Best lens for a D800E and landscape panorama shots

I am looking to maximise my D800E and I like to do landscape panoramas/mosaics.

50mm F1.8g is very sharp as is 85mm F1.8g. I also use 24-70 at 24mm most often and it works really well.

But for absolutely max quality what have you found would be best?

Perhaps the new 70-200mm at 70mm and F7.1? Or Zeiss 100mm F2 planar?

Nikkor 60mm F2.8 micro? Perhaps the new Sigma 35mm F1.4?

Greg.

Without a doubt, prime lenses are a must if you're looking for max IQ with the D800E. It's a bit early to tell yet, but the Sigma 35mm 1.4 should do nicely. Zeiss 21mm f2.8 and 25mm f2 are also excellent, but expensive.

I find little benefit to double or triple row with the D800e, which you would have to do with a fifty or longer lens.  I like to get it all in in one series, otherwise the file gets so huge it's a real nuisance to process.

What you want to look for in a good pano lens are good sharpness edge to edge with no "donut" characteristics, very low vignetting (biggie) and little or no CA. Flare resistance is a huge deal, too, because you don't want your pano spoiled by veiling flare or outright blobs or rainbows, which disqualifies a lot of bulbous fast lenses. A big lens shade is a good idea. I use an adaptor to get a bigger diameter ring to which I attach an oversize hood.  The 35mm FL gives me adequate picture height (portrait) for a lot of situations coupled nicely with very moderate distortion. The Nikon 35f2 D is a good compromise, maintaining over 3000 lwph at f8 with minimal distortion and zero CA with little vignetting.  In the center, which is the majority of the frame in a pano with good overlap, the the little Nikon outresolves the Zeiss 35 at f8, putting out 3833 lwph.  The hard infinity stop is nice, too when you're out in the field fiddling with all the settings required for a good pano. I'm tempted to try the Samyang 35 and see if it works as well or better.

I have no doubt the lens is doing its job as I can see pixels at 400% when zoomed in.  The detail is almost like a Gigapan with the "e." Thank you, Nikon!

The 60G Micro is noticeably soft at infinity on the edges and as such is not a very good landscape or pano lens.  The 14-24 works beautifully when the sun isn't near the frame when a very wide angle is called for at close quarters.

Surprisingly, the 24-85VR shows really well in a pinch, since you're mostly using the middle of the frame, which is brushing 4000 lwph, although it must of course be debarrelled and CA'd prior to stitching.



Reilly D's pano rig

I make my pano's with a 85mm 1.4g.  The 85mm 1.8g/d is the "sharper and cheaper" why to do this.  But these cheap 85mm's lack the high end optics to transmit the INSANE microcontrast of the 85mm 1.4g.

I have many Nikons: 28, 50, 60, 85, 105 primes, 24-70, 24-120 and other not worth to mention.

as tested them all for long time at 100% at the same conditions - I can say, that 60 mm 2.8 micro is the best in terms of sharpness, especially  at f8 or similar.

So for your goal my advice is to try this lens.

Don't have Zeiss, but these on my wish list...

Paul.

for me - i use two different lenses depending on distance of scene....

both in portrait position rrs l bracket parallax bracket and acratec gp-s head

way off distance - (sunsets, etc...)zeiss 100

closer - zeiss 35 and i will use a big reflector / piece of cardboard / me like a gouhl holding sewatshirt, whatever i can find... over camera to block inbound light... on top  / sides

100mm zeiss



35mm f2 zeiss

Thanks for the great reply Rally. I have been using the 24-70 mostly and it works great. I hold down the AEL lock button to freeze the exposures so they don't vary and turn AF off after initial focusing.

I have Samyang 24mm F1.4 I got primarily for nightscape time lapses but I will try it out. I also thought of the Samyang 35mm F1.4.

Perhaps the new Sigma 35mm F1.4 is the go then as it has all those properties you mention.

Greg.

I think all three of those lenses should work extremely well.

What bracket are you using Rally?  I have only used handheld or tripod with ballhead but no L bracket.

Novoflex make one but its expensive. I was also considering one of those electronic units that slew and take the photos with a predetermined overlap etc.

Greg.

The Bridge one is almost surreal. The top one whilst a spectacular subject is too long and thin. I don't like that aspect ratio so I shoot to get an almost normal aspect ratio where I can. Like Rally's I tend to shoot in portrait mode often for this reason.

Does the Zeiss 35mm flare unless you shield it? It seems ultra sharp. The new Sigma 35mm F1.4 is being reviewed as the best 35mm out there bar none.

Greg.

An excellent pano setup is:

1. Arca-Swiss P0 ball head with 1/4-20 stud
2. RRS Quick-Release
3. 8" QR rail from krosno65 on ebay
4. RRS Quick-Release
5. L-Bracket

The P0 has the pan at the top so when the camera is level, the pan is level. All you need to carry to convert from normal shooting to pano is the rail with an RRS Quick-Release on it.
With you 24-70mm and Rokinon 24mm you should be in good shape. The 24-70 is weakest at 24mm so the Rokinon should be useful.

--
Robin Casady
http://www.robincasady.com/Photo/index.html

The Rokinon 85mm f/1.4 is cheap, sharp, and has good microcontrast. Manual focus is not a handicap with panos. You don't want focus changing between shots.

--
Robin Casady
http://www.robincasady.com/Photo/index.html

That is a very nice setup for a situation where the camera can be perfectly level.  I don't see how it could look up or down for multi row, but correct me if I'm wrong there.  I'm using a Panosaurus, which is very inexpensive and lightweight, but not really beefy enough for the D800e and the 14-24.  The little 35 is no problem.

That is correct. I've not used the rotation method for multi-row panos. I use a 4x5 for that.

Or, for macro multi-row stitched images:

Long bellows with 4x5 reflex viewer for composing a shot for DSLR stitching

Bag bellows with DSLR attached.

--
Robin Casady
http://www.robincasady.com/Photo/index.html

yes the top one - many many shots in portrait aspect as well

the bridge - great photo subject - is new over mississippi close to our flowershop / nursery

often there is ambirnt light - streetlights - cars going around corners... etc - so i shielld whatever area this is on 36" reflector is good for this blocking... especially the 35 has a wimpy lens shade

the zeiss 35 - i would urge you to consider adding one..

below the pasque flower - this was d800

crop then full image



where did you get that cool giant lens shade?

Thanks Robin.

Nice setup. Does that section under the rail click when you move a certain angle?

I just shot a 6 image pano using both Nikon 24-70 F2.8ED and Rokinon (Samyang) 24mm F1.4 both at 24mm and F10.

Images are nearly identical but the Samyang has slightly better contrast and shows more detail in clouds and a tad better colour. Sharpness is near identical with the Nikon showing more distant contrast but sharpness in both would be a tie.

As you say the 24-70 is weakest at 24mm so perhaps I could shoot it at 35mm to gain a bit extra.

The bottom line is they are too close to worry about at 24mm.

I should try my 14-24 at 24mm as well to see the differences there.

Greg.

Holy Cow - you are REALLY into photography there. Impressive setup. Looks like an old Kodak Lab.

Greg.

The top flower shot in particular is very vivid and very sharp. A nice rendition overall. I have to get a Zeiss lens sometime to see what all the fuss is about.

Greg.

No. The problem with click stops is they need to change when you change focal lengths. I just look through the viewfinder and make sure I have about 1/3 or more frame overlap. This goes very quickly.

My first intoduction to shooting panos was when Apple introduced QuickTimeVR. I was publishing Mac software at the time and was invited to a beta test session of an Apple Developer University QTVR class.

The recommended lens was a Nikon 15mm f/3.5 Rectilinear.

The software was command line driven. Things have changed.

--
Robin Casady
http://www.robincasady.com/Photo/index.html