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Help with panorama options please

ondebanks

Member
The iPhone shoots 6x17 natively like a champ too. (645Pro app).
Speaking of which...I'm impressed with how good the iPhone sweep panoramas are. Mine have always been quick handheld grabs (as I've usually got a child hanging off me whenever I'm anywhere photogenic ;)), so horizons can be a bit wavy...but I imagine that with a tripod and a proper phone holder, results could be pretty solid. I guess this is a "3rd way" to make long aspect-ratio shots: crop, stitch, or sweep. Will we see CMOS MFD backs/cameras which can internally process sweeps? :watch:



They say that the best camera is the one you have on you...and all I had on me was my iPhone 4S. I wanted to capture the reflected clouds, the golden light, the empty expanse of beach, and my family exploring it (my wife's on the left, my two daughters right of centre, and my 1.5 y.o. son is under the frame border, gnawing at my knees).

Ray
 

Shashin

Well-known member
If you never want to miss the shoot, I would recommend a Ricoh Theta. The problem is hiding the photographer.

 

miska

Member
I think this a tough choice. The options:
- Use the IQ280 and crop. Is the resolution enough ? It's hard to say, as it mostly depends on the clients / shooters expectations. Maybe a test could be made, to see how a known scene (similar to the final picture) printed large looks like ? Just print a portion of it, but at the same resolution.
- Using film can be easy or tough. I used an X-pan for a while. It was nice, but I did not like having to wait to develop the film to see if the picture was a success. Immediate feedback is very important for me (i.e I screw up a lot, and want to see if there's something wrong and re-shoot immediately). What can go wrong ? Well, you name it: exposure (remember, Film doesn't have a histogram - doh !), composition (the Xpan, and also the 617 are not SLR, so there can be parallax, and accurate framing has a learning curve), tilted horizon (the panoramic format demands a very accurate leveling), etc...
- Stitching can be easy, or not. I do lots of stitches, but have learned in which situations I have to be extra careful. If you don't have a foreground split between two images and/or moving objects (yes, big rolling waves, I'm talking to you !) between frames, it's really easy. But sometimes it's not. And it's hard to know while taking the pictures (unless you assemble the panorama on the spot). The wave problem can be mitigated by taking long exposures (that helps to blend the images, and the waves become smooth), but it changes the look of the images.
- The Seitz. Yeah. That looks sweet :)

If I were the OP, I would test at least the cropping and stitching on "test scenes". Or rent the Seitz if that's at all possible. Otherwise, the risk of screwing up during the real shoot would be too high for me...
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
FWIW I have printed a 2x1 metres from a single 60mp file and the result was excellent. Two factors that helped was that it was printed on canvas and the original file was shot with all the bells and whistles with tech stuff to maximize quality.
In fact, it visually impressed enough to encourage to print the same size on high grade paper....
Thus, with an 80mp back and tech setup I wouldn't worry that the file isn't good enough for large prints.
 

satybhat

Member
Many many thanks for the above replies.
For now, I have decided to stick with the MF digital ( with a small variation - see below). I have found that 6x17 cropped frame on the IQ280 is more than enough for my needs for now. (No need to change systems, - yea !! )

Offshoot, I came across a mint Xpan on ebay and promply bought it. Still waiting on batteries, but boy, am I excited ? So the other thing I wanted to mention was that I am planning on trying the IQ 280 to digitize the film from xpan. Has anyone tried this? MF digitization of film ? - I think its completely counterintuitive, and perhaps I am going bonkers, (but the good wife knew that already !! ) Wonder how it would stack up against the Imacons and Drums.
Best,
Saty
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
They say that the best camera is the one you have on you...and all I had on me was my iPhone 4S.
Ray
Not relevant but if you have an iPhone, ask Siri where the nearest camera store is ... sometimes it gives you the nearest store, but often it says “what’s wrong the camera you are holding?” or something like that.

+1
Given that you already have the best digital back ever made for landscape photography and used by great landscape photographers like Rodney Lough JR. (who makes amazing huge prints that look great even from 1 inch away) I would try to work with that setup.
took a workshop from him (which changed my capture and workflow processes dramatically). Virtually 100% of his digital work is stitched. If he needs to get it all in one capture such as seascapes, he still uses 8x10 film if he can. That’s until he runs out of Astia (he thinks very little of other fuji films because they don’t capture the colors accurately). He’s hoping by then the digital options have improved.

That being said, 2m isn’t a real stretch for a single IQ180 capture if done well, especially of a seascape where most of it is probably going to be soft without detail. Personally I think it would take some pretty close examination (maybe with a loupe) to tell the 6x17 film capture from the IQ180. I just printed an 8 foot pano from a single capture which I thought had no chance of holding up. A tall waterfall with a lot of detail in the rocks and moss. When I sent it to the printer it was only about 70dpi. I was pretty shocked at how well it held up ... even up close. Sitting in my store it gets commented on all the time. But then again, I’ve printed 6 foot panos from others that I didn’t like where a 6x17 might have done better if I had a great lens, and a perfect shot. Images where the detail was just too small to record so it mushed up when enlarged. (although the tech camera lenses I use now would also do better in these cases.)
The 6x17 may resolve slightly more and to the point of an earlier post it may enlarge a little more gracefully (although current software to enlarge images is getting very good and minimizing artifacts.).
 
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