Here’s a daytime shot from the trip to Vegas. A 3 AEB capture with a Sigma SD14 merged to HDR in Photoshop CS3 and tonemapped with CS3. A larger version is linked below this blog sized image.

LARGER SIZED VERSION LINKED HERE:
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/vegas/sd14-hdr.html

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The Sigma SD15 will be shipping within  a month.  I’m very excited about this new release. The Sigma SD15 is basically a Sigma SD14 with a new processor that has a much larger buffer and a new 5 AEB capture mode which makes the SD15 a serious contender for HDR capture given it is retailing at $895. I have not yet tested the SD15 and don’t know if the new processor makes it better shooting in certain shooting conditions, but for daylight shooting the SD14 is an amazing tool with a very large dynamic range (sensor).  Also, the SD14 – SD15 is a non-bayer pattern sensor which records RGB on every pixel.  It makes an AMAZING camera for those who like to convert to Black and White.  Lastly, the software that comes with the camera has a slider in it that acts like none-other application I’ve used. It is essentially a built in tone mapper of sorts which makes editing single shots extremely useful for utilizing the sensor’s capabilities. (warning: Apple has no support for processing sigma raw files through iPhoto or Aperture 3)

I’ll review the SD15 once I get mine (I pre-ordered mine when it was first available for pre-order).

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Another quick HDR capture I chose to tonemap via Photomatix Pro
(Those two images will likely be the last I run through Photomatix Pro for some time. I’m just not thrilled with the way it handles color and has more than subtle hue shifts that cause saturation/hue issues)
http://www.digitalcoastimage.com/vegas/test-50mm.html

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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’ll be in Vegas for a week in April. I only needed to be there for NAB, but extended the time I’ll be there a little before and after to have time to play (errrr…. work).  My idea of playing is about as geeky as it gets.  I’ll be torturing my gear on some HDR Timelapse and some other shoots I’m considering setting up to test speedlites.

I’m doing this because I never have time to do this when I am grinding through shoots on a weekly basis.  I’ll have the time to do so when I’m away.  I’ve always been curious about comparing cameras shot in the same light with the same lens to see what differences you get. I’m not bringing all my gear, but enough to be considered certifiably insane.

I’ll be messing around with the following cameras during the shootout:

Canon T2i / 550D
Pentax K-x
Sigma SD9
Sigma SD14
Nikon D3

I already use the D3 and SD14 extensively on a weekly basis for HDR work (real estate), but will be torturing them in different ways on the trip.  I’ll shoot the D3 and SD14 for HDR Timelapse simultaneously side by side, both with wide angle lenses. I expect the results will be like shooting with two different film stocks, but I’ll find out for sure in post.

Also I will be swapping out (removing) the Sigma SD14 SA mount and installing a custom Nikon F-mount on the SD14 using a 3rd party solution. I have three SD14 bodies so I’m willing to risk bricking one for the team.  This will allow me to test the Canon T2i and Sigma SD14 using Nikkor Primes (in the case of the canon, via a F-mount to EF mount adaptor).

So I’ll be testing the Canon T2i vs the Sigma SD14 with the following Nikkor Primes (which have aperture rings):

20mm f/2.8D
24mm f/2.8 AI-S
28mm f/2.8 AI-S
50mm f/1.4 AI-S
85mm f/1.4D
105mm f/2.5  AI-S

I’ll be curious to see which camera resolves detail better… the latest 2010 release from Canon ( T2i / 550D ) or the 3 1/2 year old Sigma SD14 that tied the Canon 5D in multiple head to head image tests worldwide.  Also (and more important to me in many ways) I want to see which camera captures more dynamic range per shot (single shots).  And finally, I’ll fire off brackets with the same settings on each camera to then merge to HDR to see if there are differences there as well.  I’ll do this while testing various white balance settings, including custom white balance settings on each camera.

Just so that I don’t completely geek out the entire trip I’m also planning to setup some kind of high fashion shoot with Las Vegas models – MUAs and Hair Stylists.  I’ll test out some multiple speedlite setups on some models as guinea pigs as I have on models in the past (all my model shoots are actually new gear test shoots and I tell them this up front).

Past guinea pigs:
http://digitalcoastimage.com/models.html

I might add something else to the mix, but so far these are tests I plan to do for sure.

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.

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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.

The Pentax K-x arrived today.  I don’t want to ramble on about all the features and such yet because I have not played with it enough to pass judgement on it yet.  I just want to post this three up image of shots I snapped just before a partly cloudy sunset ended here today.  It shows (top to bottom) HDR Capture Mode “Strong”, then HDR Capture Mode “Standard”, then no HDR Mode and just one simple frame.

The image is of one of the public beach access points here.   It has not only rained at this location recently, but one of the natural dune lakes that sits against the beach (100 yards north of the gulf) broke through one of its natural walls (sand) some dark brackish waters spilled onto the beach.  Hence the wet and dirty strip of sand you’ll see.  It is a naturally occurring thing here where some of these lakes sit.  Only Australia has similar dune lakes naturally occurring like we have here along the Emerald Coast of North West Florida.  The lakes are large and beautiful and allow you to canoe vast areas just hundreds of yards from the gulf of mexico.  They run right up against many beach points.

When it rains here, certain dune lakes will sometimes overflow and spill into the gulf itself and salt water and lake waters will flow back and forth and then seal back up again when weather calms down.  Sometimes a lake wall just oozes a little lake water onto the beach area as it did this time.  It happens a few times a year and within a few weeks the powdery white sand covers the darker sand back up again as if it never happened.  This generally occurs in the fall/spring outside of tourist season.  However, we have had unusually horrible weather here the last two weeks with virtually no sun and many rainy days.  The dune lakes have filled up and this particular one spilled over onto this beach.

I say all this because I don’t want you to think those dark areas are an artifact from the HDR mode versions captured (below).  The HDR mode and tonemapping did NOT have to do with this strip of dark sand.  It was the lake overflow.

The images below were simply resized down.  All three are JPEGs right out of camera.  The HDR mode fires off a 3 frame AEB and the final image is a tonemapped JPEG.  I purposely chose a shot that is not something any camera sensor can handle in one shot.  The image on the bottom is one simple frame with no HDR mode.  As you can see, the sun despite being shielded slightly by clouds, still blows out badly and much of the water reflection is also blown out.  The middle image is using the camera’s HDR Mode set to “Standard” and the top image is using the camera’s HDR mode set to “Strong”.  No photoshop or post tweaks.  The saturation differences are a result of the merging (tonemapping) process and I can’t control that.  Although I did have the camera setting set to “standard” for color.  I’ll experiement with “Vibrant” and the like in the future to see variations.

I was in a rush and by mistake I had the camera set to auto white balance (ugh!!!).  So color differences are probably even less scientific between shots given that idiotic oversight.  BTW, this was not a planned shoot… I just rushed down when the cloud cover broke and snapped a few shots.  I shot in Aperture priority mode for each.  The clouds moved of course… the HDR Capture Mode takes 3 shots bracketed and then it takes about 10+ seconds for the camera to merge the shots before you can retake another shot, so there is no way to show you a true comparison with the sky moving as briskly as it was.  The 3 shot burst itself is quick.  The camera sports a 4.7 fps speed, but the merging process takes time.

So what you see below is not bracketed shots taken into post, merged and then tweaked.  These are right out of camera JPEGs, but there is obviously some tone mapping operator doing some work in camera.  The “Strong” is definitely too intense for my commercial work and “Standard” while less intense is borderline workable for what I do… but I’ll wait until I’ve put it through a bunch of tests and interior architectural shoots.

K-x quick test of HDR Capture Mode

Weather is supposed to stay crappy here for almost another week so it may be some time before I get around to getting this camera pushed through a true test run and then posting results.  But I will ASAP.

