sorry for my ignorance... what's the purpose of a TS lens, apart from correcting perspective when you shoot architecture? I can see some really nice photos here, those lensbaby-liked photos really got me thinking too...
petermendelson wrote:
Thanks. Here's a stitched pano with the 90mm TS-E. Again, nothing spectacular - it was my first attempt at stitching with this lens and it is amazingly easy. I just followed the article in Digital Outback Photo about moving the camera 11mm one way and shifiting the lens 11mm the other to avoid the parallax effect. I used Photomerge in PSCS2 and it worked great.
I just sold my 45mm TS-E to buy a 35L to shoot in low light, but I would like to use the 45mm TS-E again.
Peter
Peter that trick you used is not really necessary if there nothing in the near foreground. My shot didn't use it, but I agree it doesn't harm to do it anyway and of course if you have a very near object it's mandatory.
That's true - I just figured I would try to use the technique all the time since it doesn't hurt and in some cases will help. Taking and stitching panormas is such a snap with the TS-E lenses.
Peter: you should be able to just lay one frame over another in photoshop. Photomerge probably is not helping and will get your pixels all twisted. A little bit of masking and a gradient should be all you need.
Zane Yau wrote:
sorry for my ignorance... what's the purpose of a TS lens, apart from correcting perspective when you shoot architecture? I can see some really nice photos here, those lensbaby-liked photos really got me thinking too...
As you can see from those "lensbaby-like" shots you can alter the plane of focus. Which allows for some very creative/interesting shots.
Outstanding shots everyone. I especially enjoyed yours johnnydanger.
Doug, how is Photomerge messing up the photo? It combined the three photos I took quickly and I couldn't even see where the transitions were (I equalized the WB and exposure in my Raw converter). Since these were taken merely by shifiting the lens left and right, it should be a simple flat stitch without me having to worry about perspective correction, nodal points, etc., correct? I know very little about the technicalities of shooting panoramics, so if I am wrong or missing something, please let me know.
petermendelson wrote:
Doug, how is Photomerge messing up the photo? It combined the three photos I took quickly and I couldn't even see where the transitions were (I equalized the WB and exposure in my Raw converter). Since these were taken merely by shifiting the lens left and right, it should be a simple flat stitch without me having to worry about perspective correction, nodal points, etc., correct? I know very little about the technicalities of shooting panoramics, so if I am wrong or missing something, please let me know.
Thanks,
Peter
Peter, I'm no expert on panos at all--I've done only a couple simple ones to see the possibilities. However----Doug, IMO, seems to be an expert. Check out his site and his panos. I particlularly like this gallery http://www.pbase.com/douglasjmorgan/victoria2006
Peter, photomerge will attempt to warp the image to fit a spherical plan like any pano stitching software that is unaware a shifted lens was used. Warping involves stretching or shrinking areas of the image and is always determinental to resolution though it may be small enough that it is not obvious. Since there is no perspective correction, nodal points, etc you don't need to use it. Photomerge is not very sophisticated in any case and rarely works properly on a typical panorama.
Assuming that you used a stable tripod (and didn't bump it while shifting), manual exposure, manual focus, manual WB (or RAW) the only positive thing photomerge will be doing is correcting the slight differences in exposure between the two frames. Since the lens and lightpath is never identical and perfectly symmetrical there will be differences between the exposure of the right edge of the left frame and the left edge of the right frame.
One of the joys of a shift lens is that the perspective doesn't change, especially if you slide the camera back and forth so that the lens is basically unmoved during the shift. I can give you the run down of combining the frames in photoshop but it's pretty simple provided you left a couple mm's of overlap and didn't bump the tripod.
Nice shot BTW!
Doug
PS: thanks Diane! You've got some excellent work on your website as well -- we've got to get you using your new lens for some panos.
Edited by Doug Morgan on Jul 13, 2006 at 08:30 AM GMT
Great thread! We rarely hear about TS lenses here, even though it seems like a lot of fun. I do not see myself getting one soon due to their high price and the limited use one would get in my arsenal, but I appreciate to hear about these "exotic" lenses and to see what can be done with them. Thanks!
ocean7 wrote:
Very strange : I though TS-E lenses were mostly for architecture and I see no architecture shot.
Please explain : what does a TS-E 90mm have for shooting flowers that a standard 85mm does not?
You can often tilt the focus plane so that you are able to use a fast aperture but still get a complete bloom in sharp focus without needing to stop down and lose any background blur or light. Tough to master but once done, results are cool!!
It allows you to adjust the plane of focus. Therefore you could (theoretically) get the entire face of the flower in focus even though you are shooting at perpendicular to it while maintaining a wide aperature. You simply cannot do this with a macro lens.
I think of TS lenses primarily for landscapes as they allow you to have an extended DOF to keep everything truely sharp from your toes to the horizon. However they can be used in lots of other ways to affect perception.
mrladewig wrote:
It allows you to adjust the plane of focus. Therefore you could (theoretically) get the entire face of the flower in focus even though you are shooting at perpendicular to it while maintaining a wide aperature. You simply cannot do this with a macro lens.
I think of TS lenses primarily for landscapes as they allow you to have an extended DOF to keep everything truely sharp from your toes to the horizon. However they can be used in lots of other ways to affect perception.
In truth, Mark Tucker's work was what brought me to considering a TS-E. He uses one quite creatively--but not in the more traditional way. Then--I spent time (the last 9-12 months) learning about them and found many many uses for one (and I find myself using it as just a 'straight' 45mm prime also)
I've said before, however, until you put your hands on one, the technical 'stuff' just doesn't completely ''jell' unless you have used movements with a view camera (I had not). I found the 24 TS-E at a great weekly rental charge and rented it for 2 weeks. I spent that whole time coming to grips with the 'hows' of using it and didn't shoot anything worth keeping except for reference. I did come to the conclusion, though, that a 45 would be about the best for me to start with---I don't live in an area of "interesting' sweeping landscapes (western North Carolina) or wonderful architecture that couldn't be captured with the 45. Still---I can see a 24 in my future LOL.
Thanks for the info Doug - I have lots of books and resources on using PSCS2, including panorama stitching, so I will look into doing it manually from now on.
