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A near miss
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:29 am    Post subject: A near miss Reply with quote
Did you ever hate yourself for missing a focus?


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 2:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ohhhhhhhhhh! Feels like a blow to midsection. Still a very nice photo imho. Just for grins, tried passing jpg through Focus Magic.

Before & after:



#1 is before, #2 after. Results with full size image could be better. Wink


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Looks good at least in that small image. I've never heard of it; does it do something better than can be accomplished in PS? Could I send you the original image for a demo? I'd sure appreciate if I can improve upon it. The original is actually a landscape orientation, so what I posted is a significant crop.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
http://www.focusmagic.com/ Free demo is limited to 10 images. I might buy it. I don't think it does anything that can't be done in native PS, but it does so somewhat intelligent, and, automatically, saving a lot of time, sometimes. Found on academic insect identification web site, they use it a LOT with pretty amazing results sometimes, but of course, results depend much on what is there to work with...


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 6:09 am    Post subject: Re: A near miss Reply with quote
woodrim wrote:
Did you ever hate yourself for missing a focus?


That's why I've bought Tamron 70-200/2.8
it's not a speed focus demon, but surely can focus faster and more accurate than me Wink


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
yes that's a shame, it would have been a great photo!
By the looks of it i think that your shutterspeed would have been too slow also.

But anyway, you were there and you saw it, that's just as important!


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:40 am    Post subject: Re: A near miss Reply with quote
woodrim wrote:
Did you ever hate yourself for missing a focus?


I know the feeling. It's so irritating, and unfortunately not too uncommon either.
I fine shot anyway.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
NikonD wrote:
That's why I've bought Tamron 70-200/2.8
it's not a speed focus demon, but surely can focus faster and more accurate than me Wink


I too have an AF tele - the Beercan 70-210/4, but I rarely use it because of my general preference for MF primes. I didn't go out looking for or expecting a bird-in-flight, so had my 200mm prime, but I've captured them before with this lens. It is as much a matter of luck as it is focusing skill. In this case I had hoped when it took flight that it would stay on plane - purely a chance case. These birds are very skiddish and don't allow people to get within short tele distance.

Willem wrote:
yes that's a shame, it would have been a great photo!
By the looks of it i think that your shutterspeed would have been too slow also.


I try to keep at ISO100, but had already changed to iso400 to get a 1/400 shutter speed at f/4-5.6 (don't recall). I'll guess about f/4.5. The bird took flight, so I had its motion along with my motion, and both weren't necessarily in sync.

This lens - Vivitar Series 1 200/3 is notoriously difficult to focus even when the subject is still, but I have been successful in the past. Again though, I think it's as much chance as anything else.




PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
despite having an AF tele zoom now I still consider buying a katzeye, but it's so expensive... 105$ for a piece of matte glass Confused


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Can't you just remove the fresnel screen from an old slr and trim it to fit in your DSLR?


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Can't you just remove the fresnel screen from an old slr and trim it to fit in your DSLR?


Interesting thought.


PostPosted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Quote:
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Can't you just remove the fresnel screen from an old slr and trim it to fit in your DSLR?


Interesting thought.


+1 from a nikon f50 or something in my case....


PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
visualopsins: Thanks much for that site recommendation. I downloaded the software and processed the original image. I actually had motion blur in two different directions, so I corrected them both individually and then applied sharpen to a third. I then took the original plus three separate corrected images into PS and cloned the corrected target areas from each onto the original. I chose to leave the background with the little blur it had and the reflection of course was also left alone. I'm posting below the corrected original as well as my new cropped version. That software actually works pretty well and I think has made this picture acceptable (to all but pixel peepers). That was my best idea of a crop; does anyone have a better idea?





PostPosted: Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice capture! The reflection really adds to it. I too share your pain, just missed this heron which flew by my window in April. The vignetting at the corner is the window frame.



PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Yours looks closer than mine was.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The reflection itself is a keeper.
Difficult thing shooting BIF with manual focus.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
First I've heard of this software. The idea of correcting blur is not new and I've tried other products out there with less than stellar performance . . . way less. The results you're getting seem to be quite good. So I've d/l'd a copy and I'm gonna give it a try on some recent, not so sharp images I've captured.

Lemme tell ya, though, I've been there and done that. As a motorsports photographer from way back, I hesitate to mention the many hundreds of slides I discarded because I missed focus. Now it makes me wish I wouldn't have tossed them. I was rather severely critical about things like focus, and if I missed it, the slide went into the trash. *Sigh* Who knew?


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Michael: Just don't expect miracles. I couldn't have accomplished this in PS. It saved a wonderful image for me by getting it to an acceptable level at certain viewing levels, but I still wouldn't want to make a large print of it. An image like this can't be taken over - the way the bird's wings created a prom dress look, especially in the reflection. I'll certainly take more of these type birds, but it's chance where the wings are. I may actually pay for this software Smile Remember also that I only used portions of the corrected image since the software corrects the entire image, not just a targeted area (as far as I know), and in this case there were three situations to correct; horizontal blur, diagonal blur, and overall sharpness. Quite amazing in my opinion.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 3:46 pm    Post subject: Re: A near miss Reply with quote
Sven wrote:
woodrim wrote:
Did you ever hate yourself for missing a focus?


I know the feeling. It's so irritating, and unfortunately not too uncommon either.
I fine shot anyway.


+1 especially if happen on excellent capture like this.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
still a great capture. i doubt any focusing mechanism could do much better in that kind of raise-the camera-to-your-eye-instantaneous-snap of a moving object. i think in that situation its 'focus by luck'! it really is a beautiful shot anyway.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
+1 to what rebelyell wrote. I woulnd't expect it to work miracles, but it appears that it can make the difference between a tossed image and one that's still useable at smaller enlargement sizes.
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