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Photography technical advice, questions, tips and techniques.

Started by Tank, July 30, 2018, 10:37:09 AM

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hermes2015

Quote from: Bluenose on March 04, 2019, 11:30:50 PM
Great photos, Hermes.

I love available light photography.  Having had an f 1.2 lens on my old Minolta SLR, after my trip to the UK, I spent my frequent flyer points on a Canon f1.4 lens for my Canon EOS 600D.  Joy of joys!  I'm able to take shots in candle light, around the camp fire and in just ordinary room lighting.  So much more atmosphere than using a flash.  Yummy!

Thanks, Bluenose. Using this same lens, I took many photos by candle light at parties when I was a student.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

hermes2015

Quote from: hermes2015 on March 04, 2019, 05:38:03 PM
The maximum aperture is f16, when the focusing will be less critical.

Sorry about the sloppy statement. I should have said minimum aperture is f16. That's the maximum f-stop on this lens.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

hermes2015

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

jumbojak

I'm going to look into the mobile version of that app. Do you use it?

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

Quote from: jumbojak on June 09, 2019, 01:58:30 PM
I'm going to look into the mobile version of that app. Do you use it?

No, I only heard of the app today. Will probably only use the free desktop PC version with Firefox on my PC.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

hermes2015

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

jumbojak

Quote from: hermes2015 on June 09, 2019, 02:17:03 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on June 09, 2019, 01:58:30 PM
I'm going to look into the mobile version of that app. Do you use it?

No, I only heard of the app today. Will probably only use the free desktop PC version with Firefox on my PC.

I meant the desktop program.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

Quote from: jumbojak on June 09, 2019, 02:29:47 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on June 09, 2019, 02:17:03 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on June 09, 2019, 01:58:30 PM
I'm going to look into the mobile version of that app. Do you use it?

No, I only heard of the app today. Will probably only use the free desktop PC version with Firefox on my PC.

I meant the desktop program.

I will probably play with it next time I want to do some outdoor shots. I looked at it briefly when I came back from my shooting excursion this morning. By sheer luck I went out to shoot the buildings at the ideal time, because I was quite happy with the results this morning.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

jumbojak

Some more micro experiments with depth of field using the reversing ring. Closing the aperture down to f/22 still doesn't give the DoF I want so a proper micro lens is probably in order.



The colors are difficult to manage as well, which I think is due to reversing the lens. Switching to the right way round seems to help with color but I'm not sure why this would happen. It's a mystery at this point.

So a micro lens and focus stacking software are in my future. Are there any stacking packages that are recommended?

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

I'll try to advise you as well as I can.

Firstly, it is not advisable to stop down to the minimum aperture of a lens. At very small apertures, undesirable diffraction effects will be more prominent, resulting in unsharpness of your image. The sweet spot will be somewhere in the middle; try f/5.6 or f/8.

As for the colour cast, I don't know why you are getting it, but it is very easy to correct in post processing, so it's the least of your worries.

Regarding camera control software, I use digiCamControl. It is free and controls Nikon cameras. Get it at http://digicamcontrol.com/

I will help you get into it once you have digiCamControl up and running on your PC.

Once you have the 30 or more photos at different focus slices, you have to merge them with focus stacking software. I think most people consider Helicon Focus to be the best, but it is a commercial package. You can download the free version, but it has limited functionality in that it only allows you to shoot JPG photos, not NEF, so I don't like it. I use the full version, which is unrestricted. There are other choices: Photoshop can do a decent job of focus stacking (not as well as Helicon Focus in my experience).

I believe there is a free program called Combine ZP, but I have never used it, so cannot comment on its effectiveness.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Bad Penny II

Quote from: jumbojak on June 13, 2019, 03:46:50 AM
Some more micro experiments with depth of field using the reversing ring. Closing the aperture down to f/22 still doesn't give the DoF I want so a proper micro lens is probably in order.



Is this guy related to Deep Thought?
Take my advice, don't listen to me.

hermes2015

I downloaded CombineZP earlier and tried it for the first time. I only found a 32-bit version, but it performed satisfactorily, though not quite up to Helicon Focus standard, with a set of focus stacked photos I tried. It is probably worth evaluating further. It's free after all, so cannot be expected to work as well as Helicon Focus.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

jumbojak

I'll give them both a look once I get a proper lens for micro. Going to try to give the control software a whirl when I get home tonight.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

hermes2015

Quote from: jumbojak on June 13, 2019, 01:40:47 PM
I'll give them both a look once I get a proper lens for micro. Going to try to give the control software a whirl when I get home tonight.

Let me know if you need any tips.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames