Wide Angle Zoom for Landscape Advice
Apr 16, 2018 10:01:27 #
I have the Olympus EM 1 Mark II and the 12-40 Pro (24-80 ff equivalent) among other lenses. I bought the Pan Leica 8-18 because I thought I may need a wider angle for a photo workshop I’m going on next week to Yosemite. After seeing some of my shots with this lens and noticing the distortion at the wide angles I’m rethinking whether I should keep it. Fortunately it’s returnable ($1200). Your thoughts and specifically will the 12 to 40 be wide enough?
Apr 16, 2018 10:16:11 #
Well, I will put in my 2 cents with for you. I absolutely LOVE my Sony 10-18 super wide angle. It is a lens I have always wanted to buy and when I pulled the cord, I hardly EVER take this off of the a6500! I find it wonderful for grand sonics, incredibly amazing angles that bring out the best in creative photography for me. I do hope you keep the 8 - 18 because it will continue to grow with you and find you start thinking wide and will burst your creativity! Best of luck to you my Friend -
Apr 16, 2018 10:22:51 #
paul - uglyhedgehog.com wrote:
Well, I will put in my 2 cents with for you. I absolutely LOVE my Sony 10-18 super wide angle. It is a lens I have always wanted to buy and when I pulled the cord, I hardly EVER take this off of the a6500! I find it wonderful for grand sonics, incredibly amazing angles that bring out the best in creative photography for me. I do hope you keep the 8 - 18 because it will continue to grow with you and find you start thinking wide and will burst your creativity! Best of luck to you my Friend -
It simply depends on your interpretation of the resultant image.
Apr 16, 2018 10:29:49 #
Oh - Totally! I agree 100%. I have always been a wide angle kind of shooter. I was only expressing my opinion since you were speaking to wide angle lenses. By trade, I am a metal sculpture - more of a public artist - I create large public sculpture for various cities along the East Coast, so I guess I lean to wide for the expanse of the work - But, as I mentioned, these are only my thoughts and hope they may stir some thought - thanx for reading and no harm meant - perhaps I mis-understood your issue... But I do wish you the Best in your choice - I believe the right choice will be the one that feels the best to you, personally, down deep inside and the one you really love ( and if you have enough bucks, buy both!)
Apr 16, 2018 10:31:46 #
streetshot wrote:
I have the Olympus EM 1 Mark II and the 12-40 Pro (24-80 ff equivalent) among other lenses. I bought the Pan Leica 8-18 because I thought I may need a wider angle for a photo workshop I’m going on next week to Yosemite. After seeing some of my shots with this lens and noticing the distortion at the wide angles I’m rethinking whether I should keep it. Fortunately it’s returnable ($1200). Your thoughts and specifically will the 12 to 40 be wide enough?
Are you going to Yosemite with Gary Hart by any chance?
Apr 16, 2018 10:36:49 #
Oh no - I am not going, but sounds like an incredible opportunity! No, I have been quite busy with my work and have more commissions coming in. These pieces take me several months to complete and I sort of have to stay focused on deadlines... I have never been to Yosemite, but would love to go sometime. Sounds like you might be going? If so, please post up some images and maybe - would love to see some of your work. Sounds like you are quite a wonderful Photographer.
Apr 16, 2018 10:38:48 #
erickter
Loc: Dallas,TX
For outside nature photography, Consider doing stitched panos (in PP) using vertical format. The coverage will be more than adequate from your current zoom's focal length, without the barrel distortion of a super WA lens. The perpespective is much more natural looking to the human eye. The combined images hold more detail too. I switched to this method almost entirely over the past 5 years, though I still resort to a single WA on a few occasions - mostly tight interior/exterior architectural shots or for a dramatic effect.
Apr 16, 2018 10:43:48 #
paul - uglyhedgehog.com wrote:
Oh no - I am not going, but sounds like an incredible opportunity! No, I have been quite busy with my work and have more commissions coming in. These pieces take me several months to complete and I sort of have to stay focused on deadlines... I have never been to Yosemite, but would love to go sometime. Sounds like you might be going? If so, please post up some images and maybe - would love to see some of your work. Sounds like you are quite a wonderful Photographer.
