p.12 #1 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
mdemeyer wrote:
Rich,
Profiles are specific to the model but not the individual camera. So please share.
Charlie,
Did you ever resolve your problem getting LR to pick up the A7M v2 1604 profile I posted?
Michael
Hi Michael,
I have found the Profiles that I created for my A7rM V3.using my Leica R 60mm f2.8 Apo Elmarit Lens but I can not figure out how to copy them to post them. I can copy them to my computer desktop but not here. Also since I was not sure of the exact correct exposure, I created 2 profiles each for Daylight, Cloudy, and Shadow.
p.12 #2 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
naturephoto1 wrote:
You just did not have the colro balance/color profile for the the A7M V3 sensor cover. I am generally quite pleased with the color rendering that I am getting with my A7rM V3 and my lenses.
Rich
Hi Rich,
I'm glad to hear you are getting on well with the mod. You have A7r, which I have shot stock but not modded. We know now it's unique in the range of flavors.
I had high expectations for the V3 on my plain A7 and just assumed it would be great. But I was underwhelmed by the performance with lenses like the ZM35/2, compared to my v1, which though thicker, seemed cleaner on the edges. I did not bother to work on the color issues because I did not like the performance on the A7 with my favorite lenses.
In fact the whole V3 raison d'être: sensor reflections etc, was never an issue for me, and while we had some who did run into the problem, most did not.
The v3 type of coating is common in astro when steep ray angles are not an issue: they are fine. But my research led me to specific discussion of that coating and the importance to tune the spec to a narrow gamut of ray angles. With a really wide range, one end or the other will suffer, depending on the spec.
I swapped for the v2 and it appears much nicer, and also in colors too. I miss nothing from the v3 on the A7. But I liked the v1 better yet. I'm very impressed with the V2 on the A7s. I just have this camera for another week, but have been shooting it. I have to get one.
I attached the Nikkor 500/4 P with 1.4x TC to the A7s.mod v2:
The A7s ISO performance is breathtaking. For birds, who are hard to really stop, it means you can go to 8000 if you want, which I haven't even tried yet. For practical photography you need no lens taster than F/2 and mostly you don't even need anything close to that. I had first thought this would be a mostly night camera for me. Wrong.
And honestly I don't miss a pixel. But I am not cropping alot at the moment. Still: DSC04521-2 by unoh7, on Flickr
As to Roger's coverglass part 3: if exit pupil is what makes makes things go off, then why does he detect such performance differences with non-problematic pupil distances seen with Sony lenses, with and without the "glass in the path?"
@ Michael. Sry, no, my LR 5 on El caption does not want to see it
Rich made separate profiles for Daylight, Cloudy, and Shade conditions. (Note that this is different from the approach I took with mine... I made Dual Illuminant profiles where a single profile can be used under all lighting conditions.) There are two of each from Rich... he suggests starting with the #1 file.
(At least that's where I put them and it works. I see that Adobe says to put them in C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles on Windows 7... I'll have to try that.)
p.12 #4 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Hi folks,
I finally had a break and was able to have the v3 mod installed in the A7 test camera. Made an updated Dual Illuminant profile for it and added to the set of profiles here:
(At least that's where I put them and it works. I see that Adobe says to put them in C:\ProgramData\Adobe\CameraRaw\CameraProfiles on Windows 7... I'll have to try that.)
Will need to restart Lightroom or ACR for them to be picked up.
I have not tested this new one extensively, but initial results look good. I do note a slight difference in the sensor response from v2 to v3 in the blues, since the AR coating also has a UV cut in it. Have not done enough outdoor shooting to say more than that I can see the difference in the profiles, but it is likely compensated for by the new profile. Will comment more in the coming weeks.
p.12 #5 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Took a few shots outdoors in nice California daylight to check color balance on the new v3 profile posted in the previous link. Added one with the Voigtlander 15mm vIII M-mount at F5.6 to the A7M group on Flickr (link below).
Top half of frame (nothing informative in the bottom) which had fairly even blue sky and clouds from left to right. This is corrected for vignetting but no corrections for color balance, which was eyedroppered on the white van near the right side of the image.
I know there was some question about whether the v3 mod, since it added some UV cut with the A/R coating, caused color shifts toward the edges. I'm not seeing anything particularly troubling here in the sky or clouds. Maybe a tiny hint of magenta in the upper clouds, but if I were really working on this image I'd tweak it a little for that.
With the Leica 24mm Elmar F3.8 I see a little more magenta shift visible in the white clouds (easy to correct when it's troublesome), but that's not new with the v3 mod in my experience - I believe it's a sensor issue with that lens.
