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Archive 2013 · RX1 for landscape

  
 
Jgreene11
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · RX1 for landscape


Just wanted to get everyone's input on this topic. I have an RX1 and love the IQ and output. I know landscapes can be shot with 35mm, but I generally like to go wider, at least 24mm for landscape work. Does anyone have any experience with using the RX1 for landscapes or possibly stitching photos together to achieve a high quality, wide angle image? I have an important trip coming up and want to make sure I am properly prepared for it. I have done a few stitches, but not enough to feel comfortable with relying on this method. Any thoughts?


May 30, 2013 at 03:49 PM
Tariq Gibran
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · RX1 for landscape


I prefer moderate wides for landscape work in general so the RX1 suits me fine. My biggest concern was that the lens would not be sharp corner to corner at distance but, fortunately, that's not the case. The lens is sharp!

I have not used the RX1 for stitching yet but I can't imagine why there would be any issue doing so. Set the camera up for a vertical shot on a tripod, make sure it's level throughout the pan (easy since you have a built in level in the RX1), and take many overlapping shots. Photoshop even does a very good job now of automatically lining everything up perfectly. As long as you are not shooting something very close to the camera, don't even worry about panning around a nodal point and so forth. That's really not necessary at all for typical landscapes in my experience. I would definitely recommend a light tripod though, particularly if you want a very detailed, high MP image for larger prints.



May 30, 2013 at 04:22 PM
Jochenb
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · RX1 for landscape


I feel the RX1 is excellent for landscapes (if 35mm is your thing), but I haven't done any stitching. If you look at the RX1 image thread you'll see a lot of excellent landscape shots from Helena, I know she stitches from time to time.


May 30, 2013 at 05:06 PM
Jgreene11
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · RX1 for landscape


Thanks for the input. I am looking for high detail, large Mp for enlargement. I'll try a few over the weekend and post the results. I'll be sure to check out some of Helena's shots. Thank you.


May 30, 2013 at 05:45 PM
millsart
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · RX1 for landscape


RX1 stitches as well as any other camera. Just make sure your shooting RAW or locking the exposure and white balance between frames. Tons of great software that makes it as easy as point and click to produce a finished pano.


May 30, 2013 at 07:46 PM
Tariq Gibran
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · RX1 for landscape


One interesting thing to note is that if you use a FF 35mm lens vertically for a single row stitched pano, you actually end up with approximately the same vertical image area (from top to bottom of the frame) as using a FF 24mm lens horizontally. I think it probably makes for a pretty decent focal length for this purpose.


May 30, 2013 at 08:03 PM
itai195
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · RX1 for landscape


The RX1 is pretty much as good as any other full frame sensor and 35mm lens combo that I know of for this purpose. It's really a question of whether or not the 35mm focal length suits your needs. The lens and sensor can handle it.


May 30, 2013 at 08:15 PM
sebboh
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · RX1 for landscape


i don't see any reason why it wouldn't work great, but you might want to make sure to correct the distortion prior to stitching.


May 30, 2013 at 08:25 PM
millsart
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · RX1 for landscape


sebboh wrote:
i don't see any reason why it wouldn't work great, but you might want to make sure to correct the distortion prior to stitching.



Most software seems pretty good at handling this in app, at least APP and PTGui don't seem to have any real issues with it in my experience with them, though now that I'm using a DP2m with the near flawless 30mm lens the software has very little to do lol



May 30, 2013 at 08:46 PM
Jgreene11
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · RX1 for landscape


Excellent! Is photoshop the best way to stitch or should i try some of the dedicated programs?So I should correct for lens distortion and color correct before export?


May 30, 2013 at 09:09 PM
Tariq Gibran
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · RX1 for landscape


Older versions of Photoshop were not so hot but the last version, CS6, does a really good job in my experience. I don't know if the major improvement occurred in 5.5 or 6 with regard to stitching. PTGui is of course going to be great.

Shooting raw, you definitely want to make sure all images are the same with regard to exposure, WB and any other tweaks. The distortion issue is something you should test. Do one pano with individual images corrected first and one without, then compare. If you have a lot of overlap, as you should, the software may take care of it and, more importantly, you may end up with slightly sharper images (distortion correction will soften/ reduce resolution where more correction is required, such as at the borders and corners). Hopefully, those are areas that will not be used due to overlap. This is one reason why it's actually preferable to use a lens that has very little distortion to begin with (and the RX1 has quite a bit by design).



