philber wrote:
Ajay, IMHO shooting JPEG and Zeiss run against each other. People shoot Zeiss in order to get the best shot they can. To achieve this, they sacrifice quite a bit of ease-of-use. To shoot JPG instead of RAW is exactly that: easy instead of ultimate quality.
+1
Those two things don't really go together. In-camera JPEG conversion is atrocious to image quality if you intend to do post processing such as..resizing the image. 8 bits per channel instead of 14 is not nice for processing colors.
If you have Lightroom, why even think of in-camera conversions? You can configure it easily enough to render JPEGs automatically when you plug in the memory card if you feel that you really must have ready JPEG files...
Thanks for your inputs. I do realize that to have 14-bit data instead of 8-bit data is important for most PP. However, I have seen some folks render straight JPG data out of the camera, while achieving remarkable results, and not only that, but also are able to, for example, emulate different film stocks using custom Picture Styles. I understand this is not very suitable for images that are intended for PP, resizing etc. So, I just wondered if any of you folks tried Pic Styles etc, remote chance, but still wanted to know
Luka, I did not think of configuring LR3 to render JPG's, while importing RAW files. I always copied them onto a HDD and added them to LR database. Thanks for the tip!
Picture styles are very primitive and you can do film stock emulation much better by processing the RAW files. There is one occasion where it can be desirable to use picture styles and that's when shooting video. By using a super flat profile you can maximize dynamic range (i.e. sacrifice the mid tones for greater latitude) so that you get a faux-RAW output that you can perform grading on.
I did not manage to go out and shoot today but I managed to shoot a set of flare tests of all my Zeiss glass from my balcony. Perhaps not very interesting aesthetically but the results might be informative..
Essentially the 85/1.4 is the only one showing any problems with flare. Not surprising given its massive front element and the amount of glass they have packed into that lens.
For comparison, here is a shot with a Canon 85/1.8:
Peirre, Amazing flowers shots! Excellent to see the Zeiss glass with the 550/7D.
Joakim, great series with the 85/1.4. #1 is my pick.
Bob, congrats on the 100MP. Nice shots!
Ajay, every camera whether it is a D3, 5D11, EP-1 or GF-1 or P&S, all benefit in RAW data acquisition. Your workflow can be customised as Luka suggested to minimise the time spent. If you are a journalist on a tight schedule, and need to download files to an editor, then JPEG are often used with very good results. The only downside to RAW is managing and saving the larger amounts of data. My data I now save to external 1 Terabyte passport drive in the office and while travelling. It is quick and portable, and essential as a backup.
Great examples Luka. I would not have imagined the flare from the 85/1.4 to be that high.
Thank you very much charles.K.Seems that do some very nice portraits with M9 and put aside ZE lenses for a while
Thank you very much mortyb.No,it was not Nikon,but 50ZF has a Nikon mount at least!
Thank you so much rsolti.These flowers are growing in the botanical garden of my home city Wrocław/Breslau in south-western Poland. .I go there every time I feel tired to shoot some flowers,which relaxes me.
rji2goleez - thank you very much.No doubts your new 100MP is having plenty shots ahead to take and will bring you a lot of fun.BTW: water of Lake Michigan is as blue as I remember from my last trip
denoir:forgot to tell you - I like very very much your shot of the moored motorboat reflecting itself on the water,and yes,tripods help to squeeze max res out of a lense but they are so clumsy!
Peire wrote:
denoir:forgot to tell you - I like very very much your shot of the moored motorboat reflecting itself on the water,and yes,tripods help to squeeze max res out of a lense but they are so clumsy!
Thanks Peire! I love your flower shots - you have certainly elevated that art to a new level.
As for tripod, get a light, compact carbon fiber one (I can recommend t Gitzo 1541t). It is a world apart from equally sized aluminum tripods and really not clumsy. It takes about five seconds to expand or fold it and it weighs < 1 kg. Add a good ballhead and you'll have very good stability and opportunity to compose the image.
I really hated using a tripod before I got a good one. Weight and size really make a difference there.
Two more boat shots with the 85/1.4:
rji2goleez wrote:
Nice view from the balcony!
Thanks Bob. It serves as my camera & lens testing lab
Specifically a bit more to the left is my standard lens test target:
Thank you very much sanjayg
Excellent night shots with dramatic cloudy sky rji2goleez
Very nice quiet and peaceful waterscapes denoir
bop gun - your shot illustrates somehow my vision of an american road
Luka....in your last shot is that a lake/river/pool? Seems odd to have stairs going into anything other than a pool. If a lake/river, do people actually swim in there? BTW...beautiful colors, really like composition of #2
