HDRi/Manual lenses

Hey guys, after spending the last 4 years only using a Rico Tetha for all my HDRis the time has come to go back to my big guy SLR rig as I need high resolution reflection maps for a shoot comming up.

I have since upgraded my camera to a Nikon Z6 and I have bought both a 11mm and 8mm fisheye for testing, none of those have metadata. I am planning to do some tests but maybe someone knows allready:

As I want to use f5.6/f8 for max resolution and the max shutter speed is 1/8000 I would like to take some additional ones with f/22 to capture more highlight range on sunny days.

Without metadata telling ptgui what the aperture was can it still figure out the HDRi just fine or will it mess up because it thinks that the 5.6@1/8000 is the same stop as 22@1/8000 ?

Anyone maybe done some exif hacks ? (As I know the f22 are always last in a bracket i could maybe write a script to change the fstop in the metadata?)

sadly no sunny skies here for me to test …

1 Like

I dunno I’d rather chase the brighter bits with ND versus f22. Thats such a disappointing part of the lens that I never bother. F8 ish, chase exposure with a little ISO and then ND if ya need it.

1 Like

where @Ashby at

1 Like

Nds dont fit fisheyes and I cant take hdris for 15 minutes on set , 4 sets of exposures is enough time taken :frowning: hence 11 or 8mm fisheyes.

My Z6 has its max DR @ the base ISO100 and its iso-invariant (no analoge Gain) , so that setting wont do me any good.

I really only want the F22 to get some more highlight range but to really capture a full mid day sun I would definetey need NDs…
I used to have a russian made fisheye with filters that go between sensor and back element maybe I should look at other lenses/systems as well… my previous employer had a weird fixed aperture fisheye (full circle) … hmm.

(this one its actually a pretty nice set with the panoramic head that goes with it) http://www.superfisheye.com/

1 Like

I think you can set lens parameters manually so that it embeds the correct f/ in the metadata.

in ptgui or in the camera? I have only found to set focal length but not fstop

I was thinking about my Canon 8-15mm fisheye which does indeed have rear slot for filters.

Used them with great success.

Most of the cg peeps I’ve works with over the years don’t sweat the sun. They get close with typical f8-11 ish, ISO 100, and typical mechanical shutters at 1/4000, paint out the sun in the map of they have to amd add their own.

But maybe they were frauds who didn’t sweat the details enough. :wink:

1 Like

hehe I do exactly the same with my tetha , this is more for science, to be able to step up ma Game!

great to know that the canon 8-15 has rear slot NDs! that might be a good candidate then … Or I just glue a piece of drone ND on my cheap 8mm :stuck_out_tongue: .

In the camera

1 Like

ill dig into that only found focallength so far, anyhow weather is getting better so its testing time hopfefully today

It looks like you need an optional adapter for the Z6 and Z7. In the older D series you could build setups for manual lenses. You just had to remember to set it to the right lens when you changed them.

tou can still do that but I need to dive deeper into the menus… I am a oldschool canon shooter so this to me is all foreign haha.

I always hated old people that said this stuff damn niw I am one of those…

I never used anything “Auto” on my Nikons. I even had older non-AI lenses that I would get modified. As for sayin’ shit that old people say? Get back to me in 30 years and let me know how that’s goin’ for you.

1 Like

haha yea I guess its only getting worse… , I also only use manual
lenses but I never gave a f*** about metadata :smiley:

and yea I can not set aperture only maximum aperture but that wont help me much :stuck_out_tongue:

I think it does because it just counts the “clicks” of the f-stop ring. They are all standard ratios that increase exponentially with each click of the ring. If you tell it the max is 5.6, it knows the next click up is 8, then 11, and so on.

yea but there arent any contacts so it has no way of knowing what I do on the fstop dial :smile:

Bear in mind, I have ZERO experience with the Z6 mirrorless. I’m going to give the simple version on how it works with the D series as well as the old F series 35mm. The camera always holds the aperture fully open when you are using the view finder. There’s actually a little button that engages the aperture to the set value if you want to see your depth of field, but it is easier to focus with it full open. When you click the shutter, it closes down the aperture until it hits a physical stop in the lens, the placement of which is determined by where you have set the ring. Being a clever machine, it senses how far from wide open that stop is and, in the case of the D Series, records it as metadata with the photo. The mechanics of this, however, are all tied in with the mirror, so that’s probably why you need an adapter. Also, I imagine the sensor plane is much shallower on the mirrorless, so it may also need an adapter to lift the parts of the lens that stick into the camera out a bit, which may effect focus and focal lenght, but I’m only guessing at that.

1 Like

funny thats some crazy cool tech I remeber the open/close aperture from my canon FD system, that worked in a similar fashion I think, in my case those are compeltely stupid lenses that just stop down to whatever you set. so it doesnt know, so that setting might only work with F-Mount lenses and the special adapter.

All my experience is with F mounts. I have some that go back to the early 60’s and are measured in centimeters instead of millimeters. The beauty of the D Series was that it was compatible with the entire history of Nikon lenses, although some older ones need a modification of the ring and tab. It’s really rather amazing that when you take the variation of film out of the equation, how much of the essence of a photo is determined by the formulation of the glass. Now I’m sounding like the old man.

1 Like