Ultra Wide 'digital XPan'
This post is really an excuse to play around with my new laptop. As a lifelong Windows guy, I finally took the plunge and got myself my first Apple Laptop: a MacBook Air M5 with 1TB storage and 24GB of...
View ArticleCharacterising an unknown lens through laser ray tracing
In the last few posts I've described how one can characterise any lens, by estimating its cardinal points through laser ray tracing. In this post I'll give a real world example of how and why I do...
View ArticleLaser Ray Tracing: Benchmarking
In the last post I outlined the basic approach to using a laser line leveller to help identify the cardinal points of an unknown lens. The basic workflow being:Set your lens to the required focus, ie...
View ArticleCreate your own lens model through laser ray tracing
This is a slight edit of the original post.In this post I will show how anyone can create a 'thick lens model' of any lens.Of course, the first question to answer is: why bother?Do I really need a lens...
View ArticleGeting to know your lens: The Ultra Digital XPan
In the last post I covered my 'final' experiment in creating a Digital Multi-Format Shift Camera set up, that covers XPan like sensor capture (over 65x24mm sensor equivalence) and Medium Format sensor...
View ArticleUltra 'Digital XPan' Image Quality and Multi-Format thoughts
In the last two posts I discussed my Ultra Digital XPan set up: using a Canon RF camera, a visible band R and an IR converted RP in my case, combined with Mamiya 645 film primes (35mm, 45mm, 80mm and...
View ArticleUltra Digital XPan - Part 2
In the last post I introduced my 'Ultra Digital XPan' set up, which looks like this in portrait mode: Using my geared head, on a good tripod, gives me solid positional control over composition. To...
View ArticleUltra Digital XPan - Part 1
If you have been following this blog, you will know I like to ‘play about' with adapters; especially those that allow me to capture images for perfect flat stitching in post.In previous posts, for...
View ArticleDigital XPan field report
In previous posts I’ve covered various ways to sensor bracket, and how to create a digital XPan DNG, by flat stitching a pano equivalent of a 65x24mm film negative. In this post I’m simply going to...
View ArticleDouble Adaption: for ultimate control in creating a ‘digital XPan’
Those that have been following my recent posts will know that I've been experimenting with sensor bracketing, and, in particular, the 'best' way to simulate a digital XPan, using one of my Canon RF or...
View ArticleA New Lens for sensor bracketing
Keeping with the theme of sensor bracketing, I thought some may be interested in a new lens I've just got: a Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift: link here As the name of the lens implies, this is a shift...
View ArticleAnother look at Sensor Bracketing: Part 3
In the last two posts (here and here) I discussed what I call 'sensor bracketing', that is exploiting a lens with a larger image circle, to allow moving the sensor relative the lens, without parallax...
View ArticleAnother look at Sensor Bracketing: Part 2
In the previous and first post in this short series about 'flat/planar sensor bracketing', I started with one of my best quality lenses: the Canon TSE II 24mm L.The larger image circle of the TSE lens...
View ArticleAnother look at Sensor Bracketing: Part 1
In the next few posts I'm going to take a 2025 look at, what I call, sensor bracketing; which, so there is no confusion, I define as planar shifting the sensor relative to a lens.Clearly, you can not...
View ArticlePoor Man's Optical Bench: Macro Update
Just a quick update on my Poor Man's Optical Bench simulator, that you can access from the right hand link.In addition to a few UI tweaks, such as being able to show an outline of the lens and camera,...
View ArticleGetting to know a 'new' lens
In the last two posts I introduced the Poor Man's Optical Bench (PMOB) tool and showed how you can easily locate the entrance pupil of your lens using a cheap laser leveller.Knowing: the position of...
View ArticleA simple method to estimate the Entrance Pupil position of any lens
Caveat Emptor: As lasers are involved, you need to be aware of the risk to your camera's sensor. So only use a laser if you are prepared to experiment and potentially damage your camera sensor....
View ArticlePoor Man’s Optical Bench
There are two types of photographer: those that like/need to understand their lens and its characteristics; and those that treat the camera+lens as a simple system, with the sensor as the zero or...
View ArticleMagnification: one quick and simple method
As we have seen in my recent posts, knowing the magnification, at say the minimum focus distance (MFD), can be useful, eg for estimating the number of focus brackets we need to take between the MFD and...
View ArticleFocus Bracketing: An Integrated Perspective
In previous posts I've discussed focus bracketing models from both the object and image side of the lens. In this post I'll bring together both perspectives and show they are essentially the...
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