Today I edited the HDR Timelapse sequence of the Las Vegas sunset.  I had shown one frame from the sequence over the weekend and posted a larger version previously as well.  This is one single tonemapped edit from the HDR Timelapse sequence. (Video link to Vimeo below).

Today I had a real estate shoot cancel, so I got a bunch of past real estate shots edited and then took some time to piece together the Las Vegas Sunset HDR Timelapse.  Because I chose to merge to hdr and tonemap that one single image over the weekend (above) using Photomatix Pro, I thought I’d use Photomatix Pro again for the entire sequence.  What the hell.  Its not for a client so a little over saturation won’t matter here.  I made a few mental mistakes in the pipeline because I generally use other apps, but the results are O.K. for government work  :)

This was the capture/post flow:

Nikon D3  + Nikon 85mm f/1.4D shot through my hotel window on a tripod utilizing the in camera HDR Timelapse (You can combine a timelapse with bracketing in the D3).  I chose to go with a 7AEB with 1EV steps and the camera was firing off that bracket every 15 seconds.  Of the 7AEB I killed off the final over exposed image of each bracket.  I felt adding that latitude would brighten the image too much.  So each merge to HDR was 6 shots spaced 1EV apart.  The total number of tonemapped shots was 90.  Basically covering a span of  22 mins 30 seconds worth of time during the sunset. Both the Merge to HDR and Tonemapping was done in the batch feature of Photomatix Pro.  I then took the tonemapped images into Final Cut Pro for time and color treatment before exporting for YouTube & Vimeo.

Because I shot this sequence in portrait mode, I opted to make slight color correction differences to two versions and post one video with both playing together.  I should have pushed on image a lot harder to show variation.  Now that I’ve watched it online it seems very subtle.

I also simultaneously shot a HDR Timelapse a foot away from the D3 with a Canon T2i in horizontal mode as wide as the kit lens will go (18mm for that EF-S, but on a crop body).  I shot for a full hour with the T2i.  About 15 minutes prior to setting up the D3 and the same after the D3 exhausted the compact flash I had in it.  It will be interesting to see those results versus the D3.

I’m no expert when it comes to compression/encoding.  I can only say that the video looks a hell of a lot better in FCP than online!

Vimeo 720p Version LINKED HERE (opens in a new window)

Gigapan Epic Pro announced last week on the 15th of March is now shipping. Initially their site said “Shipping in April”, but it is actually shipping.  I know because UPS tracking shows it’ll be here this wednesday

If weather is good I’ll be shooting with it on Wednesday and will report my initial thoughts as well.  Maybe even a brief video overview. In addition to shooting a full 360 degree image, it also allows bracketing at each stopping point for HDR capture.  It comes with an auto stitch program as well so I’m hoping it is as seamless as the marketing materials make it sound.

I’ve been watching gigapan for some time. Their prior two models would not hold a professional or even semi-pro DSLR so I never bothered to get the prior models.  The Epic Pro now supports a pretty good number of full sized DSLR bodies.  More info about the gigapan epic pro as well as camera compatibility and pricing is on their site: http://gigapansystems.com/gigapan-products/gigapan-epic-pro-product-page.html

SIGMA SD15

I had previously discussed the new Sigma SD15 and its new 5 AEB feature.  What I just learned is that the SD15 has the following AEB capabilities:

With 3 frames for Auto Bracketing : 1/3EV Stops Up to ±3EV
Maxing the steps between each shot would lead to under exposed to over exposed as follows:
[ -3.0, 0, +3.0 ]

With 5 frames for Auto Bracketing : 1/3EV Stops Up to ±1.7EV
Maxing the steps between each shot would lead to under exposed to over exposed as follows:
[ -3.3, -1.7, 0, +1.7, +3.3 ]

I would have loved to have seen jumps of at least 2.0EV between each shot on the 5 AEB capture mode for some wide dynamic range scenes, but the new 5 AEB setting is a welcome one.  At the price point the Sigma SD15 is set at ($859 through Amazon Pre-Orders), it is the widest bracket you can get for the money.  Nothing even comes close for that price point.

