New Camera Lens

[Racers]

Its a Samyang 8mm Fish eye

Does crazy things to the horizon


Dungeness sea cabbage by maddpete, on Flickr

Its good for inside submarines


Submarine Controls by maddpete, on Flickr

And Indoors


Newton by maddpete, on Flickr

And Outdoors


Treacle Tart by maddpete, on Flickr

Pete

 

[cambournepete]

That looks really good!

 

[bugbear]

Very popular with the 360 panorama crowd - they're comparitively cheap (although that's a relative term).

BugBear

 

[richard56]

I use this software for panoramas
http://gardengnomesoftware.com/pano2vr.php

 

[Racers]

You are right BB just over half the price of the Nikon 10.5mm fish eye, and preferred by some people http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/8mm-f35.htm

And it didn't cost me anything as I got a£250 long service award from work (£10 a year, am I worth that much?)

Pete

 

[xy mosian]

Can't see owt wrong with the shot at Dungeness, after all the world is round isn't it?
As for the Lady, it's a bit mean calling her a Treacle Tart!

Nice lens Pete, have fun with it.
xy

 

[Eric The Viking]

I use this software for panoramas
http://gardengnomesoftware.com/pano2vr.php

So do I

And Hugin for the stitching. But I thought Fisheye conversion was proprietary code, which is why I've always used one of these:

(Sigma 12-24, but the first version - pic is the second one, I think.). With a 30D in my case :-(

E.

PS What mount do you use? Panosaurus in my case.

PPS: @Pete M: Is it full-frame? I'm hoping to go that way as soon as possible, so keeping to full frame lenses now.

 

[Racers]

Hi Eric

It's for a DX (crop) sensor, I have a Sigma 10-20mm as well but this is so much wider.
My wife won't let me have a full frame D800, its only 2K!

Pete

 

[Eric The Viking]

I haven't got the money presently, but it'll be either a 6D or a 5DIII. The latter is much nearer the controls on my 30D.

It's a shame about the 30D - it's really nice to use, ergonomically, but very noisy in the blacks, especially when it gets warm. It doesn't matter much for QTVR panoramas, as each image is such a small part of the overall thing, but it's frustrating for normal photography. I don't even care much about the resolution.

I've been considering the 600D too, but this'll probably be my last ever camera purchase, and I'd like to go full frame again, one more time. I really miss chemical photography, Kodachrome especially.

E.

 

[richard56]

I use this software for panoramas
http://gardengnomesoftware.com/pano2vr.php

So do I

And Hugin for the stitching. But I thought Fisheye conversion was proprietary code, which is why I've always used one of these:

(Sigma 12-24, but the first version - pic is the second one, I think.). With a 30D in my case :-(

E.

PS What mount do you use? Panosaurus in my case.

Panasaurus here also.
PTGui for stitching.
You couldn't trust me with a camera like that, very nice

 

[Eric The Viking]

PTGui for stitching.

I used to use that, but I couldn't get it to behave after while - I broke something probably.. Hugin's quite similar but a lot easier for me to get working properly, and it's much better supported by programmers worldwide (been part of several Google "Summer of Code" workshops, I think).

I love that magic 'first look' feeling when things finally stitch nicely!

Have you found somewhere like Flikr to host them? I haven't yet found a photo sharing site that supports QTVR.

E.

 

[richard56]

PTGui for stitching.

I used to use that, but I couldn't get it to behave after while - I broke something probably.. Hugin's quite similar but a lot easier for me to get working properly, and it's much better supported by programmers worldwide (been partt of several Google "Summer of Code" workshops, I think).

I love that magic 'first look' feeling when things finally stitch nicely!

Have you found somewhere like Flikr to host them? I haven't yet found a photo sharing site that supports QTVR.

E.

I think I'll give hugin a try. To be honest PTGui never seemed to work for me either.

That 'first look' feeling is the best. I zoom in and often discover things I had not seen when taking the shots.
It baffles me why panoramas are not used more, not just by estate agents. But for recording serious scenes.
I made one where you could read the writing on a tyre about 40 feet away. Probably more by luck than judgment.
I made a website to show mine. They were a virtual tour of the City's parks (Wolverhampton).

 

[Eric The Viking]

The only thing I don't like about Hugin is that in PTGui you could use the shift key to move both windows together when locating control points. You can't do this in Hugin (as far as I've noticed), but it does have lots of other redeeming features, the most important being that it works!

Have fun,

E.

PS: the biggest pano I've ever made was just under 1GB, of a supermarket car park(!) It wasn't 360, but about 120 degrees (horiz.), for a scenery construction client, printed up on 11ftx8ft Scanachrome. I never got to see the actual print :-(, but on-screen you could read the warning signs on the far side of the car park.
Not bad for an elderly 30D + open source software!

 

[bugbear]

And Hugin for the stitching. But I thought Fisheye conversion was proprietary code

Here's a tutorial of Hugin stiching and HDR 360 panorama from fisheye shots, in 2008...

http://hugin.sourceforge.net/tutorials/ ... 0/en.shtml

Computers and digital cameras are a MARVELLOUS combination

Here's something I did using a £1 quid car boot lens as a macro adapter.

And some ingenuity and care.

Here's a shot taken with a 36mm lens... (!!!)

BugBear

 

[Eric The Viking]

Thanks for that BB. I stand (sit) corrected, and delightedly so. I don't know if it's new algorithms or they found a way round the copyright, (or I was just wrong to start with) but it doesn't really matter - can now use a fisheye for panos - great!

Incidentally, I subscribe to the Hugin Google group, but rarely have time to read it. I usually scan the subjects - about once a fortnight - there's recently been a couple of threads about porting Hugin to Android. That will be really cool if it happens!

E.

PS: Sorry this has turned into a thread hijack - apologies Pete, but at least we're back on fisheyes...

 

[bugbear]

Thanks for that BB. I stand (sit) corrected, and delightedly so. I don't know if it's new algorithms or they found a way round the copyright, (or I was just wrong to start with) but it doesn't really matter - can now use a fisheye for panos - great!

Incidentally, I subscribe to the Hugin Google group, but rarely have time to read it. I usually scan the subjects - about once a fortnight - there's recently been a couple of threads about porting Hugin to Android. That will be really cool if it happens!

E.

PS: Sorry this has turned into a thread hijack - apologies Pete, but at least we're back on fisheyes...

googling shows that there were "legal questions", but they went away in 2007

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/h ... WErAlQaQ8J

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Ooh - in the age of computers, you can (if you wish) use a fisheye as a super-wide rectilinear lens, by retrospectively removing the distortion.

e.g.

http://sandiway.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/ ... ympus.html

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Out with it again


Fish Eye Bridge by maddpete, on Flickr

Chatsworth bridge.

Pete

 

[Eric The Viking]

Put it away at once! Seriously, nice pic.

I'm off to S. Utah next week. The Sigma isn't back from being hammered straight by the Japanese, so I'm hiring a Tokina 12-24 while I'm over there. It's only got a field for APS sensors, but it will be interesting to make a comparison (it's supposed to focus faster, for a start). I'll have to re-calibrate the camera mount, I expect :-(

Slot canyons here I come...

E.

 

[Racers]

Hi Eric

Nice, do post some pics.

Pete