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Archive 2014 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens

  
 
runakid
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


I am trying to avoid buying a Nikon tilt/shift lens for cityscapes. Is there a way to use software to correct for tilting buildings? Would Elements be a way to do this?


Dec 09, 2014 at 11:02 PM
Sunny Sra
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens




just google



Dec 09, 2014 at 11:30 PM
Skirball
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Yes, there's plenty of them. Most editors such as Photoshop can do them. I would guess that Elements can probably do it, but it's probably just basic keystone correction. They also added it in Lightroom 5, and the module looks fairly capable. I'm sure there are also a multitude of free software that can do it.

I use a Photoshop plug in called DxO Viewpoint. It gives me more options than Photoshop, it's more precise, and can correct more than keystoning such as wide angle distortion on the sides. Not a big deal for landscape, usually, but for architectural photography it needs to be fixed. I'm curious to see how the Lightroom version compares to it, but I won't get it until Lightroom 6 comes out.



Dec 10, 2014 at 08:01 PM
Greg Campbell
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Yea, there are plenty of ways to do this. Even the freeware Gimp has perspective, shear, and other geometric transform tools.



Dec 10, 2014 at 10:56 PM
kv9f68
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Lightroom does a good job with correcting tilting buildings. I'm sure there's more in PS that could address the problem but there are plenty of aspects (i.e. distortion, scale, vertical, horizontal, etc...) that you can control manually in LR which have worked well for me. Most of the times just hitting "Auto" does the job.


Dec 11, 2014 at 05:33 AM
Jeffrey
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


In most cases the highly altered pixels and pixel groups will not show poorly when using software. But, nothing beats the flexible lens for instant observation and image quality. Rent one to try it first, then you'll know what the difference means to YOU.


Dec 11, 2014 at 03:40 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


This other thread in this forum seems related: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1335286


Dec 11, 2014 at 05:09 PM
gdanmitchell
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Jeffrey wrote:
In most cases the highly altered pixels and pixel groups will not show poorly when using software. But, nothing beats the flexible lens for instant observation and image quality. Rent one to try it first, then you'll know what the difference means to YOU.


There is a common myth that altering things like convergence in post will produce a poor quality image. I used to think so, too. But once I started using the techniques more I discovered that in most cases observers will be unable to see any visible difference from typical corrections.

Two posts about this:

1. http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2007/09/16/a-test-correcting-lens-distortion-in-post-processing

2. http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2009/02/20/a-test-correcting-perspective-in-post-processing

(Neither of these makes gross corrections, but I've made far more significant alternations with great success.)

Dan



Dec 11, 2014 at 05:12 PM
rattlebonez
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


DXO viewpoint may be an option for you

http://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/photo-software/dxo-viewpoint/features



Dec 11, 2014 at 05:54 PM
Ulff
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Both Lightroom and Photoshop do a very good job in perspective correction. I've no experience with PS Elements although. I use both T/S lenses and normal wide lenses for my architecture and cityscape work. If I can use a tripod I always prefer the Shift lens approach. The main problem with non-shift lenses is that you can't see how the final result after perspective correction will look like. With perspective correction you always loose (often crucial) parts of the image because of the trapezoid corrected image that needed to be cropped afterwards. On the other hand, if you take a photo with enough space around the object of interest, you can get very good results with perspective correction. The more perspective correction is needed although, the more visible a potential loss in resolution in the stretched parts would be.


Dec 12, 2014 at 07:36 PM
Danpbphoto
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


Jeffrey wrote:
In most cases the highly altered pixels and pixel groups will not show poorly when using software. But, nothing beats the flexible lens for instant observation and image quality. Rent one to try it first, then you'll know what the difference means to YOU.


I agree 100%!! I tried all the software and also the generous help of Shasoc and a few others.. After many years I bit the bullet and bought one off B&S.
Jeffrey has the solution and I second it!
Dan




Dec 13, 2014 at 04:51 PM
Alan321
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


I suggest you save your money and use the software instead because it is certainly viable to do so. However, if you were trying to get the entire street frontage in focus without facing it square-on then a lens with tilt is the definitely the best way to go, and lens shift is a nice bonus.

Don't take my suggestion the wrong way. Lens shift works very well and is very useful if you want two or three shots for stitching into a not-too-wide panorama without messing up the perspective. It is even more useful for photographing flat, shiny objects without capturing your own reflection. It's just that straightening tall buildings is one thing that software will do so easily and quickly as to negate the need for lens shift.

Perhaps the biggest downside of tilt/shift lenses (for some) is that they are manual focus only.

If you do get one then try to get one that allows the direction of tilt to be changed relative to the direction of shift without disassembling the lens. I'm not sure that Nikon lenses do that.

- Alan



Dec 14, 2014 at 02:13 AM
tcphoto
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


I may be old school but isn't it better to get it as close to your intended images in camera instead of "fixing" it later? I'd be interested to hear others experiences concerning time spent correcting images after the fact. I would rent a T/S and find out for yourself.


Dec 15, 2014 at 05:55 PM
Danpbphoto
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


tcphoto wrote:
I may be old school but isn't it better to get it as close to your intended images in camera instead of "fixing" it later? I'd be interested to hear others experiences concerning time spent correcting images after the fact. I would rent a T/S and find out for yourself.


You are correct. I found that my UWA did not allow me that option(to get close enough b4 keystoning) to my satisfaction. Hence my buying a 17mm ts-e. Keystoning was ruining my images and I am not that proficient in postprocessing to correct.
Dan




Dec 16, 2014 at 09:47 AM
Alan321
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Trying to avoid buying a Tilt/Sift lens


tcphoto wrote:
I may be old school but isn't it better to get it as close to your intended images in camera instead of "fixing" it later? I'd be interested to hear others experiences concerning time spent correcting images after the fact. I would rent a T/S and find out for yourself.


To fix the keystoning effect is dead easy in Lr with a single slider. It takes only a few seconds. On the other hand, you'd spend longer than that in the field adjusting the lens shift to the right amount. Note that keeping all verticals vertical is not necessarily the end goal because it can look odd in a number of ways. Usually we want to see things lean in about as much as we see by eye or a bit less so that it looks relatively natural and less ultra-wide-angle.

Fixing lens tilt is a different matter: It can be impossible to duplicate the focus effects in software or it can take a long while and a lot of manual intervention. Adjusting the lens tilt in the field is usually much quicker but is sometimes made difficult by using a small viewfinder or by not using a tripod. One day I'll try out the D810 dual-focus feature which lets me zoom in on two different areas in Live View to assess the focus of both at once. That could be a big help particularly when not using a tripod. (Un)fortunately, all of my tilt/shift lenses are Canon so the D810 won't help much unless/until I get a suitable Canon to Nikon adapter.

- Alan



Dec 18, 2014 at 03:01 AM





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