Seriously, this Helios is perhaps the best lens I own!

[iangreenhalgh1]

I'm stunned a humble Helios 44-2 can have IQ like this, no PP at all other than stitching, the sharpness, contrast, 3d dimensionality, all are more to be expected from some $$$$ Summinoctiluxicronicrap than a mass produced lens for the poor proletariat

11 shots stitched, f5.6, click on the image to view it in full size:

[heartcat]

I have no clue how to stitch photos and am always impressed with the results others produce. Kudos!

I agree that the Helios 44-2 is such a well rounded and consistent producer. Some of my favourite portraits have been taken with this lens and the quality to price ratio never ceases to amaze me.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Cheers, I just use Photoshop CS5, it's pretty simple. Autopano is good too, much more complex but is capable of much more sophisticated stitching with large numbers of images.

[pach]

Great picture Can you repost the HQ file? When I click the image for a full size view, it errors out.

A bit of an offtopic question about the Helios lens. Can you describe how good is the focus ring/ring throw/ring smoothness in a Helios 44M-2? And do you feel its too tiny to focus easily? From the pictures of the lens, the ring appears to be a bit narrow, but want to buy one soon to shoot some dreamy videos. I just hope the focus ring performs well.

Thanks,
pach

[Ultrapix]

Maybe it's just me, but in full res picture I clearly see all the weakness of that honest, old, poor man Biotar; I don't guess this is your best lens, I am sure that all your Hexanons do a better job, just to say

[iangreenhalgh1]

Focus is smooth, the ring is easy enough to use, but the later 44M-4 has a bigger easier to grip ring.

What's wrong with the Biotar? For me, the character of the rendering is far more important than anything else. I have no complaints about the contrast or sharpness of this lens and it has zero CA, it has a wonderful character too imho.

[ChromaticAberration]

I'm gonna have to learn how to do some sticthing for sure!

[Ultrapix]

[Ultrapix]

Just an example: look here the rocks where the edges of two pics meet:

[ChromaticAberration]

[Ultrapix]

[skida]

I too love the Helios lens for its rendering. I have never done a stitched panorama and I wonder if the soft bits could be a weakness of the stitching software rather than the lens, as the fall off in sharpness seems very sudden. I love the result you have posted Ian, but then again I am not a pixel peeper.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I am not sure what has caused that blurred bit, I did see it earlier. I overlap the frames a lot when I shoot stitches and never seen that issue before. I wonder what the cause is, it could be weak corners but I haven't seen weak corners on other shots with this Helios. I forget what aperture it is shot at now, maybe f4, maybe f5.6. I haven't looked for weak corners but I will do now.

Skida might be right, Photoshop might have been at fault, it often does some funny things with stitches, I usually spot them during the stitching and work around it to avoid them.

I'm not a pixel peeper either really, I closely examine the test shots from each new lens I try but after I've decided a lens is a keeper I just make pics with it and don't worry about peeping.

Here's a stitch I did today with the Helios, at f5.6. It's a huge one but I uploaded it in full size so you can check out all the fine detail. I got up early to catch the good light and while the clouds were still lo on the hills, this was shot just before 7am, it is 22 shots stitched. This is the Duddon Valley in South Cumbria, viewed from Kirby Fell on the south side. my hometown of Millom is on the left, the Irish see to the far left. If I had to explain to someone what the landscape is like here, I would show them this picture I think.

[Excalibur]

***Here's a stitch I did today with the Helios, at f5.6**

erm I can't find it.

[tobbsman]

that example that Ultrapix points out is easy to explain: this was a shot
with camera shake in between.
100 points for PS that it could still stich this together.
Many other programs would have refused and wouldn't have found any control point.

I found several spots in this panorama which show camera shake. It's most likely
not week corner sharpness

I would recommend to shoot the scene again, stopped down a little more
and take a shutter of about 200-250 to be more safe to get all
shots sharp (maybe you have to take a higher ISO to achieve this).

Just keep trying, shooting panos is not the most easy topic!


Cheers
Tobias

[iangreenhalgh1]

Cheers Tobias, I usually shoot my panos with a tripod, so don't have this problem.

When the server issue is fixed I will upload the one I did yesterday, it definitely doesn't have any blurred bits