May 30, 2013 at 09:21 PM
wayne seltzer
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · RX1 for landscape


Rx1 is fine for landscape work. Have posted quite a few in the RX1 image thread. Have not stitched any RX1 shoys together yet. Make sure you rotate a round nodal pt of you have close foreground objects and overlap enough to mitigate the distortion effect . CS5 is when Adobe really improved their stitching software.
The great DR of the Sony sensor in the RX1 really helps in landscape shots taken in the golden hour or other high DR scenes. Goodluck! Also remember you will not get larger DOF as if you had used a wider lens like a Zeiss 21.



May 30, 2013 at 10:14 PM
sebboh
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · RX1 for landscape


millsart wrote:
Most software seems pretty good at handling this in app, at least APP and PTGui don't seem to have any real issues with it in my experience with them.


yeah, most software can handle it ok, but if you can apply the right amount of correction automatically ahead of time it's one less thing for the software to do and for big stitches that can save a lot of time.



May 30, 2013 at 10:53 PM
LightShow
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · RX1 for landscape


I use 24mm on my Nex-7 all the time which is a 36mm on FF FOV, but I do prefer 20-24 FF FOV.


May 30, 2013 at 11:19 PM
philip_pj
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · RX1 for landscape


The more experience a photographer develops with landscape photography the more s/he realises the value of using a range of different focal lengths. 35mm is very useful indeed.


May 30, 2013 at 11:32 PM
HelenaN
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · RX1 for landscape


Like others have already said; stitching works just fine with RX1 (thanks Jochen btw. ).

A few tips:

1. If you don't use a tripod, try and take at least two series of photos so that you have more to choose from. It's easy to mess up a shot somewhere in the middle and that can ruin the whole panorama.
I made that mistake yesterday because I was in a hurry to shoot the incoming thunderstorm and only took one series of each scene. When I got home I found that I had tilted the camera in one of the three shots and when I stitched them the top of the impressive cloud got chopped off. Fortunately it was one of the side shots and I can still use the other two, but now the composition looks somewhat cramped.

2. Stitching doesn't work well with fast moving clouds, waves, people etc.. (I'll use waves in my example here.) When I have to do such a scene anyway I try and get all of the waves in one of the shots. If I manage to do that the stitching software seems more likely to keep that part intact, even though the waves partly show up again in some of the others shots in the series. It doesn't work all the time, but it helps.

3. Avoid using a polarizer on a sunny day because it can cause uneven coloration of the sky (darker on one side) and you can get vertical dark stripes in the sky where the photos are stitched together. Talking from my own experience here...

4. My most common methods are either three vertical shots next to each other (like Tariq says that gives a width similar to a normal shot from a 24mm lens and looks nice) or two horizontal shots above each other. The second method is mainly for when the width is good but I want more height (usually for showing more of the clouds), but it can also help with what I described in #2. I take one shot which mainly shows the sky and clouds and one that has all the waves in it.

Have a great trip!



May 31, 2013 at 02:59 AM
Jgreene11
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · RX1 for landscape


That makes sense regarding the filters. I know many times when I use a polarizer I get uneven skies. Thanks for all the pointers. I'll shoot some practice panos over the weekend and practice. Most of my landscape subjects are at the beach, so waves are gonna be a real challenge. How about I'd I use a Nd filter and just smooth out the ocean?


May 31, 2013 at 08:19 AM
sebboh
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · RX1 for landscape


Jgreene11 wrote:
How about I'd I use a Nd filter and just smooth out the ocean?


that can work well, but the light changing between shots can be a problem at the more photogenic times of day with longer exposures. also cloud movement becomes more of a problem with longer exposures.



May 31, 2013 at 09:36 AM
Jgreene11
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · RX1 for landscape


I have a pretty variety of 52mm filters. I ordered a step down adaptor so I can use them, will these cause any vignetting because of the increased protrusion?


May 31, 2013 at 10:16 AM
LightShow
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · RX1 for landscape


You should be ok.
If you really want to do landscapes, a square filter system(Kenko/Lee) works great with GND(Graduated ND)filters, and vignetting is much less of an issue.



May 31, 2013 at 05:47 PM





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