When shooting LCC's, do I have to shoot at specific aperture used? For example, if I shoot an LCC with SK 35xl at f/8, rise of 10mm and no shift, will this also be appropriate for f/ 5.6, f/11, etc? Or, do I need to shoot separate LCC at f/5.6, f/11, etc? Also what about varying focusing distances. If this has been previously discussed, my apologies. I did a search and didn't find anything specific. Thanks.
John
LCC corrects color shift, dust, and light falloff.
In short:
COLOR shift: aperture matters some
DUST: aperture matters some
LIGHT FALL Off: aperture matters a LOT with many lenses
COLOR
Color shift varies a little with aperture, but for the most part the difference in color shift of a change of a stop or even two of aperture is pretty small. This does vary somewhat from one lens to the next. The wider the lens the more each aperture will matter.
DUST
The location and size of dust does not change with aperture, but the sharpness of it's rendering does. The dust algorithm seems to rely mostly on the location and size than the sharpness, but sharpness does seem to matter. So the difference between 5.6 and 11 can make some meaningful, though not huge difference in dust removal.
LIGHT FALLOFF
The fall off of many lenses however changes drastically by aperture. From f/5.6 to f/11 you may see a change of upwards of 2 stops in the amount of lens fall off. If you apply the LCC of a f/5.6 frame on a lens which vignettes heavily to an f/11 scene you will way over-brighten the corners of the frame.
Generally I don't bother reshooting an LCC for a difference of half a stop, and if I'm in a rush or the lens is one that generally doesn't need much correction (e.g. a 120mm XL) then I don't bother within a stop. But between f/5.6 and f/11 I'd recommend always reshooting the LCC.
There are two schools of thought:
- shoot one LCC for every final composition (time consuming and fills up your card but by far the least mental energy is required and allows any arbitrary combination of movements, aperture, lens, and back)
- shoot a library (requires that you stick to a specific set of settings, e.g. you could shoot 5mm, 10mm, and 15mm of rise, but it would be impractical to have a library setting for 7.5mm of rise)
Generally I
enjoy shooting tech cameras with only 2 or 3 lenses, with only a handful of total setting-combinations (e.g. 47XL, 1 degree of tilt, f/11.5, left/right 20mm, pre-established hyperfocal setting assuming tripod height around my chest). That is a very personal statement; I am just letting you know my personal preference. With that method of shooting I only have to have a handful of LCCs, never have to worry about focus (other than not placing important elements in the known-too-close zone which is usually measured by my arm span), and can learn to "see" in terms of the final image aspect-ratio and width even before I set up the tripod (I'm not smart enough to keep mental track of the final-width-with-2-shot-stitch of more than a 2-3 lenses, many others I'm sure would have no problem doing so). This preset heavy experience-based approach makes shooting a tech camera - FOR ME - an exercise in relaxing, enjoyable, tactile, hands-on bliss (rather than the somewhat arduous, complex, mentally taxing requirements of making every decision on every shot from scratch). I can start with a particular set of gear in the morning, do 15-20 minutes of testing/familiarization and preset-setting and be ready to shoot the rest of the week without having to think through the technicals of every shot.
Part of my personal preference for that mindset/workflow is because as part of my job I deal with several tech cameras, many lenses, and many digital backs every month. There is always a learning curve with a particular set of gear - even for those of us who make it our job to learn every combo. So if you own only one back, tech camera body, and only a small number of lenses it would be far easier for you to become intimately familiar with it than I can.
Enjoy your shooting and be sure to post some of your work in the dedicated Fun with Tech Camera thread!