meyer optika 135mm 2.8 with sigma sd14

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

hi again

here are a couple with a lens i understand is referred to as the bokeh king!

rpo83 · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:34 am Post subject:

Beautiful dog..

I took a look around you linked gallery, you have been fortunate to see some great musical acts.....

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

hi steve
thanks! that's athena and she's very photogenic! if you checked out my link youve seen some others of her i'm sure.

yes, ive been pretty lucky to see some great acts, must say los lobos are amazingly great musicians.

also, i wanted to thank you about your critique of my posrt shots. do you think this set was underexposed? i must admit both that i like darker photos generally, but that i am having a little problem metering my sigma. as i mentioned, at 0ev photos are totally washed out. im not sure if the camera perhaps needs servicing. to get a usable image w manual lens i have to underexpose at least .7; most of the time to get close to what i consider normal i underexpose 1.0-1.3! thoughts...

per your advice, i will try shooting w less of an underexposed setting and see if the mid-low tone resolution changes.
thanks again-i really appreciate it!

rpo83 · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 12:19 pm Post subject:

Take a few test shots, i would suggest put your favourite lens on, setup the camera on a tripod, set aperture at f8, and then bracket some shots.

I dragged my old SD10 out today and tried it with my Zeis Pancolar 80. It uder exposed badly, i have ended up setting the aperture at 2.8 on the screen, then i can believe the exposre information in the viewfinder.

I only shoot in "M" i set the apeture in the LCD to 1.0 and it never moves, i simply then use the viewfinder information to set shutter speed. Learning the processing was the eureka moment for me with these cameras.

I had struggled with my SD10 for years and was generally unhappy with the results. Once i joined a couple of Sigma forums i started learning about how important PP is with these sensors.

Once you have it worked out you will have a ball. Like i said in your other post, i'm new and learning as well. I don't have a lot of faith judging image quality on forums, the images are scaled to fit, and virtually every monitor is different. Your contrast could be set high so the images look totally different to you. I calibrate video projectors in some of the rooms i design so i understand how important calibration is. I should get around to buying a Spyder, so i can calibrate and color correct my monitor.

Enjoy the forum, these MF lenses have reinvigorated my interest in photography, as they force you to slow down and think about what you are doing. As a side benefit they are also cheap Laughing

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

thanks for the tips, i will try them out. yes i agree this is very reinvigorating and i am really enjoying this forum. so many others that ive come across are WOW forums, so ive never been tempted to join. this one was serious, people offer criticism and hints. my family and friends say WOW, im after the criticism and hints! as well as just the fun of shooting w these lenses...

rpo83 · Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject:

I don't think your camera will be faulty...

Here is one of my darker shots. I had to be careful not to blow the highlights out, as once they are blown, you can't recover them. When i previewed the image it looked slightly overexposed, but there was no clipping of the whites, so i hoped all was good for when i got home to process it.

Usually the only things i manipulate in PP is exposure levels and WB. As you can see i have an image with a nice tonal balance and clean blacks.

If you are comfortable loading software onto your PC, follow this link and checkout Silkypix, it is stunning on X3F files. This is a beta release, that is fully operational until the end of November, i highly recommend that you try it. There is an english file that you need to download as well to convert the language from Japanese to English, but it is all explained in the link:

http://www.rytterfalk.com/

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

steve that is a beautiful shot! really well composed and the beauty of the lens really comes through. i will check out silkypix as you suggest--its interesting that it works on the native sigma files-i though only sigma pro did that. cant wait to try it, thanx!

rbelyell · Expire: 2014-01-31

bummer--silkypix is only for windows! i only have macs! not the first time....it looks great tho, really built for sigma. hopefully it will come out on mac...