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Seriously strange HR32 problem.

etrump

Well-known member
My trusty HR32 just developed a huge problem with image quality and I can't quite figure it out. I'm looking for a few suggestions as I have three week trip to Italy in about 10 days.

The lens worked fine on my last trip which was in January.I had the opportunity to go to the Phase IQ event in Miami and was just getting around to looking at some images and every image has serious focus problems in all but the exact center of the image. By the edge of the frame it is seriously bad.

I did some test shots this evening, no wind, focused at infinity and no shift or tilt. Here is a left, center, and right 100% crop from the HR32 f/5.6 at infinity. No shift or tilt, no wind, ISO 50.

Left:



Center - not bad.



Right:



Even stopped down to f/16 it is still unusable:



Here is a left center and right from the HR23 at f/5.6 at infinity which you would expect to be softer than the HR32.

Left:



Center:



Right:



Any ideas?
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Could the rear lens group be lose or starting unscrew? See if you can screw it in from the back. Or does the lens rattle when shaken? Is the lens mount/focuser tight?
 

MaxKißler

New member
Does the lens sit absolutely precise and tight in the lensboard (or whatever you call that thing on a tech cam) so it is not tilted or in this case swung in any direction?
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
What's bugging me Ed is its on both sides. One side I would think mount itself but looks like a lens issue itself to me. Seems like a element shifted,moved or something of that nature. When you screwed it back in was it on a angle. Long shot idea unscrew it slighty lay flat on its back and screw back down. This is just a guess but seems like something shifted
 

jotloob

Subscriber Member
Is the issue only seen on the left and right side ?
What about top and bottom of the image ?
If you see the issue on all sides , you have a kind of center spot effect .
Do all lenses look clean ?
If the issue is only seen on the left and right side , it looks like an extreme swing around the vertical axis . Do you have the T/S feature for that lens ?
 

yaya

Active member
To me it looks more like motion blur

The 32 being so heavy can create some torque but perhaps the shutter or the helical mount are loose?
 

MaxKißler

New member
If the issue is only seen on the left and right side , it looks like an extreme swing around the vertical axis . Do you have the T/S feature for that lens ?
That's also what I suggested above. I guess it deosn't even have to be a really visible swing. Maybe 2mm is enough, not easily visible on your gear but in the final image.

If it was motion blur the center would be blurred as well doesn't it?
 

etrump

Well-known member
I'll run a few more tests before I overnight it to CI in Atlanta. Fortunately Rene from Cambo is there for an event.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
If it's the shutter then it will be a circular motion so the edges will mover more than the centre...
It could very well be the shutter slowed way down on opening for the exposure and in that time you have movement outside the center. It might just be the shutter. Ed run some 1 second and some times shutter speeds so you can get a idea if it slowed down or off its timing
 

alan_w_george

New member
Could the rear lens group be lose or starting unscrew? See if you can screw it in from the back. Or does the lens rattle when shaken? Is the lens mount/focuser tight?
I had an issue almost identical to yours and it was, as Shashin suggests, a loose rear element. You might check yours again as you said it was a bit loose.
 

etrump

Well-known member
It is strange. I removed the center filter and took two images at f/8. One with the camera upright and one with the back and camera rotated 90 degrees to see if using the vertical axis of the lens was any better - it wasn't.

The ghosting/smudging direction of the distortion was different but the result was the same. Even at f/8 it is reasonably sharp the center half of the frame in every direction up, down, left, right.

One thing I know, at f/8 with no movements, the image should be tack sharp edge to edge.

I'll put full res jpegs on my server after I get the lens overnighted.

Thanks so much for the input.
 

Digitalcameraman

Active member
That what I had suggested to Ed at 545am this morning when I read his email.

I think it would be productive to check both sides of the speed at 1 sec and also at 1/125 and in the middle to rule out shutter sync with back issues. Usually that creates some bad calibration data and/blurred or smeared pixels.

I would also take off the one shot and rule that it can be causing some type of timing issues.

In the past KG has problems with the Truewide at certain shutter speeds because of the timing of the chip being activated. it was due to the copal shutter and avoiding a certain shutter speed in bright daylight had to be used to over come this.

Testing it in ATL with all the experience in that room at the Cambo Open House this Friday in Atlanta will certainly solve the issue and Guy will be there to report back the findings.


Good luck.



Sincerely,
Chris Snipes
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It could very well be the shutter slowed way down on opening for the exposure and in that time you have movement outside the center. It might just be the shutter. Ed run some 1 second and some times shutter speeds so you can get a idea if it slowed down or off its timing
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
It is strange. I removed the center filter and took two images at f/8. One with the camera upright and one with the back and camera rotated 90 degrees to see if using the vertical axis of the lens was any better - it wasn't.

The ghosting/smudging direction of the distortion was different but the result was the same. Even at f/8 it is reasonably sharp the center half of the frame in every direction up, down, left, right.

One thing I know, at f/8 with no movements, the image should be tack sharp edge to edge.

I'll put full res jpegs on my server after I get the lens overnighted.

Thanks so much for the input.
This is sounding more like the shutter to me.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Thanks Chris yes I will update this thread as I know everyone would like to hear what is going on for sure. Okay off to my flight
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Ed,

Check every part of the assembly for rigidity -- lens in mount, play in focus helical, mount to body, plate to body and back to plate AND the shift plate to body assembly in the body itself. The 32 has so much mass that if any part of the assembly is loose, you could see motion blur where you would not see it with a lighter lens, e.g. the 23.

All of the above confirmed tight, I would suggest it's probably a loose internal element which is a tech repair and recalibration. (Note that flying with gear can be hard on it -- the constant vibration can and does shake things loose.)
 

etrump

Well-known member
Ed,

Check every part of the assembly for rigidity -- lens in mount, mount to body, plate to body and back to plate AND the shift plate to body assembly in the body itself. The 32 has so much mass that if any part of the assembly is loose, you could see motion blur where you would not see it with a lighter lens, e.g. the 23.
Wouldn't motion blur affect the center of the frame as well? The center is tack sharp and immediately starts to degrade as you approach the edge of the frame (especially noticeable at f/4).
 
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