First Fuji G617 Test Shot

[Chris Dodkin]

Early days yet, as I have just got the first 9 films back from the lab - but this was the first test frame I shot with the G617 Panoramic camera before Christmas.

Late Afternoon Light - North Ponto Beach - Carlsbad CA

The metered exposure based on an ambient light reading on my Sekonic was 1/8 sec at f/22 - ISO50 (Velvia)

The G617 is fitted with a center 2X ND filter to even-out exposure over the area of the frame, and this is a 1-stop ND center grad.

So 'correct' exposure should be 1/4 sec f/22 (One stop open from metered to account for the ND filter)

This test frame was exposed at 1/8 sec f/22 - as part of a bracketed set - but it's the first frame I've scanned, so wanted to give people a look-see.

Looking at the histogram during scanning on an Epson V700, you can see how under exposed the frame was.



But even in this underexposed state, I recovered the above image from the film with scanning software and post processing in Photoshop and NIK.

So it's looking really encouraging

But the files are HUGE! I need to look at the PPI on the scanning side, as 3200 PPI is insanely large

I think 2400 PPI will probably be a better resolution moving forward - I'm probably not gaining anything by stretching to 3200, although I have to say that the Velvia has amazingly small grain.

I do see some banding on the image to the left hand side - not sure if that is really there *i.e. moisture in the air over the beach" or a scanning or lens flare effect - I'll need to see what happens with the next few scans.

More to follow.

 

[Hamish Gill]

Looking forward to the "more"!
Been waiting to see these for ages it seems!!!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Looking forward to the "more"!
Been waiting to see these for ages it seems!!!

I know - what's with all this 'developing' and 'scanning' - time wasting I call it!

 

[Hamish Gill]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again ... It's about time someone invented some sort of computer-oriented photography!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

ok - here's frame #2 - one stop exposure comp to account for the Center ND filter - 1/4 sec @ f/22

The histogram on the scanner looks much healthier



The final processed image is cleaner - this is a better EV for this camera for sure

I did another shot, 1 more stop open - so I'll sees how that looks next

 

[Hamish Gill]

I recon 1 more will be the charm ... Still a little to the left that!

 

[Rob MacKillop]

Superb already, I'd say. Looks like you have a winner there, Chris. Looking forward to the future exposures.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here's the third exposure at +2EV - 1/2 sec @ f/22

And here's the histogram from the scanner



You'll note better use of the dynamic range.

Interesting how the color cast changes with exposure - maybe a feature of the density of the Velvia and ability to scan given different levels of exposure.

 

[Rob MacKillop]

I'd be very happy with that. Gorgeous...

 

[Hamish Gill]

that's the trick id say! its the glow of the sun on the rocks that looks right now I think!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

I'd be very happy with that. Gorgeous...

Thanks Rob - looking good - Hamish was right on the money with the +2EV

 

[Chris Dodkin]

that's the trick id say! its the glow of the sun on the rocks that looks right now I think!

Agreed - thanks Hamish

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Here's a shot taken after spot metering the sky using the Sekonic.

Spot metering at f/22 was 1/15 sec for the brightest part of the scene

So using the Zone Method - we open up two stops from there to set that area as the brightest part of an image (Zone 5 moving to Zone 7)

So this would indicate an exposure of f/22 at 1/4 sec

One stop more for the 2X ND Filter would be 1/2 sec - Two Stops would be 1 sec

This is 1 sec at f/22 - ISO 50

I'm using f/22 to get some DOF - and using the hyper focal distance to set the focus on the fixed lens to get the max DOF in focus. In this case I set the focus at approx 10m, so everything from 4.5m to infinity should be in focus.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

Shot with the X-Pro1 from the same location - in fact I had the X-Pro1 resting on the top of the G617.

Slightly earlier by the looks of the lighting on the clouds.

 

[Hamish Gill]

the digital is nice, but really there is no contest!

 

[Pete Askew]

Super write-up of the experiment Chris. Thanks. Lovely shots too.

 

[Chris Dodkin]

the digital is nice, but really there is no contest!

Indeed - but then you'd hope a 286MB file would have an advantage!

Super write-up of the experiment Chris. Thanks. Lovely shots too.

Thanks Pete - I'll do a proper write-up on the workflow, as there is quite a lot involved from camera to finished file - certainly more involved than digital

 

[Davie Hudson]

they are so wide and lovely i just wanna hug ya

 

[Brian Moore]

I would have been delighted with the first one but you can see the slight improvements in the 2nd and 3rd. However, in the 3rd the improvement is somewhat more than slight. Those rocks fairly glow in #3, and that is missing from 1 and 2. Excellent, Chris!

 

[Chris Dodkin]

they are so wide and lovely i just wanna hug ya

Steady on!

I would have been delighted with the first one but you can see the slight improvements in the 2nd and 3rd. However, in the 3rd the improvement is somewhat more than slight. Those rocks fairly glow in #3, and that is missing from 1 and 2. Excellent, Chris!

Thanks Brian - I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't done the test roll - now I can shoot more economically, instead of one roll per subject!

I reckon it's a hard cost of $5 every time I press the shutter release - film+processing - so less bracketing will be very welcome