edwardkaraa wrote:
Wide AF area and face detection work best with kids. You just compose and wait for the box to light up in green on the face. Alternatively, you can use focus/recompose with the flexible small box, but kids tend to move a lot, so unless they're static, or you're willing to sacrifice a bit on the composition part, it's not gonna give you the best results.
This is exactly what I do with my 15-month old and it works great. I can't say every shot is in focus, but the hit rate is actually pretty darn good.
I could waste an eternity trying to get the focus point into the right spot. The combo of wide area AF and face detection is actually preferable to me for this use over my Nikon DSLR. The DSLR has faster AF, but moving the AF point or sticking with center point and sacrificing composition are both downers.
Given that I really hate over-sharpened images, I just tend to upload mine without any sharpening (I've seen people complain that Flickr over-sharpens for the down-rez versions, but I haven't seen that with mine) and leave them perhaps a bit soft. (also, because I'm lazy!)
But, when I see your images Samuli, they're so nice and sharp, without being too crunchy. Nicely done!
Taylor Sherman wrote:
But, when I see your images Samuli, they're so nice and sharp, without being too crunchy. Nicely done!
Thanks, wish weather on my holiday would have been less cloudy (it was on end of holiday, but I'm now processing 2nd day of holiday....) as colors have been pretty ugly on my recent posts.
I have no secrets, the "script" used for most photos posted on 2014:
1. export from Lightroom (detail settings are usually 50, 0.7, 50, but they have no effect to these tiny web pictures) to 16bit AdobeRGB TIFF
2. resize with Lanczos2 (some images with Lanczos and some even with Lagrange if resized image appears too crunchy/sharpened) and convert to 8bit sRGB TIFF
3. convert to JPG
4. upload to zeissimages.com
5. post to forum at size step 2 generated (no website resizing)
Step 1 could be done with Sony software (comes with camera) or any of the alternative converters like Iridient Developer or Apple Aperture. Every other step is done with tools/means, which are free. Step 2 and 3 can be done with free tools (ImageMagick). Step 4 mentioned website didn't ask any money either. As far as I see there should be no reason why anybody with A7(r) should post photos ruined by crappy "publishing methods". At least money can't be the reason (everyone on forums always complains about costs).
A few pages of impressive images in the last 6 days while I was away.
I just made it back from Mexico and took plenty of images myself. The first few are from El Rosario where we had the chance to witness and take pictures of Monarch butterfly at their overwintering site. Simply mind boggling that those tiny butterflies are able migrate over 5,000 miles from Canada.... The elevation of the site is over 10,000 feet and the air is thin. After horse riding for 30 minutes uphill, I was still huffing and puffing to get there. And that even after our skinny guide carried my heavy photography gear .
The area was roped off and I couldn't get any closer than that. Millions of butterflies either perching on branches or fluttering around and then some. Yellow orange dots are everywhere and the ground is also covered with dead butterflies. It was simply overwhelming and the images here do not even close to what we experienced.
I used my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS Mark II plus a 1.4X TC Mark III for the first 2 shots. I rigged something up that enables me to mount a lens plate on both the lens collar and the Metabones III adapter. No shutter vibration to be seen anywhere at 1/40sec at 280mm on the 2nd image and other images.! Leica 35mm ASPH FLE was used using a helicoid Hawk's Factory adapter about halfway extended to get a semi macro shot of the dead butterflies. Thanks!
Gary Clennan wrote:
Very nice Joshua. First time I have seen that type of shot with 35FLE....
Thanks, Gary! I would say the FLE helps there and the fairly short focal length of the lens enables you to get a fairly high magnification ratio. But the short distance pretty much limits its usage to dead and therefore stationary things.... Again, not for real macro but for closeup shots, it works great. I used that lens for that purpose in the Archeological museum in Mexico City and of food items served at various eating establishments during our visit and it did work really well. Of course, I love the Leica colors that lens produces . Thanks again!
jlee1974 wrote:
I am having trouble getting the a7 to auto focus sharply on my kids face, even more so when they are moving. I was thinking if the small flexible point focusing method will help me aim more accurately in the eye.
A lot of people don't like focus peaking, but FWIW I find that if I have focus peaking set to low and red in good light, my shots are always focused well when I see a red glint in the pupil of the eye that I want in focus.
My issue is I never see a red glint in any part of the eye. Focus peaking on my A7 never seems to kick in for focusing on eyes, magnified view or not. I've tried the different strengths and it's always the same.
itai195 wrote:
My issue is I never see a red glint in any part of the eye. Focus peaking on my A7 never seems to kick in for focusing on eyes, magnified view or not. I've tried the different strengths and it's always the same.
Wow, I have no explanation for that. Focus peaking in the manner I described has worked well for me with my NEX 5n, NEX 7 and now my A7r. I should add that usually I am taking photos indoors in decent light.
Here's an example where I used focus peaking on the eyes with my A7r.
Jeff Kott wrote:
Wow, I have no explanation for that. Focus peaking in the manner I described has worked well for me with my NEX 5n, NEX 7 and now my A7r. I should add that usually I am taking photos indoors in decent light.
Here's an example where I used focus peaking on the eyes with my A7r.
Nice photo! I've seen other people with the same experience on this forum, so I don't think it's just my camera. Perhaps it's the lens and lighting I'm in, no idea.
Some images from my recent trip to Yosemite. There was no snow unfortunately, but the weather was wonderful on the other hand. All shots are with Olympus 21mm and 50mm.
itai195 wrote:
My issue is I never see a red glint in any part of the eye. Focus peaking on my A7 never seems to kick in for focusing on eyes, magnified view or not. I've tried the different strengths and it's always the same.
Thing is, for me, that you use focus peeking in the same way as you would with a old-fashion split-screen or a fast matte. Just as with a those methods, with peaking you'll see when you move focus back and forth, with optimal focus in the middle. On a childs face you'll see the patterns moving from the ear to the nose and then back towards the ear while turning the focus ring back and forth, 1-2 times is enough. A prerequisite for fast shooting is that you already have focus set to appr the right distance so you dont start from 10 meters when the subject is 1 meter away if your lens have a long focus throw.
You'll rarely see "peaking sprinkle" in the eye(s), but you could definitely stop the back and forth moving patterns in the right moment to get what you want crisp.
And you can take 2-3 shots in the blink of an eye. I find optimal focus hit rate good.
Magnified view is out of the question if it needs to be done quick.
. 
. Thanks again!