I’ve commented on a few forums and blogs this week after seeing posts about how to remote view your DSLR when you need to place it in a hard to reach spot.  Each has its own options and ability to be able to release the shutter (or not).  Here are a few wireless options as well as a wired version.

WIRELESS

Gigtube Wireless Digital Viewfinder
http://www.aputure.com/en/product/gigitube_wireless_digital_viewfinder.htm

PiXel LV-W1 Wireless Live View Remote Control
http://www.pixelhk.com/en/proview.asp?P_ID=1543

Pro-View
http://www.proviewsite.com/index.html

—————————————————

WIRED

Gigtube Instant Digital Screen Remote Viewfinder

http://www.aputure.com/en/product/gigtube_instant_digita_screen_visible_remote_control.htm

—————————————————

A Canon HDR Photographer’s Story is a blog post by Brian Matiash where he reviews the Promote Control from the Canon shooter’s perspective.  Good review.

http://brianmatiash.com/blog/2010/03/04/gear-review-the-promote-control-a-canon-hdr-photographers-story/

He is also an editor over at HDR Spotting

D700s release data? I get that question every week.  Guys/gals, I have no inside information, but what I know is the following:

The Nikon D3 was announced August of 2007

The Nikon D700 was announced July of 2008

The Nikon D3s was announced October 2009

The Nikon D700s …

Nobody knows.   But when I saw people on forums and on blogs saying the D700s should release soon back in summer of 2009, I knew they were wrong simply because there was no way Nikon was going to miss out on D3s sales.  So I said in a blog post last summer that the D3s would release first simply based on corporate philosophy. Nikon looks at everything in dollars and cents regardless if timing for us makes sense (and in a way timing for them doesn’t always make good business sense, but they ignore common sense just as Canon, etc. does at times).

Fast forward to pre-PMA.  It was quickly approaching and the same level of anticipation began online hoping for the Nikon D700s.  Based on past camera releases it was very unlikely they would have announced the D700s at PMA given the D3s had only been well stocked for a few weeks across the country.  Still no D700s release dates and I’m not at all surprised.

Given “Photokina 2010″ is later this year, they ‘may’ wait for that event to announce the D700s.  ”May”.  Personally I think that would be a mistake given the pent up demand for the D700s.  The amount of google searches that happen daily for D700s – Nikon D700s – D700s Release Date etc is astounding.  People want that full frame with insane low light capabilities, video and an autofocus system that is so far above and beyond the Canon 5D mark II that you can’t really compare the two cameras equally.  From a stills only comparison, the D700s wins over the 5D mark II in dynamic range, autofocus and low light abilities (the sensor will be the same as the D3s when the D700s releases, hence the ability to compare).  However, for video… to be fair, the 5D mark II’s video quality and resolution are currently beyond that of the D3s and likely the D700s when released.

If you are wondering why I’m even focusing on the D700s, well… I want one      My D3 is awesome, but I’d love to have video in it.  I was going to get the D3s and sell the D3, but opted to just wait and add a D700s as a backup body instead.

Of course Nikon might just skip a generation and release some other camera with a new moniker ( D800 etc. ).   I have no inside info.  I’m only referencing the D700s because it makes logical sense to just follow the D3s as they did the D3 with the D700. Hopefully they don’t take the nearly 11 months they did with the D3 then D700 schedule.  If they do then Photokina 2010 is a logical place to do so.  Seems far to predictable for anyone to be surprised if they wait… so why wait? Capture pre-summer sales and get the thing announced in the next 60 days and shipping before summer begins.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Carl Olson of 16 x 9 Cinema who runs the Digital Convergence Podcast. He interviewed me about HDR photography, HDR Video and in the process I also explained a little about how I got started and a bit about my typical workflow.