I think this Camera Raw profile is pretty close. Feedback from others always welcome.
p.12 #6 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
One thing that annoys me about these profiles is the amount of Magenta needed to get proper color balance in LR or PS. I'm starting to experiment with the WB trim in DNG Profile Editor and seem to be on the right track to trim these to be closer to zero.
p.12 #8 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Nothing new in this test, concerning the smearing produced by the sensor stack thickness in all A7 models. What it's remarkable is the excellent behavior of the A7rII BSI sensor, concerning color shift in the edges/corners. Say good-bye to wearisome postprocess with flat-field or Cornerfix.
Jul 10, 2016 at 03:46 AM
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p.12 #9 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
I do think think the tests from the Lens Rental blog do have some new information in them. First I have seen very few tests with the new 28mm lenses (the 28 elmarit ASPH and 28 cron ASPH) that were recently redesigned for digital. They are both way better than the previous version of these lenses that were designed for film. This test also included the 28 lux ASPH and I have not seen tests of that lens at all on the A7rII or any A7 series camera. And this lens seems to be among the very best performers with only the WATE doing better and only the 21 Lux ASPH equalling its performance. So, this test provided new information about all the newest Leica M lenses at 28mm. This is important as there are very few option at 28mm. With the only native mount prime lens being the Sony 28 f/2, which is an excellent value but not surprisingly given the price has a few weaknesses.
What I would love to see is these tests repeated (and the 35mm options from lens rentals included) but with a test at infinity focus. As the article suggests for Leica M mount lenses the performance suffers the most when the lenses are focussed at infinity. We have had one such test already--Fred rented the new 28 elmarit ASPH from lens rentals (perhaps this exact same lens) and tested it at infinity. He found it did quite well by f/8, and pretty well at f/5.6 but still suffered from corner smearing at wider apertures. On the tests in this lens rentals blog, IMO, that lens looks a lot better at wide apertures on the tests charts then it did on Fred's infinity focus tests. So I think we all need to realize that these tests charts may not be showing all the diminished performance that the lenses may show. At infinity focus there may be (and likely are for at least some lenses) more problems.
Despite that limitation it is always great to see more tests done well, and I appreciate when lenses rentals is able to pull together so many lenses at the same time and test them.
p.12 #10 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Would it make a large difference, if one would put a (very good) close-up lens in front of the lens in test?
The lens thinks, it is at infinity, but the testcard is much closer.
Just for the case of corner smearing.
Jan
p.12 #11 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
jankap wrote:
Would it make a large difference, if one would put a (very good) close-up lens in front of the lens in test?
The lens thinks, it is at infinity, but the testcard is much closer.
Just for the case of corner smearing.
Jan
Corner smearing is due to how the sensor receives the input signal. Putting any glass in front of the lens will just degrade the quality of the input itself.
p.12 #13 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Has anyone ever tested the ZM 28mm 2.8 on a kolari camera? This lens performs well on the M 240 but not so great on stock A7 cams wide open. I'd love to hear if the Kolari mod brings back that 2.8 performance that is really so good.
p.12 #16 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
MAubrey wrote:
Looking at getting a second used body for the mod and looking for a clarification:
In trying to decide between an original A7 and A7r, the Kolari mod doesn't improve color shift at all, yes?
Color shift along the edges and corners and vignetting can be dealt with using CornerFix or the Adobe equivalent software when using the Kolari modded A7 or A7r.
p.12 #18 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Does the Kolari mod improves or degrades the corners for the CV 15/4.5 III (M-mount) ?
I have a copy working really well on the stock A7RII even wide-open and wondered if a Kolari modification would change this performance for better or worse since this lens seems to be optimized for the Sony sensor stack...
p.12 #19 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Fred Miranda wrote:
Does the Kolari mod improves or degrades the corners for the CV 15/4.5 III (M-mount) ?
I have a copy working really well on the stock A7RII even wide-open and wondered if a Kolari modification would change this performance for better or worse since this lens seems to be optimized for the Sony sensor stack...
Hi Fred,
I believe that Michael Meyer has one of these lenses with his A7M V3 camera. Hopefully he can check in on that. But again, that would be for an A7 and not an A7r which has the greatest probelm of all of the stock A7 cameras with the Wide Angle M mount lenses.
p.12 #20 · Kolari Mod's Improvements: A Summary of Tests
Thanks everyone! JimBuchanan wrote:
I had originally got the Kolari mod on the a7, thinking the larger pixels would help in the corner color shift.
I had the original A7. I've now switched to the A7rII, but I'm looking at a second body with the mod. I'd like the superior EVF of the A7r, but I know from experience that the color shift is worse on the A7r compared to the A7.
I was hoping that I had remembered the info about the mod wrong and that it would help the A7r's color shift problem a bit. Looks like the original A7, it is, then.
