I really struggled with the processing of this one, and it took me longer than any of the others. First of all, in reality the place was nearly pitch-black, and I couldn't see what I was shooting. Secondly, from my flashlight, everything just looked grey. No colour, no tonality, not a sausage. So when I came to processing it, it was a bit of a dilemma. I like punchy shots, but I also like keeping the connection to reality, and with this shot, I could just push and push and somehow it always looked sort of real, but I knew it wasn't. In the end I chose this compromise, but I am not sure it is the best possible, if such a thing even exists. I deliberately went a couple of notches down from where I first ended up, to make it more believable. It is possible that a little more contrast somewhere would improve it, as you say, but for now I will leave it and just let it sit for a bit, to get some impartiality in there
I must mention that there was a buckload of filters in front of it for this photo, Lee filters 0.9ND, 105mm CP and a Singh-Ray 0.9 Reverse GND. Photo was at 35mm f/8, exposure time 20 seconds if I remember correctly.
There's something special about the handling of Contax lenses I must admit, and I am now lusting for another. Maybe the 28-85 is in order? Dunno!
@Carstenw: Yes, quite a lot actually - but I've got the 180/4 Voigtlander and 70-200/2.8L IS II for that But you are right, the Contax 80-200 sure is a bargain and very easy to use. Thanks for the suggestion
Although I love my 24 TS-E II slightly more, I do love this Zeiss lens! Really pretty colors and sharpness is outstanding at f/8 --
Hi Gunzorro, I'm about to buy the zeiss 21mm in Nikon Mount. I have and use a lot the 24mm II TS-E in a Canon 5DMKII which is outstanding, I'd like to lnow your appreciation of the Zeiss 21mm in the corner at say f8 or f11 compare to the Canon 24 TS-E.
If you can share a RAW file where sort of flat front is clearly seen I'd be more than helpful.
Thanks ACH
ACH -- I don't really know how I'd post a RAW for you to view. But I can tell you the 21 is sharp into the corners. That trick is successful with some optical sleight of hand, which results in the strong moustache distortion. The distortion is mostly correctable in PP, but is a nuisance. The 21 and 100 macro usually get the highest praise for IQ of the ZE/ZF lenses.
Carsten- Great body of works from the last two pages ! It looks like you really got the HDR figured out. Until now, I have only seen few people using HDR with success, Samuli is the only one I can remember now. Anyway, you joined that club. Great works
I liked the track switcher (?) shot, the wheel shot, the interior shot with conveyer belt with shaft of light ( my dream HDR ) , interior shot yellow motor, and the long hallway with hand truck on the left. Steam locomotive was the only one I questioned whether it was slightly overcooked. The other question was the skinny tree shot in the dark. Ground came out nicely but something did not register to me with the branches. I suspect tree must have moved during multiple long exposure shots?
By the way, HDR has been just flat failure for me ( with PS5). I hate the unnatural overcooked HDR and that was all I could produce. May be I need to do another try some day. Do you mind me asking which software you used ?
Thanks, Luka. I use LR4, Photomatix Pro, and Photoshop CS4. I have ordered the CS6 update, but am not sure how I will use it, since I have Canadian CS4 and will now have British CS6. I might have to cheat to get across. Adobe wants me to send proof of residence for the various years and bullshit, I am not doing it. Jerk company.
Anyway, I cannot recommend Photomatix Pro. The results are good in the end, but the sliders are just total junk. I rarely know what a slider will do before touching it, so my workflow is to load up the photos, generate the .hdr, try all the presets, including my own, choose the best one, twiddle all the sliders, and twiddle all the sliders a second time. Then I am done. Essentially brute force. Every time. I don't feel that I am learning the interface at all.
The sliders mostly feel like they do more than one thing each, and they are completely illogical. I have never used such an unintuitive piece of software. Unfortunately, I have not used anything else. I have tried a few demos, but didn't like any of them yet.
I don't like the train shot either I should remove it. The tree shot I like, but I had some trouble getting the right separation between tree and sky.
For those of you interested in HDR. There is a software that renders very natural, I tried them all before I got this one is very easy to use and gives great results. Only problem runs on Windows. http://www.sns-hdr.com/index.html
carstenw wrote:
Thanks, Luka. I use LR4, Photomatix Pro, and Photoshop CS4. I have ordered the CS6 update, but am not sure how I will use it, since I have Canadian CS4 and will now have British CS6. I might have to cheat to get across. Adobe wants me to send proof of residence for the various years and bullshit, I am not doing it. Jerk company.
Anyway, I cannot recommend Photomatix Pro. The results are good in the end, but the sliders are just total junk. I rarely know what a slider will do before touching it, so my workflow is to load up the photos, generate the .hdr, try all the presets, including my own, choose the best one, twiddle all the sliders, and twiddle all the sliders a second time. Then I am done. Essentially brute force. Every time. I don't feel that I am learning the interface at all.
The sliders mostly feel like they do more than one thing each, and they are completely illogical. I have never used such an unintuitive piece of software. Unfortunately, I have not used anything else. I have tried a few demos, but didn't like any of them yet.
I don't like the train shot either I should remove it. The tree shot I like, but I had some trouble getting the right separation between tree and sky....Show more →
Carsten - Sorry about your trouble with Adobe. They are pretty 'by the book', I am pretty sure once you provide whatever doc they are asking, they wlll give you the update. It seems sales rep requires manager's authorization. We went through similar process with educational discount before. By the way, I heard Adobe's new US policy will only allow update from one version prior. Since you have CS4, this is probably a good opportunity if they change the policy similar to US.
Thanks for the tip for Photomatix. I think I downloaded a trial once but never bought it since I did not try long enough. I was hoping to hear you 'rave' it. Learning what you have to do to get your result, makes me appreciate the work even more PS5 interface feels similarly unfriendly, just that I never could get satisfactory result
- Oh, I hope you don't delete the train shot. I like the shot itself.
That second shot is just beautiful, exactly the kind of results which made me buy my copy. Awesome! This lens really has something special. It is difficult to tickle it out, but it is there.
Joakim - Gorgeous shot with 28. First shot has a reportage feel to it. Quite interesting pop of the rock. 2nd shot is very silky. I also find the third shot to be very attractive. Great exposure on those.
