glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
As I am getting into some Landscape photography , I am learning about some of the trade offs in working with long exposures . Could use some insights from the experienced group here at GETdpi .
Context ....Leica S kit , primarily seascapes at dawn ....challenges ...dynamic range ,diffraction and noise .
With a large Gitzo and B55...having no problems with stability ..long exposures up to the practical limit on the Leica S of 60 second exposures (you can get around this but Leica had a point in limiting automatic exposures beyond 60 seconds ).
With the Leica CCD sensor on the S ...you want to be at base ISO where the DR is at its best as you increase ISO you pay a heavy price in loss of DR (limitation of the Leica and most CCD sensors ). This is how I am taking on the challenge of needing maximum DR .
Diffraction ....most of the tests show that diffraction with a Leica S kicks in starting at F8 ..but with proper sharpening can be mitigated up to about F13.5 (from diglloyds recent tests of the 30-90 S lens). At F16 ....you have lost “maybe” too much . I would like to be at F22 ..but can t get there without incurring a penalty someplace.
Exposure ...from my tests clearly going beyond 60 sec exposures is adding too much noise to the images ....but I ve seen advice that indicates that beyond 20-40 seconds with a CCD sensor will result further degrading of sharpness to handle the noise trade off.
First ...do I understand the trade offs correctly . Second ....how do you establish the BEST balance (obviously it depends on the requirements of a specific capture ) . But .....getting some perspective is my objective .
Context ....Leica S kit , primarily seascapes at dawn ....challenges ...dynamic range ,diffraction and noise .
With a large Gitzo and B55...having no problems with stability ..long exposures up to the practical limit on the Leica S of 60 second exposures (you can get around this but Leica had a point in limiting automatic exposures beyond 60 seconds ).
With the Leica CCD sensor on the S ...you want to be at base ISO where the DR is at its best as you increase ISO you pay a heavy price in loss of DR (limitation of the Leica and most CCD sensors ). This is how I am taking on the challenge of needing maximum DR .
Diffraction ....most of the tests show that diffraction with a Leica S kicks in starting at F8 ..but with proper sharpening can be mitigated up to about F13.5 (from diglloyds recent tests of the 30-90 S lens). At F16 ....you have lost “maybe” too much . I would like to be at F22 ..but can t get there without incurring a penalty someplace.
Exposure ...from my tests clearly going beyond 60 sec exposures is adding too much noise to the images ....but I ve seen advice that indicates that beyond 20-40 seconds with a CCD sensor will result further degrading of sharpness to handle the noise trade off.
First ...do I understand the trade offs correctly . Second ....how do you establish the BEST balance (obviously it depends on the requirements of a specific capture ) . But .....getting some perspective is my objective .