safe haven for tiny formats

[argos33]

The best print 30x40 print I have from this subject was done with a LeicaM8 and 28mm lens. Beats 8x10, beats me.

Christopher,
With how many stitched images? If you don't mind me asking, what stitching software do you prefer? Also, what format/process would you say had the best value in terms of overall time spent compared to print quality?

Thanks again for posting your findings, it really shows that there are often many different paths to the same destination, it is just a matter of what works for you and doing it well.

Evan

[cjbroadbent]

Evan,

The Leica shot I posted here is a straight, bracketed, 3-shot, Tone-mapped HDR done with Photomatix. Plenty of fun, no fuss and almost instant gratification. I cannot find a way to squeeze that sort of toned-down mood out of sheet film.

You asked about stitching. I've been stitching most days for four years. A lot of watches, some institutionals and editorials. A good client does large panels which people walk close to - different from billboards - so I need resolution. I would prefer sheet film and no post-production responsibility but nowadays that's not possible. So stitching has been paying the rent.

I usually stitch 3 verticals from a slightly longer than normal lens. It's fast and simple. For extra resolution, I do 6 verticals with a lens about twice the length of the sensor. That's a 40 minute process on my old G5 Mac. The idea is that the longer the lens the more resolution you get (obvious, that's why we shoot LF, the film has to cover the scene somehow). The payoff between lens length and patches gets decided by the final media.

I use RealViz Stitcher (now Adobe Stitcher-Unlimited for Intel Macs - I've tried everything else). Perspective and lens distortion is under my control and moving objects can be masked out. I made some minimalist alu brackets with tripod holes corresponding to Nikon and Leica lens nodal points. The watches are shot with a 65mm macro on a full frame DCS. Landscapes with an 80mm. I'm using both lenses really close in, as if they were wide-angles. Still-life with a 50mm or 35mm on the 3/4 Leica sensor (ok, leica lenses are superior).

However, since October last, my best 'value' in time and in quality, comes from a multi-shot digital back on Hasselblad. It is the biggest PIA to set up and more of a PIA than any LF camera, but once it's running and as long as nobody trips over the cables, you are able to shoot and adjust for hours. Single shot quality is about the same as stitching smaller formats but multiple-shot is way superior - and beats any 4x5 scan. This gear is far too delicate and itsy-bitsy and I don't enjoy the PIA but turnover is exceptional.

So for gratification but not for profit, I do contact prints from 8x10 LF and shoot 3-shot tone-maps with a Leica. Some stitch/HDR/LF comparisons are at http://picasaweb.google.com/cjbroadbent/Formats#

[cobalt]

Rolleiflex, 3.5 Zeiss Tessar.

[Brian K]

The best print 30x40 print I have from this subject was done with a LeicaM8 and 28mm lens. Beats 8x10, beats me.

Christopher, nice image. I'm really digging the tonalities. It has a nice muted quality that looks more like a painting than a photograph, but also doesn't look digital either.

[Brian K]

This is one of the first from my new used Panasonic G1 and its kit lens, which is really impressing me as probably the best value in a decent digital camera to date.

Frank I have the G1 also. I use it for geo tagging locations and as a meter/polaroid. I did notice one thing though, you need to keep the front element of the lens really clean.

As I use it as a meter I set it to apertures to match my Linhof, that is f22. It seems that any dirt on the lens actually comes into fuzzy focus on the image. I guess with the small sensor, as compared to LF film, the DOF is extreme.

It is a great little camera.

[cjbroadbent]

..... It has a nice muted quality that looks more like a painting than a photograph, but also doesn't look digital either.

Thanks Brian. Actually, I probably want my 8x10s to look more digital. The subdued effect come from heavily accentuated mid-tones. I can't do that in the darkroom, so I am being pushed into the arms of digital photography.
Pyro is a controlled substance over here (requires a dark-room license and an eco-disposal contractor) so that is out. Anchell and Troop are my bedside companions but I still can't manage anything better for mid-tones than a long dilute HC110 bath for under-exposed film. Any suggestions?
Here is a sad 8x10 and his better-looking digital twin:

[Frank Petronio]

Not to sound like an ad, but I never thought I'd like a plastic consumer camera with a zoom lens and too tiny buttons... but this Panasonic G1 just works well. I wish their RAW format was easier to use and it was a little more professional build/interface... but geez for $450 used how can you beat it?

[Steve M Hostetter]

self portrait, your turn, bicep 19.5" just another broken down greatful recovering alcoholic (22 yrs. sober) not bad for a 49 yr old saw bitch ain't she purdy, what a ham

[kev curry]

Hey Steve that's one impressive piece of machinery you've sculpted there! Well at lest for an old guy!
Oh and btw see all those insults that were flying around, I never meant a single word, and I take every one of them back, everyone, honest
22 years with Bill...that's fantastic Steve, my old dads looking at his 36 or 37th year.

One day at a time.

I need to get a scanner. I'm such a techno phob

[Kerik Kouklis]

I didn't know running a monkey grinder was such a good workout.