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Handheld Panoramas - A7r

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
In costa Rica, my rented 35mm lens never left the camera, LOL, although I had schlepped with me a wonderful collection of other choices packed in a neat waterproof foam lined case!

Arriving home, the Sonnar T* FE 55mm F1.8 ZA Full-frame E-mount Prime Lens has taken its place. I need a lot of use of an individual lens to enable it to be incorporated in my creative arsenal. Right now, I'd sooner take the Ricoh GR with its 24mm lens from my pocket, than change lenses on my Sony camera!

As I progress, one lens at a time, I have no doubt that the 20mm Canon FD or the 18mm Distagon will take over, 50 percent of the time or more. For now, I have a lot of learning as the Zeiss 55 mm lens provides me such a rich image, allowing me to work with it, where previously I'd reach for a longer focal length. With the extra resolution, one can crop and still print large enough for most purposes!

For wide angle views, stitch 2-3 overlapping adjacent frames, one can get the function of a 24 mm lens. So this 55mm lens can cover the quality of work from a 24-70mm lens on a 6D, 5DIII or other Canon full frame body, (of course, without the zoom), but with an aperture of 1.8!

Here I've tackled a city sculpture lit at night in downtown Los Angeles just outside the famous Drago Centro Restaurant. The 55mm can only capture a portion of the giant structure. So stitching allows me to get the picture without need for carrying that wider lens!


[Group 6]-_DSC4043__DSC4045-3 images__800.jpg


Asher Kelman: "Double Ascension"

Sculpture in Painted Steel by Herbert Bayer

20ft high by 30ft wide


At Night

Sony A7r Zeiss 55mm 1.8




The red sculpture was commissioned by ARCO, the former owner of the building, (housing the Celestino Centro Restaurant). ARCO big wigs objected to the name "Stairway to Nowhere", and it became known as "Double Ascension"!


Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Now some admissions of shortcomings - not with the camera or lens, but what less than conscientious technique. The principle issue is that of parallax. Even given the advanced algorithms of modern stitching software, the axis of rotation, (and/or scene sampling by lateral movement to new viewpoints), needs to allow for overlapping images to line up the objects at different distances from the camera. Intervening objects can end up being caught in one shot but missed altogether in another. So, the part that moves the least, the distant scene, will suffer the least artifacts. However near objects might end up cut off or as ghosts.

Here's an example of less than meticulous technique and the resultant obvious lack of coherent imaging of intermediate distant elements.


Pink apartments_stitched only.jpg


Asher Kelman: "Pink Apartments"

West Hollywood, California July 2014

Sony A7r Zeiss 55mm 1.8

As Stitched with AutoPano Giga



Obviously having a partial telephone and power utility pole floating in the sky is not too good. Also the partial drawing of the colorful foreground railing is a disaster!


Pink Apartments_repaired_.jpg


Asher Kelman: "Pink Apartments"

West Hollywood, California July 2014

Sony A7r Zeiss 55mm 1.8

Repaired foreground rail and part of telegraph pole removed



This shows how the picture can be recovered with basic editing skills.


Pink Apartments_TPZ CLRTY.jpg


Asher Kelman: "Pink Apartments"

West Hollywood, California July 2014

Sony A7r Zeiss 55mm 1.8

Final edit processed through Topaz Clarity in PS CC





Finally the colors and densities are given a nice finish with the Topaz plugin "Clarity". This, although artificially bold, really captures the flashy spirit of the flashy pink in the context of this diverse community.


So we see how important it is to set up the front of the camera so as not to swing to different positions! Still, if the picture is critical, it can be rebuilt pretty well in Photoshop with standard editing tools.

Asher
 
Thanks for the pano explanation, Asher! Also enjoyed the photos.

By the way, it appears that Metabones V3 adapter can be used with the A7r and Canon's tilt-shift lenses. Not that this applies here—tilt-shift usage typically involves a tripod—but still a good thing for pano shooters moving from Canon to Sony.
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Asher,

Thanks for this clear exposition of the impact of parallax shift in multi-shot panoramic images.

And a very nice result. Among other things, the restoration of the railing is very craftsmanlike.

Best regards,

Doug
 
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