For instant gratification, the K-x rocks.  No long merge to HDR time in post.  Just shoot and in 10-12 seconds you can see the JPEG and change your settings to reshoot.  Oh, and that reminds me to mention that you can of course use the exposure compensation….

… the Pentax K-x allows for +/- 3.0EV so you can easily control where the base exposure will begin.  And of course I’ll be experimenting with taking multiple HDR captures taken at various +/-EV settings and then use those JPEGs to merge in post to see if anything interesting comes from it or if it is not beneficial.  We’ll see.  Merging tonemapped jpegs?  Can you say “artifacts”?  Probably.  But I just have to do it for the hell of it.

Oh #2… the AEB function allows for a traditional 3 AEB burst at +/-3.0EV.  You can bracket as little as .3 and it goes up by steps of .3 right up to a full +/-3.0 EV like a Canon 7D or Sigma SD14 does (both of them shoot a 3 AEB which can max out at +/-3.0EV).

More to come when weather breaks for the better.

Jack Howard has put together a great list of top class HDR capable cameras over at Adorama’s Learning Center.  Check out the list here:   2009 HDR All-Stars

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For you iPhone addicts, check out the very interesting app that allows you to take two images and they get tonemapped in the iPhone.  The app is called TrueHDR =  http://pictional.com/TrueHDR/Videos.html

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Here is a recent shoot I did for an existing client. On this shoot I used a D3 exclusively and many of the shots required a range of -5 to +5 EV in total.
Builder Shoot (Gallery Link)

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Here is a link to a High Dynamic Range Image sequence.  It is a “tilt” sequence I shot at a local garden near a state park.  This series was shot with a D3 and each frame is actually 7 images spaced 1EV apart and then tonemapped before being placed one after the other in post.

The amount of quality lost when exporting to a web video format is horrifying, but I have no choice.  The full 1080p version has no loss of color, detail/clarity or color shifts.  That said, here is the link to the web clip:
HDR Video (link to landing page)

First off.  I know I’m abusing the terminology.  Both here and on twitter with my handle being HDRphotography.  I’m well aware of how this is completely wrong. But twitter limits your handle and “TonemappingPhotography” was not available  :)

Yes.  I’m guilty of this misuse of the “HDR” call letters that really is tonemapped output.  But the public (Flickr, etc…) has already associated the final image that has been “HDR’d” to be HDR.  So in order to not fight the flow I just use the term HDR incorrectly to not confuse the masses.  I’m basically saying… I don’t need anymore personal emails explaining technicalities and terminology.  I’m fully aware that I’m a part of the problem and not the solution!  :)  Anyhoooo…

I’ve been VERY busy shooting lately. A builder and an architect for new clients has kept me quite busy behind the lens.  Only a quick update tonight, BUT there is a storm heading my way late this weekend that will keep this area cloudy for a week  (keeping me from shooting) so I’ll have time to update the blog next week.

I’ve not had a commercial need for timelapse, nor HDR Timelapse for that matter, but captured one this week that I’ll edit next week.  Here is a capture of the capture (a snap shot of the timelapse in action taken with my Sigma SD14):
HDR TIMELAPSE

I’m not sure yet how the HDR Timelapse will turn out, but it didn’t interfere with the actual shoot (I was shooting on a lower level with my SD14 while the D3 was capturing the timelapse).

In the FWIW category… I tweeted this, but in case you missed it here is a recent shoot for a client that LOVES saturation (a rental company). Mostly because the water is such a selling point for folks who vacation here.  In this case these were all shot with a D3 (no SD14 shots in this series).  Not all the rooms are great, but hey… it’s not a portfolio shoot… its to show renters where the kids and family will play/sleep/eat. Very different atmosphere and lighting challenges on this shoot.  I did the best I could.
UNIT 406w  -  All shots w/Nikon D3

Finally, a shoot for a Realtor’s new listing.  I over cranked them a bit, but the lighting was tough.  The haze that day was intense and I did the best I could to pull the windows in, but it was brutal.  All D3 here as well:
Seagrove Beach, FL – Realtor Listing

That’s it for tonight.  It’s been too long since the last update so felt like posting something!  More useful posts to come next week!