The podcast where I discuss HDR – HDR Video is linked on his blog HERE.

==============================

Show notes & his iTunes feed is on his blog and I’ll repost that and shownotes below as well:

AAC (iTunes) version here: Digital Convergence Episode 5

RSS Feed: Subscribe to the 16×9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast

Subscribe in iTunes here: 16×9 Cinema Digital Convergence Podcast

Links from the podcast:

My Website: Digital Coast Image

Michael James on Twitter: HDRphotography

Jay Burlage – HDR filmmaker (Michael James cites Jay as a leading source of information on the OpenMoco project and creator of gorgeous time-lapse cinema. Check out Jay’s video below.)

Jay Burlage on Twitter: MiLapse

Jay Burlage’s YouTube Channel: MiLapse

OpenMoco – Open-Source Photographic Motion-Control

Promote Control

LR/Enfuse – Enfuse for Lightroom

Red Epic / Scarlet

The Sigma SD15 has been announced.  Actually it was first announced at Photokina 2008, but has just been “re-announced” with some additional detail.

SIGMA SD15 PHOTO above taken from DPreview.com news release which has camera specs and Sigma’s official press release linked HERE.

Of particular noteworthiness to me in Sigma’s Press Release is:

“”"… a 21 shot raw buffer at 3fps and 5 frame auto bracketing for HDR-enthusiasts.“”"

The SD14 [which I shoot with weekly] maxes out at a buffer of only 6 shots and for bracketing it can do 3 AEB +/-3.0EV (which Sigma has been able to do since 2002 with the SD9).  The Sigma SD15 now sports an auto-bracketing mode of 5 shots but rather than up to 3.0EV jumps between shots, TURNS OUT THE MAX JUMP FOR 5  AEB IS 1.7EV JUMPS BETWEEN. Still quite impressive and wider than you can get with 3 AEB with the SD14.

In fact, that makes the SD15 the leading entry level DSLR in terms of capturing a huge dynamic range.  The Sigma SD15’s 5AEB is going to be amazing for auto-bracketing for HDR.

I had uploaded a very, very quick and sloppy imprompu video to YouTube last year that shows how I conceptually use the dials on the SD14 to get a 6 frame capture for HDR use. The dials are the same on the SD15 so this video is helpful if you wanted to see how quickly you can make adjustments without digging into an LCD menu system like some DSLRs on the market.  The YouTube links is HERE and I’ll embed a smaller version below.

SD14 Auto Bracketing Video

Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM for APS-C sized sensors has just been announced by Sigma. Sure to be a favorite for landscape and architectural photographers.

Probably the most encouraging thing about the release is how several of the lens elements have been upgraded over coatings used for their other wide angle offerings.  Performance from this lens should be solid, but I’ll be reviewing it once I’ve gotten my hands on one and shot with it.

Also, generally the widest end of a zoom will be a tad soft in the corners so this lens “should” improve in quality as you zoom in a tad.  It might be possible that at 10mm it will be sharper than Sigma’s current APS-C wide angle zoom offering (which I own and use on a Sigma SD14).  I’ll be able to compare the Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM to the Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 DC HSM head to head.

The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM is equal to the following 35mm equivalent on the following cameras:

Nikon APS-C cameras = 12-24mm (35mm equivalent)
Pentax APS-C cameras = 12-24mm (35mm equivalent)
Sony APS-C cameras = 12-24mm (35mm equivalent)
Canon APS-C cameras = 12.8-25.6mm (35mm equivalent)
Sigma DSLRs = 13.6-27.2mm (35mm equivalent)

Sigma has also announced the following lenses:

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM

Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM

Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM

NEW CAMERAS

Sigma SD15 ==> which now has 5 AEB at +/-3.0EV (that’s huge!!!)

Sigma DP1x

Sigma DP2s

And finally, last but not least, they have updated their RAW processing software program SIGMA Photo Pro to 4.0 which now is multi-core aware and is claiming it will improve IQ for all cameras.

