D810 on the way - now what?

[Jack]

Have you run the full raw through C1? Their B&W tool is both elegant and exquisite, and I suggest you try it out.

 

[Lars]

Have you run the full raw through C1? Their B&W tool is both elegant and exquisite, and I suggest you try it out.

No I have not. Raw conversion is not a problem - I convert to 48-bit color TIFF to use as a source for panoramic stitching, then stitch to one huge TIFF file which I then do detailed work on. The stitching software mangles the bit depth. Can C1 do panoramic stitching with projection? I suspect not?

 

[cerett]

Are you asking how I set it? I go through a very simple process:
Lens wide open
1) Place a small object with detail on a large expanse of pavement at distance of about 50x focal of lens,
2) focus lens on it,
3) evaluate at 100% review on LCD,
4) correct front or rear as required,
5) repeat steps 2 though 4 until I have focus on object perfect.

Lens stopped down to f5.6
6) Next I stop down to f5.6 and confirm focus at 50x focal,
7) then I confirm wide open at distance of roughly 1000x focal,
8) then I confirm stopped down to f5.6 at same 1000x distance.
9) On the rare case there is a focus shift in either step 6, 7 or 8, I'll adjust focus to a "compromise" in-between setting that works best for the way I shoot.*

*Note that I've only had to do this with two lenses, the 85/1.4G and 70-200/2.8 VRII G. For the 85, I set the 50x focal wide-open setting biased one number to the front of the DoF. For me this corrected for the minor focus shift in that lens as you stop down or add distance. For the zoom, I set it for best performance at 200 medium distance wide open since that was the most critical usage point for me -- at that setting, I did not ever notice any serious focus issues with that lens, but admittedly I never did use it much before I sold it.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Jack. Interesting approach. What are your thoughts regarding LensAlign and similar products? Do they really add anything?

 

[Jack]

No I have not. Raw conversion is not a problem - I convert to 48-bit color TIFF to use as a source for panoramic stitching, then stitch to one huge TIFF file which I then do detailed work on. The stitching software mangles the bit depth. Can C1 do panoramic stitching with projection? I suspect not?

No, but you can process the raws and stitch after the fact. Takes a little longer but end result is worth it. Bigger benefit of C1 is it's B&W conversion tool directly from the raw -- it maintains smooth tonality in mono -- then it has a stellar split-tone tool.

 

[Jack]

Thanks Jack. Interesting approach. What are your thoughts regarding LensAlign and similar products? Do they really add anything?

Good tool, I've tried it and it works. However, my described method works just as well for me and is a simpler process

 

[Lars]

No, but you can process the raws and stitch after the fact. Takes a little longer but end result is worth it. Bigger benefit of C1 is it's B&W conversion tool directly from the raw -- it maintains smooth tonality in mono -- then it has a stellar split-tone tool.

Right - in this case with dramatic curve and tonal adjustments it makes sense to give up some editing flexibility and do the stitching as a last step.

As a side note, my own software has raw developer built in as well these days, so I can go directly from raw to B/W - even in 32 bits per color or floating point HDR although there is little or no visible advantage.

 

[Lars]

Hmm my D810 took one look at my 10 TB network storage and burst out laughing... I need more hard drives.

 

[Lars]

Another visit to Death Valley two weeks ago, again Mesquite Dunes, this time facing NE. This is a reshoot of a capture from 2006,
Nikon 300 f/4 AF on D810, shot at f/8. Stitch of 4 or 5 vertical frames.
Images are about 7K x 21K pixels so about 150 Mpx.


First one is sunrise:

Second one is dusk. In the middle of the pano there is a group of three people shooting a selfie.

Behind the scenes: