SD1 Merrill – What lens for landscape?

mike earussi said:

I own the 10-20 f3.5 and find 10mm useless as the corners aren't sharp on my SD15 no matter how far down I stop it. Of course, this could just be my sample. From 12-20 it's fine, though.

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Just wonder how comparable the SD15 and SD1M are?

I feel that older models, with smaller sensor both in resolution and size, may give other results. They should have different demands for glass - as stated in other threads. And I guess newer lenses has better glass anyway (FLD)?

Anyway - I think 12 is wide enough for me (find the 8-16mm to wide for my likings). Thanks for your input Mike

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The Sky is not the limit

Kendall Helmstetter Gelner said:

Don't get me wrong, the 150mm is also fantastic, I just find that focal length a bit long for landscapes (for wildlife it's probably better).

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Nope, but you got me wrong, Kendall

I was not trying to be off topic, but if I buy the 150mm its not for landscape. With the 70mm f/2.8 you could probably do both very well, but the 150mm f/2.8 with OS and HSM is more silent and you can get closer to difficult/easy disturbed animals/insects. But that also means more lenses = higher price, so I guess it's all about your budget. And in the end the budget is pretty important buging the best glass for the SD1M, isn't it?

So I guess it's all about "buying smart", and that is pretty hard. We all have different taste and usage/needs, and different budget on top of this. That makes it hard to aggree, and maybe the reason we discuss this so much

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The Sky is not the limit

maple said:

One final question, if Sigma can make good zoom as wide as 8-16, is it just a matter of time before they come up with a couple of wide-normal (easier to make) primes that can fully exploit SD1M’s resolution?

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These are currently the wide primes sigma make:

• 20/1.8
• 24/1.8 macro
• 28/1.8 macro
• 30/1.4
• and 8/3.5, 10/2.8, 15/2.8 fisheyes

Anyone got a idea how good they are [considering sd1]?

I like my 85mm F1.4, stopped down, but it isn't mainstream.

Unique viewpoints too, from the 70-200 F2.8 OS, also stopped down. You can really see the atmospheric thermals and it lends some images a realism.
Both these lenses are fearsome sharp on my SD1.

I also have a 17-50 F2.8 OS. It's really sharp in the center but falls off a little bit as you move toward the edges. No complaints here, though. I got a really nice large print out of the 17-50 (One print from my SD15, and one from my SD1). The colors are spectacular.

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Tom Schum

maple said:

This is not moaning for nothing. I really want that SD1M. I just need to know a good landscape lens to pair with it before pressing the BUY button.

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There is no such thing as a single lens or FL for landscapes. Out here in the mountain west, most of my landscapes are done on the long end. Some of my best have come with the 150-500 HSM OS on my 5D mark II. The reason is simple - you have to be quite distant to get sufficient compression; otherwise you have lots of sky and lots of foreground.

So, plan on a variety of FL. It's only money!

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Tony-S

lelf said:

These are currently the wide primes sigma make:

• 20/1.8
• 24/1.8 macro
• 28/1.8 macro
• 30/1.4
• and 8/3.5, 10/2.8, 15/2.8 fisheyes

Anyone got a idea how good they are [considering sd1]?

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I had the 20 f/1.8 for a few years. From f/4 and on it was just as good as my EF 17-40 f/4L on my 5Dii. Kind of soft from f/1.8 to about f/4 but sharpens up quite nicely by f/5.6. Color rendition is good, too.
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Tony-S

Antone said:

maple said:

This is not moaning for nothing. I really want that SD1M. I just need to know a good landscape lens to pair with it before pressing the BUY button.

Click to expand...

There is no such thing as a single lens or FL for landscapes. Out here in the mountain west, most of my landscapes are done on the long end. Some of my best have come with the 150-500 HSM OS on my 5D mark II. The reason is simple - you have to be quite distant to get sufficient compression; otherwise you have lots of sky and lots of foreground.

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Ah the 150-500 OS! Even Ken Rockwell likes it!
Have you been getting crystal clear images edge-to-edge? Any downside?
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Tom Schum

Fantastic panos, Mike.
I sometimes stitch to make larger/wider perspective shots.

But what I found most difficult is to keep the exposure consistent. Do you use fixed setting on all your shots, or adjust for different parts of a larger picture? I know that some pano software compensate/blend the pictures. But in situations where super high dynamic range presents, what would you do?

Thank you for the info. Your Oregon mountain/river/lake shots were great.
Ping

szupinglee said:

Fantastic panos, Mike.
I sometimes stitch to make larger/wider perspective shots.

But what I found most difficult is to keep the exposure consistent. Do you use fixed setting on all your shots, or adjust for different parts of a larger picture? I know that some pano software compensate/blend the pictures. But in situations where super high dynamic range presents, what would you do?

Thank you for the info. Your Oregon mountain/river/lake shots were great.
Ping

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Glad you liked them. The exposure settings I use depend on the subject. For daylight I just allow the camera's AE to work. Then I do a final exposure adjustment in PP to further balance out the exposures. This way I wind up creating a DR that's the functional equivalent of HDR without it either looking like a bad or overdone HDR and I save myself the trouble of taking all the extra shots (and extra PP) an HDR requires.

For the night shots, AE doesn't work well so I do a series of test shots to decide what my best exposure is then take all my shots with it. Then I do further exposure adjustment in PP. For my night cityscapes my normal exposure is 30 sec. at f4 or 5.6 using an 80A filter.

My usual lens for both daytime and night shots is the 70mm macro as it's one of the few lenses Sigma makes that's sharp center to corner at f4. And most of my panos vary between 20-50 shots depending on the area needing to be covered.

Thanks Mike, for the advise

I typically use AE as well, but I worried more about creating an unnatural HDR look, especially when I'm in high contrast environments. Good to know that you mainly use AE as well.

Like you, I like shooting mountains with snow. Attached is one of my better shots done with my DP1s.





So 20-50 shots for one pano (with your 70mm lens, of course), is quite a lot.

That means quite a few seams to stitch too. Do you have a particular tripod setup? I typically just pan the head, until I think I have the coverage. But this method, can occasionally create mismatched lines, especially with contrasty mountain silhouette against a clear sky.

The other question is, why 30 sec for cityscape with filter? Unless you want to make passerby disappear, is there any other reason?

I use much wider lenses than you (currently using a Rokinon 14mm or Minolta 28mm on my Sony body), because I enjoy doing long exposure starscape too. That's one situation where stitching can't replace a wide lens, in my opinion, because the stars move, surprisingly quick. But I will pick up your advice and start using my 50mm lens next time.

Thanks again.

mike earussi said:

Glad you liked them. The exposure settings I use depend on the subject. For daylight I just allow the camera's AE to work. Then I do a final exposure adjustment in PP to further balance out the exposures. This way I wind up creating a DR that's the functional equivalent of HDR without it either looking like a bad or overdone HDR and I save myself the trouble of taking all the extra shots (and extra PP) an HDR requires.

For the night shots, AE doesn't work well so I do a series of test shots to decide what my best exposure is then take all my shots with it. Then I do further exposure adjustment in PP. For my night cityscapes my normal exposure is 30 sec. at f4 or 5.6 using an 80A filter.

My usual lens for both daytime and night shots is the 70mm macro as it's one of the few lenses Sigma makes that's sharp center to corner at f4. And most of my panos vary between 20-50 shots depending on the area needing to be covered.

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szupinglee said:

Thanks Mike, for the advise

I typically use AE as well, but I worried more about creating an unnatural HDR look, especially when I'm in high contrast environments.

Click to expand...

Which is why I do a final exposure adjustment in PP.

szupinglee said:

Like you, I like shooting mountains with snow. Attached is one of my better shots done with my DP1s.





So 20-50 shots for one pano (with your 70mm lens, of course), is quite a lot.

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You get used to it and come to think of 20-30 shots as small.

szupinglee said:

That means quite a few seams to stitch too. Do you have a particular tripod setup? I typically just pan the head, until I think I have the coverage. But this method, can occasionally create mismatched lines, especially with contrasty mountain silhouette against a clear sky.

Click to expand...

For my daylight shots in sunny weather I usually handhold as it's much faster (better for capturing faster moving clouds) plus I just don't like using a tripod unless I really have to. The trick is to be careful of your overlaps and to hold your body straight and level. For my 30 sec night shots I have a heavy duty tripod with the Bogen 410 geared head attached which gives me precise control.

szupinglee said:

The other question is, why 30 sec for cityscape with filter? Unless you want to make passerby disappear, is there any other reason?

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The filter is to correct for the lack of blue light in the city lights (the Foveon must have blue light in order to appear natural and to minimize grain). The 30 sec exposure comes from losing two stops of light to the 80A filter as well as the f4-5.6 aperture required to maximize the sharpness of the lens, especially on the edges. Also the longer exposure helps to minimize the noise in the sky.

szupinglee said:

I use much wider lenses than you (currently using a Rokinon 14mm or Minolta 28mm on my Sony body), because I enjoy doing long exposure starscape too. That's one situation where stitching can't replace a wide lens, in my opinion, because the stars move, surprisingly quick. But I will pick up your advice and start using my 50mm lens next time.

Click to expand...

Since I print large (2'x6' is average) I have no choice but to pano stitch, which is why I use the 70 macro for most of my shots. But when I can afford to buy a high resolution camera I may try a few star fields as well as they are quite beautiful.

szupinglee said:

Thanks again.

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You're welcome.