Dynamic range of a camera’s sensor varies per model. Some manufacturers are better than others. The chart below shows scientific, but real world results of testing a camera sensor’s dynamic range. The tests were done by DXOmark.

Bigger is better when it comes to Dynamic Range of a sensor. It means you can capture more shadow detail and more highlights in a single shot. If you shoot architecture or landscapes you already appreciate the challenge of capturing a high contrast scene that has a massive dynamic range.

For HDR captures, this is incredibly relevant because an HDR file is only as good/clean as the RAW data you feed into the merge.

You can see below that Fuji was WAY ahead of it’s time with the S3 & S5 (fuji’s S3/S5 results apply when using the extended dynamic range feature which is controlled by a camera setting). It is no wonder that so many wedding shooters swore by that camera for shooting beach weddings and other high contrast scenes. As of now only the D3x can better the dynamic range of a S3 or S5 in one single shot.

The relevance to High Dynamic Range Imaging is the following. Lets say you capture a bracketed sequence with only 3 shots. Which of those cameras above do you think will give you the best data to work with when merged to HDR? Remember, an HDR file is only as good/clean as the RAW data you feed into the merge. If each RAW shot you feed into a merge to HDR has by itself a large dynamic range, then you increase the quality of the HDR file.

This is why I groan when I see someone shooting with a Nikon D3x or Fuji S5 Pro say you only need to take X shots to get X results.  Each camera is completely different in terms of its ability to capture dynamic range so when you limit your bracket to only 3 shots, the dynamic range of your sensor becomes incredibly relevant. As you fill in the gaps and take more shots with tighter EV steps it fills in data gaps and provides cleaner RAW data for the entire range.

I first touched on the subject of dynamic range of camera sensors about six months ago and there is a little more insight in that post which is linked HERE.  Other articles surrounding dynamic range, auto bracketing and FPS capture are linked as follows:

Autobracketing for HDR – Camera Specs

Fastest DSLRs for HDR Capture (wide AEB range only)

When I see someone say their HDR files and tonemapped images have noise issues, my first question is? How many shots did you take and what EV step between?  Because I can tell you I have ZERO, NONE, NADDA, ZILCH, GOOSE EGG issues with noise in my files.

Why?  Because I bracket big and tight.  Sometimes I’ll bracket a scene with 13 images at .7EV between steps or even more shots with only .3EV steps between.  And yes, it takes a lot longer to merge to HDR, but it also means the averaging that occurs in software from darks to lights between the RAW data you feed it will result in BOTH cleaner data (less noise) and milder hue/saturation shifts (better color reproduction).

I get asked weekly how my images look so free of noise, natural and how I control saturation levels.  That last paragraph is HALF the battle folks.  It took me about 2000 HDRs to finally figure that out and even though I recently crossed 13,000 commercially delivered images tonemapped from HDRs, I’m still learning and tweaking.  I’m far from satisfied with my own results.  It is a constant challenge for myself even to fight “overcooking” images to the point that a client comments “it looks fake”.

It is critical that you understand my goal is to get to the point that someone can’t tell I’ve employed a High Dynamic Range Imaging workflow / pipeline. I’m not there yet.  If your goal is to create colorful and possibly more saturated images than I am gearing for then you might not want to bracket tighter like I do because when luminance ranges get stretched in software using only 3 shots from an AEB sequence it by default will create hue shifts and saturation issues that you might actually want for your images (particularly if you are going for artistic and/or grunge looks).

Even if you don’t shoot for HDR I hope the chart at least enlightens you to the abilities of those camera models.  I’ve purposely eliminated the medium format cameras that DXOmark has on their site.  If you go to their site and want to check these stats out yourself then look for the following tab on their site (image below). When you do, that data will populate the field on the right so you can see the various cameras and how they stack up.  The X axis shows time so you can see when each was released in comparison to others.