Stitching Question - Digital SLR vs 4x5

[adrian tyler]

7. the spherical distortion inherent in being in a fixed position and having to move the lens around on slightly different angles makes stiching less useful for some types of shots.

[adrian tyler]

8. one day some smarty-pants will come up with a camera that you frame, program the file size, and the thing will take one or 24 exposures accordingly... priced accordingly...

[Jack Flesher]

1) Yes

2) Well it can, but the software available to do DoF blending is at present in its relative infancy -- so call this feature available, but impractical for this application at present.

3) Not really. I can usually capture 6 frames in less than 30 seconds. However, scenes with lots of motion or where motion is the image are problematic or impossible; there is no way I can capture the power of a massive wave breaking over a pier if stitching.

4) Not really. I can set my DSLR up and have it ready to stitch in about a minute and compose, focus and meter for the stitch in another minute. I can get my view camera on the tripod and zeroed in about the same amount of time, but I need significantly more time to compose, focus and meter. Though respect others may be more accomplished with the view camera than I am

5) Not really. But only because I don't need to do a 16-frame stitch with a 150mm lens to replicate a 150 on 4x5. Rather I can use a 90 and do 6 frames and end up with identical framing and the same or better image resolution than the 150 on 4x5. Hence, my DoF is extended due to using the shorter lens to begin with.

6) This point is always strongly debated, but my testing shows that the 5D generates over 8 full stops of usable DR -- more than color transparency emulsions. The expanded highlight shoulder of color neg lends the appearance of extended DR, but in reality if one uses an appropriate highlight shoulder adjustment curve in post-processing on the digital file, the effect can be duplicated. Digital then allows for added boost in the shadows that film cannot accommodate. However, I do believe B&W neg can handle a bit more total DR than direct digital capture.

Cheers,

[Armin Seeholzer]

"6. Because LF cameras can use color or b&w negative film, then the dynamic range of the resulting image will be significantly better.

Have I missed any thing? Are my conclusions and observations correct?"

Stephen you are almost right!

Also on digital you can impove the dynamic range with HDR and expand it over every film if you like to do so!
But it is also not working with something wich is moving!

It takes some other 5 years till digital is better then Film, in my opinion!
But it is f**** close now!

My 2 cents, Armin J. Seeholzer

[Marko]

First, I would like to note that SLR and DSLR stuff does not really belong here. This website is about LF cameras and not DLSR cameras.

There was a thread recently that introduced a view camera back aimed specifically at using a DSRL in combination with a view camera for stitching purposes.

So, in that sense and used in such a fashion, a DSLR should belong here as much as a (panoramic) roll film back.

2. Stitching cannot mimic near-to-far focusing movements of the LF cameras.

This is an inherently incorrect statement as stitching is a technique that is not camera specific. It can be done with any camera, in any format and with any technology. See above for an example.

5. If you do not employ near-to-far LF camera movements, then for a subject that is the same size in the final uncropped image, we can say that the DOF will be equivalent for both methods independent of the focal lengths of the lenses used to construct the image. I am basing this observation on the MACRO photography rule that states images with same size subjects will have the same DOF issues no matter if you use 300mm lens or 50mm to construct the image.

Even if the stitching were done using only a DSLR alone, there is nothing that would constrain it to a single plane. It can, and it is indeed routinely done in some applications, in all three planes of a scene. In fact, it is one of the most useful techniques for increasing DOF in macro photography, but it is only our imagination or lack thereof that might be preventing us from using the technique elsewhere.

Of course, since this technique can be practically done only using digital processing, it is available only to those who are not adverse to it.

6. Because LF cameras can use color or b&w negative film, then the dynamic range of the resulting image will be significantly better.

This is another incorrect statement. Using RAW digital capture and adequate processing, digital capture can yield dynamic range that no film can, regardless of fomat.

But let's not turn this into yet another digital vs. chemical shouting match, shall we? The type of camera and medium essentially has very little to do with this as a technique.

Speaking strictly about stitching and its possibilities, stitching can be used to achieve a dynamic range that no light-sensitive medium can normally obtain, film or digital.

[QT Luong]

7. the spherical distortion inherent in being in a fixed position and having to move the lens around on slightly different angles makes stiching less useful for some types of shots.

There is no such thing as "spherical distortion" involved. It's a linear perspective effect that is corrected by any stitching software while building the stitched view. The resulting image is no different than a single-view perpective image, should a perpective projection be chosen as the final rendering. Sometimes it looks strange if the resulting angle of view is very large, but so does a single very wide shot.

[Stephen Willard]

"Also on digital you can impove the dynamic range with HDR and expand it over every film if you like to do so!
But it is also not working with something wich is moving!

My 2 cents, Armin J. Seeholzer

Armin, we all give our two cents worth. Sometimes we are correct and sometimes we are not. However, when I add up all the two cents I have acquired on this sight, I find its close to a million dollars if you can keep a open mind, be considerate of others differences, and learn from it. I know I am a much better photographer due to the information shared on this website.

I am a color negative LF photographer, and I have no insight on how you can expand the dynamic range of the digital sensor, nor do I know how to actually do stitching. Could you please characterize this method of expanding the dynamic range in the same way I tried to characterize the pros and con of stitching for me?

[Gordon Moat]

Dynamic range usage can be a style choice, which is why some of us use transparency film. In fact, when I look through the recent Lürzer's Archive 200 Best Ad Photographers, the vast majority of images have a constrained dynamic range, and are somewhat high contrast. Obviously, this effect can also be done with digital capture and post processing. The tools should match what the photographer wants to accomplish.

Why does one method need to blow away another? Is film so bad a choice that people look down on prints made from film originals? Will people look down on film sourced prints in the future? Will those who switched to digital never again print their old images from film because they are so technically inferior? Will people stop buying books of photos or old prints because they know those photographers of the past did not have the benefits of digital capture?

Ciao!

Gordon Moat
A G Studio

[adrian tyler]

There is no such thing as "spherical distortion" involved. It's a linear perspective effect that is corrected by any stitching software while building the stitched view. The resulting image is no different than a single-view perpective image, should a perpective projection be chosen as the final rendering. Sometimes it looks strange if the resulting angle of view is very large, but so does a single very wide shot.

so say a frontal view of a building framed on 150mm on my 4x5, will have the same appearence as the corresponding number of frames and focal lenghth of a 35mm dslr when stitched together?

now that is interesting!

[adrian tyler]

The more common stitching creates a spherical view of a scene. An extreme example would be a straight road rendered as a curve. Imagine the effect that a mild fisheye lens would give you. Of course, with so much information, you could correct that in post processing.

i had kind of visualised this effect, although i have to say that i have no experience of stitching but obiously the software seems more sophisticated than i thought. which is really interesting news.