Sorry, sent to you by mistake was trying to send to street shot. Darn! Will do it again, not paying attention, obviously. Yes, I am going and I'll try to get some good images and hope for the best!
Apr 16, 2018 10:44:12 #
After seeing some of my shots with this lens and noticing the distortion at the wide angles I’m rethinking whether I should keep it. Fortunately it’s returnable ($1200). Your thoughts and specifically will the 12 to 40 be wide enough?[/quote]
The reviews I read of this lens show no inherent distortion. My guess is you are talking about the distortion created when the lens is not parallel to the earth (pointed up or down). This is applicable to all wide-angle lenses. With this lens being ultra wide, you are going to notice it much, much more. I would suggest you try a test keeping the camera dead level when you use this lens. If you still have distortion, you may have a bad copy of the lens - send it back.
The reviews I read of this lens show no inherent distortion. My guess is you are talking about the distortion created when the lens is not parallel to the earth (pointed up or down). This is applicable to all wide-angle lenses. With this lens being ultra wide, you are going to notice it much, much more. I would suggest you try a test keeping the camera dead level when you use this lens. If you still have distortion, you may have a bad copy of the lens - send it back.
Apr 16, 2018 10:44:58 #
I had never even thought about doing panos like that - What a great Idea!!! I plan to try that today! Thanx Mr. Erickter - Great advise!
Apr 16, 2018 10:46:03 #
streetshot wrote:
I have the Olympus EM 1 Mark II and the 12-40 Pro (24-80 ff equivalent) among other lenses. I bought the Pan Leica 8-18 because I thought I may need a wider angle for a photo workshop I’m going on next week to Yosemite. After seeing some of my shots with this lens and noticing the distortion at the wide angles I’m rethinking whether I should keep it. Fortunately it’s returnable ($1200). Your thoughts and specifically will the 12 to 40 be wide enough?
Is your trip to Yosemite with Gary Hart by any chance?
Apr 16, 2018 10:47:06 #
streetshot wrote:
I have the Olympus EM 1 Mark II and the 12-40 Pro (24-80 ff equivalent) among other lenses. I bought the Pan Leica 8-18 because I thought I may need a wider angle for a photo workshop I’m going on next week to Yosemite. After seeing some of my shots with this lens and noticing the distortion at the wide angles I’m rethinking whether I should keep it. Fortunately it’s returnable ($1200). Your thoughts and specifically will the 12 to 40 be wide enough?
12-40 will do the job just fine. It should be good for night shots, too, of the Milky Way.
Apr 16, 2018 10:49:51 #
paul - uglyhedgehog.com wrote:
I had never even thought about doing panos like that - What a great Idea!!! I plan to try that today! Thanx Mr. Erickter - Great advise!
You might look into the pano section here on UHH
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-128-1.html
Apr 16, 2018 10:50:56 #
Apr 16, 2018 10:52:52 #
paul - uglyhedgehog.com wrote:
I had never even thought about doing panos like that - What a great Idea!!! I plan to try that today! Thanx Mr. Erickter - Great advise!
When you do this, use the zoom lens vertically (you are not using a wide angle), overlap each shot by perhaps 1/4 of the shot as you move through the shots, use a tripod, mark the beginning and ending shots however you want to, with some type of shot before and after as it can get confusing if they mix in with other shots. I use Lightroom to stitch them together but other software will do the job, too. I have hand-stitched the shots, too, but most software does a good job; be sure to look closely at the resultant stitched image looking for errors or odd spots. The file will be very large as you are putting together several shots. You can do these panos up and down or across. I've put together six shots before, up and down and across, there is no limit as to how to accomplish what you want except for your own knowledge, which grows as you do it. LR will only do the stitching one way, up and down, or across, so you would need to go into Photoshop or some other software to hand stitch anything.
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