosted photo: posted by Charlie in
./showthread.php?p=184​56563&i=i212981298
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Charlie, I have been researching that lens since I am returning my Loxia 35 (left corner is soft). Did you get yours new? Are you using a front filter to help correct the corners?

digital_AM wrote in post #18456568
Charlie, I have been researching that lens. Did you get yours new? Are you using a front filter to help correct the corners?

yes, got it new from photovillage for 779.

the black version is 100g lighter, but I'm a sucker for the cool looks of the silver lens.

I'm using mine for people shots, not too concerned about FC, but the corners are ok if you are focused on it.

if you're looking for flat plane sharp, it needs to be stopped down.

for people shots, it's sharp wide open wherever you land the focus.

I think I'll do some testing with the CV 35 and FE 35. The FE is certainly very sharp wide open, but it doesnt improve too much stopped down. I think the contrast and color of the CV might be better, the bokeh certainly is.

some snapshots with minimal processing, first was stopped down a little, second wide open. For some reason, the exif would write f1.8 at times, dont even know how that's possible, maybe sony firmware figures it out?

Charlie wrote in post #18456615
I think I'll do some testing with the CV 35 and FE 35. The FE is certainly very sharp wide open, but it doesnt improve too much stopped down. I think the contrast and color of the CV might be better, the bokeh certainly is.

some snapshots with minimal processing, first was stopped down a little, second wide open. For some reason, the exif would write f1.8 at times, dont even know how that's possible, maybe sony firmware figures it out?

Hosted photo: posted by Charlie in
./showthread.php?p=184​56615&i=i257097134
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Hosted photo: posted by Charlie in
./showthread.php?p=184​56615&i=i154674655
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Very cool. You're getting AF from the TAP adapter? Is it pretty effective in good light?

gregr2 wrote in post #18456555
Good demo Vinz, have you contacted Affinity directly?

i raised it up at their forums. they responded once long time ago and no update.

digital_AM wrote in post #18456619
Very cool. You're getting AF from the TAP adapter? Is it pretty effective in good light?

yes, TAP is pretty effective in good light, but in bad, you're limited to center. It's odd because the adapter AF's worse on my A7rii than A7ii. The A7ii has a smaller PDAF area, and all within that, it does well. With the A7rii, once you get to the edges, it simply stops.

I'll do some landscape shots compared to the FE 35, but due to the finnicky FC, you kind of have to play with it a little bit to get sharp edges and center. Based on a bit of play, I think focused on 1/3 of the frame might get me the best combo, when focused on corners, the lens is certainly capable of sharp corners, but across the frame is a different story.

Charlie wrote in post #18456626
yes, TAP is pretty effective in good light, but in bad, you're limited to center. It's odd because the adapter AF's worse on my A7rii than A7ii. The A7ii has a smaller PDAF area, and all within that, it does well. With the A7rii, once you get to the edges, it simply stops.

I'll do some landscape shots compared to the FE 35, but due to the finnicky FC, you kind of have to play with it a little bit to get sharp edges and center. Based on a bit of play, I think focused on 1/3 of the frame might get me the best combo, when focused on corners, the lens is certainly capable of sharp corners, but across the frame is a different story.

Thanks Charlie. This sounds promising. Once I get my refund from the Loxia 35, I'm going to order the CV 35 and the needed front filter and short adapter. I'm waiting on infinity tests results from Guy over on FM before ultimately pulling the trigger.

digital_AM wrote in post #18456653
Thanks Charlie. This sounds promising. Once I get my refund from the Loxia 35, I'm going to order the CV 35 and the needed front filter and short adapter. I'm waiting on infinity tests results from Guy over on FM before ultimately pulling the trigger.

the thing I'de watch for is how and where Guy focuses on. Due to FC, that's a pretty important aspect for landscapes.

my wife has been hounding me, I think she's onto my new lens, or I would have tested against the FE 35 already. Not sure I will go the filter route or not, I'm not even sure how to create one of those. I will be shooting a lot with the lens in coming weeks, and after that, I'll decide whether or not to pursue the front filter trick.

So when testing midframe focus, the cv 35 does indeed look very strong.

edges and midframe crops compared to the FE 35