Last night I posted a gallery link showing 12 images from a recent shoot.  Half taken with a Sigma SD14, half with a Nikon D3.  Shots 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 were taken with the SD14 and shots 4, 6, 8, 9, 11 and 12 were taken with the D3.

I could have shot the entire shoot with either camera… so why the split?  Well, that day there was a pretty intense glare off the gulf and I wanted to use a circular polarizer for most of the water shots.  You can’t use filters on the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G lens.  It has a protruding round end on the lens and doesn’t take filters.  It does extremely well handling glare (amazing actually), but I can’t get a circular polarizer on it.  Hence why you’ll notice that almost all the shots with water in frame were with the SD14 + Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 DC EX + Circular Polarizer.

The one balcony shot I took with the D3 was a south west view.  So with the sun situated off a bit to the southeast, the glare for that shot was milder than any other angle.  Also, I wanted to go a full 14mm for one balcony shot to give the potential rental customers a sense of space out there on the patio.  I can’t get that wide on the SD14.  The SD14 crop factor is 1.7 so the 10-20mm acts like a 17mm at the widest point (10mm x 1.7 factor).  I’d have preferred to have been able to go a bit wider, but I sacrificed width in order to get better exposures and with the filter, make the gorgeous Emerald Coast water (here in North West Florida) stand out.

Using a Circular polarizer creates its own issues of course, but I was willing to work around those sky density issues in photoshop in order to improve the image hitting the sensor.  It really helps big time with darkening the sky and a side benefit is it reduces the glare off the water.  I knew if I used the filter I could get away with only a 3 AEB with the SD14 because the filter was in effect reducing the difference in exposure of sky to ground.

For several of the interior shots I needed the width of the D3 for certain shots (definitely the bathroom shots).  I’d probably have just shot the whole thing with the SD14 to not have to mess with different post production workflows.  If I’m shooting for an architect or builder I don’t normally go as wide as 14mm, but I needed it for this shoot.  The rental companies want every single room no matter how small and as such, 14mm comes in handy for bathrooms and small bedrooms (and bunk beds in rooms).

Rental companies and realtors just want shots turned quickly so I generally skip merging to HDR and tonemapping for these shoots.  All 12 shots were using my alternate method of achieving (compressing) a high dynamic range into a narrow one.  “Exposure Blending”.

I’m told that Photomatix has the Enblend (or similar) code baked into it and if you use it’s exposure blending feature rather than tonemapping, you should get decent results.  The process is to feed it your multiple exposures and the code does some fancy math and then blends the exposures together to give a more balanced exposure.

The BIGGEST reason to use exposure blending over a merge to HDR, then tonemap approach is that you can actually BLEND various shots of natural light, flash, etc… to be blended into one final image.  I’m realizing now that it would take many paragraphs to walk you through this and I don’t have the time.

In fact I have just a few minutes to finish up this post.  I’m against the clock here to finish an edit and I’ll be up most the night to complete it and meet a deadline.  So I’ll bullet point some of the apps I used.

For the SD14 shots I used the provided software Sigma Photo Pro which is their raw converter.  To date their converter does the best job converting their FOVEON sensor raw files (X3F).  And it has one slider that is SICK!  It is like a tonemapper.  It is a fill light of sorts, but it is actually acting like a tonemapper.  I’d have to show you to have you understand.  Anyway… Once I tweak the SD14 raw files I then export 16 bit tiffs and then use the open source “Enblend” software.  Then finalize edits in Photoshop.

For the D3 I use LightRoom, make tweaks, then select those exposures and go FILE>ENFUSE using the Enfuse LightRoom plugin and it spits out a 16 bit tiff that I also finish off in Photoshop.

I expected to go a bit further in detail, but have to get back to editing this last shoot!

~~~ POOF ~~~