GroWeb wrote:
In my newly motivated effort to freshen up my relationship with photography, I've been doing some thinking and background investigating, and I have come up with a strategy. I PM'd my fellow Fuji guy, Leighton, and read and viewed lots of info on the internet, and I thereby discovered that there is, indeed, a benefit to having IBIS when using MFNG. I also PM'd our resident infrared specialist, Colin (aka DeltaSigma), and he provided me with lots of helpful information on that subject, which I also researched further on the internet. As a result, I have finalized and started to execute my plan.
This very day, I traveled to nearby Victoria, BC, and picked up a spanking new Fuji X-T4. Upon returning home, I placed an order with LifePixel to convert my X-T2 to "Super Colour" Infrared, and packaged the camera up, ready for shipping.
My new acquisition can be seen below, with the Mitakon Zhongyi focal reducer (aka Lens Turbo II) and the 45 f/2.8 Ai-p attached to it (photographed with the 50 f/1.2 Ai-s on my D7200). I have also added a couple of photos I grabbed with the X-T4 and the 50 f/1.2 at a "viewpoint" on the way home from Victoria.
To fund my new adventure, I have started a process of selling off gear that I no longer use. I already have a listing in the B&S thread for my wife's former D7000 and a couple of A/F lenses (here), and there is much more to come in the near future.
Congrats Glen. Your plan sounds like a great idea. The X-T4 is a wonderful camera and should serve you well using these great Nikon MF lenses. I also like the idea of turning the X-T2 into an IR machine. After looking at Colin's IR pics, as well as others on the thread, the thought has entered my mind more than once about the art form. Looking forward to seeing more from you.
I have yet to find a Nikkor that doesn't work with IR. Tried the 20, 24, 28, 35, 55, 105, 180 - none of them have that dreaded gray central area I read about? A nearby semi-birdless lake yesterday.
cadman342001 wrote:
While I'm here I may as well throw in another shot of the Story Bridge in Brisbane that I took on Thursday.
Same again, the GFX + nikkor PC 28/3.5. 60 seconds @ f16 I believe. Check out the "sunstar" on the dock below right of the bridge and the light trails of traffic bottom right. Full resolution shot on flickr.
I plan to return here next week when as part of the annual Riverfire festival they set off fireworks off the bridge. I also discovered that I can park in the city centre car park for 5 bucks from 6pm to 12am so plan on a couple more trips in the 4 weeks before I go to NZ.
James Markus wrote:
I have yet to find a Nikkor that doesn't work with IR. Tried the 20, 24, 28, 35, 55, 105, 180 - none of them have that dreaded gray central area I read about? A nearby semi-birdless lake yesterday.
What stitching software are you using Jim?
Looks like some artifacts are not being smoothed out.
For my IR stitching in Lightroom I set an auto WB for a chosen frame, select a B&W filter, tune for clarity, contrast etc, apply a lens profile, and then auto expose.
I then sync all other pano frames to the chosen one but let each frame auto expose.
That seems to give me the best merged results.
My 180/2.8 will hotspot at f/11 and can, under certain circumstances, show very mild effects at f/8.
I find my 105 PC lacks acuity so don't use it for IR. I stopped using my 24/2.8 NC on FX since the corners were rubbish.
The 16/3.5 & 50/2 H/HC are my best MF IR lenses by far.
cadman342001 wrote:
The next vehicle on the lot as it were from the Gold Coast Motor Museum.
1911 Ford Model T Chief's Fire Truck ! I'll post the info board for this one as it explains the history of the vehicle and the restoration which began on/after 9/11 as a tribute to the fire fighters of NYC.
(Originally from OHIO)
Received the 43mm Master B&W filter for the 2.8cm 3.5 RF lens, it still cut into the image. Looked into buyin the orignal hood for it, which allows for series VI or VII filters i the hood, But the two in ebay were $1000!.
OK, no filter it will be.
Here are a few more shots that do not deserve being in this company.
Good eye Colin. Just using Photoshop's stitching/stacking features. Normally it isn't a problem, but the wind stirred the face of the water so much - that the closer to camera foreground was a mess. I ran a heal brush along the lowest part of the water frame edges. As you look higher in the frame it would disappear about 25-33% from the bottom. Pretty sure this is only the second time Photoshop got lost stitching a pan-o-rama. I did tic the geometric distortion, and vignette boxes this time - which usually are left un-tic'd?
I rarely shoot beyond f8 as a rule, because I believe most lenses sweet spot is f5.6. It is just a general impression/habit I have based on experience and not due to any testing. However, Virtually all my exposures are manual, I chose the degrees kelvin WB, f-stop, shutter speed etc. Therefore all the frames are exactly the same - I do make adjustments in LR, but then apply the same adjustment to all frames. Thanks, though, because I hadn't picked up on the stopping down potentially causing the hot spots. The biggest difference I see between lenses is color (@665 nm), and contrast. Some Nikkors are too contrasty - IMO.
Oh yeah - lens profiles. I only have a couple MF Nikkor profiles I got years and years ago on line somewhere. I usually am left with tic-cing the "remove chromatic aberrations" box. Do you know a source for Nikkor MF lens profiles?
Jim
DeltaSigma wrote:
What stitching software are you using Jim?
Looks like some artifacts are not being smoothed out.
For my IR stitching in Lightroom I set an auto WB for a chosen frame, select a B&W filter, tune for clarity, contrast etc, apply a lens profile, and then auto expose.
I then sync all other pano frames to the chosen one but let each frame auto expose.
That seems to give me the best merged results.
My 180/2.8 will hotspot at f/11 and can, under certain circumstances, show very mild effects at f/8.
I find my 105 PC lacks acuity so don't use it for IR. I stopped using my 24/2.8 NC on FX since the corners were rubbish.
The 16/3.5 & 50/2 H/HC are my best MF IR lenses by far.
Just a single 665nm color frame with the 35mm f1.4 ais to show the bands projecting from the far shore towards the viewer are actually there and not stitching artifacts. (though there are other artifacts in the b&w stitched image) Honestly, I had not noticed this in visible light, but they may have been there.
