Leica S for interiors or architecture

[justalexander]

A7R with 24 TSE II, hand held, shifted, as an example of straight lines staying pretty straight

I have the 17 and 24mm TSE's on the A7RII and agree they are an amazing combination especially for the price. It makes me wonder what Leica could do if it dedicated some resources to tilt/shift lenses.

One of the major downsides I find with the A7R is that its slow to work and very difficult to nail focus as the lens distance markings are not calibrated for the metabones/Sony convention. Furthermore, the margin for focus errors seems much higher than when used on Canon bodies. I really need to shoot tethered to ensure I nail focus with this combination.

I might just end up having to give up on Leica and Sony and use a 5DRS. While it will be hard to give up the dynamic range of the A7R, as a professional photographer I need equipment that is reliable and efficient. Time = money for me.

 

[Ken_R]

I have the 17 and 24mm TSE's on the A7RII and agree they are an amazing combination especially for the price. It makes me wonder what Leica could do if it dedicated some resources to tilt/shift lenses.

One of the major downsides I find with the A7R is that its slow to work and very difficult to nail focus as the lens distance markings are not calibrated for the metabones/Sony convention. Furthermore, the margin for focus errors seems much higher than when used on Canon bodies. I really need to shoot tethered to ensure I nail focus with this combination.

I might just end up having to give up on Leica and Sony and use a 5DRS. While it will be hard to give up the dynamic range of the A7R, as a professional photographer I need equipment that is reliable and efficient. Time = money for me.

I agree, time is money. And the trend in Architecture photography is generally less time/access at locations, request for MORE images and LESS money for the production of images so that translates to mostly available light images in a short amount of time (including post-production). Things like extra dynamic range (which at times negates the need to stack images), sensor clean (The Canon system is THE best, no need to spend time in post dust busting), good color (subjective), lens selection (designed for the camera, Canon wins here specially on the WIDE angle lenses essential for Architecture) and ease of post-production (good lens profiles help a LOT) factor a huge deal in system selection.

When one factors all that in it is no surprise that a lot of professional photographers choose Canon even though the Sony/Nikon sensors have much better dynamic range and the Medium Format solutions offer better image quality potential.

 

[JMacD]

I would like to see a native T&S solution, too. Sadly, I agree with the last portion of your statement.

Well Leica did put an S mount on a 120 TS, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893164-USA/Leica_11079_120mm_F_5_6_Elmar_S.html, so perhaps there is hope? And yes I wish they would make a wide TS S lens too as was promised back at introduction as a 30mm TS. I am also waiting for the promised 350mm S. Meanwhile Leica has delivered other lenses that were not promised.
https://luminous-landscape.com/leica-s2-first-impressions-2/

I used to use the Canon TS long ago before they did the mark II. It was problematic for digital files in the corners, and by the time the mark II came out I had left Canon.

The S24 works for me, and I have sold interior prints but they were "art" prints not for architects. Following my reading of this thread, I decided to do a close look at an interior shot which has many straight edges. There is a bit of a wave just at the bottom left of the edge of the tub in this shot. I thought it a lens problem, but it is in the marble!

Jack

 

[justalexander]

I agree, time is money. And the trend in Architecture photography is generally less time/access at locations, request for MORE images and LESS money for the production of images so that translates to mostly available light images in a short amount of time (including post-production). Things like extra dynamic range (which at times negates the need to stack images), sensor clean (The Canon system is THE best, no need to spend time in post dust busting), good color (subjective), lens selection (designed for the camera, Canon wins here specially on the WIDE angle lenses essential for Architecture) and ease of post-production (good lens profiles help a LOT) factor a huge deal in system selection.

When one factors all that in it is no surprise that a lot of professional photographers choose Canon even though the Sony/Nikon sensors have much better dynamic range and the Medium Format solutions offer better image quality potential.

Am definitely coming to the same conclusion. More work for less money means even the relatively small amount of time taken to tweak sliders when there are many images to be processed all adds up to a significant amount of time, most of which we're not getting paid for.

The Canon TSE lenses are remarkable time savers but when shifted still require resizing of the canvas before applying CA and defringing which takes time. In my experience Hasselblad still have the best solution. Their colour profile combined with 1 click corrections are a saviour for the time strapped professional. Rumour has it that Hasselblad are in trouble, due I believe on their focus on rebadging old Sony DSLRS/Mirrorless cameras for 2-3 times the price. I've used Phase One and find it less satisfactory than Hasselblad but Phase One have an incredible marketing machine which is helping it expand their product line. I hope Leica don't follow Hasselblad but instead continue to focus on what it was that established the company.

 

[justalexander]

Well Leica did put an S mount on a 120 TS, http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/893164-USA/Leica_11079_120mm_F_5_6_Elmar_S.html, so perhaps there is hope? And yes I wish they would make a wide TS S lens too as was promised back at introduction as a 30mm TS. I am also waiting for the promised 350mm S. Meanwhile Leica has delivered other lenses that were not promised.
https://luminous-landscape.com/leica-s2-first-impressions-2/

I used to use the Canon TS long ago before they did the mark II. It was problematic for digital files in the corners, and by the time the mark II came out I had left Canon.

The S24 works for me, and I have sold interior prints but they were "art" prints not for architects. Following my reading of this thread, I decided to do a close look at an interior shot which has many straight edges. There is a bit of a wave just at the bottom left of the edge of the tub in this shot. I thought it a lens problem, but it is in the marble!

Jack

Thanks for the example, thats very interesting. Can you confirm it was taken on the 24mm? Where did you process the image and is this the whole image without cropping? I've sent a raw copy of my file to Leica to see whether they think it's the lens, profile, Camera Raw but as yet no response.

I've contacted DXO whose software does take into account distance but have been told they have no plans to support the Leica S.

I'm desperate to spend money but have no acceptable solution! Never thought I'd say that!

 

[Alan]

The Canon TSE lenses are remarkable time savers but when shifted still require resizing of the canvas before applying CA and defringing which takes time.

If you're using Capture One, you can specify an XY shift offset that affects CA & distortion correction. Even in LR, the auto CA correction does a pretty good job on shifted images.

 

[justalexander]

If you're using Capture One, you can specify an XY shift offset that affects CA & distortion correction. Even in LR, the auto CA correction does a pretty good job on shifted images.

I've never found the XY offset in Capture One to work as well as resizing of canvas in Photoshop.