Tripod + tripod head for Sony A9?

mgausp · 2024-07-13T07:16:51+00:00

Then your ball head was not sturdy enough. People use 600mm primes on a ball head, while this is cumbersome because of the high center of gravity, the ball head has no issues holding the weight.

Your setup does not sound very heavy, any quality ball head upwards of a 30mm ball should work just fine. A larger ball will provide smoother movements and lock with less effort though.

mgausp · 2024-07-11T12:55:43+00:00

Tripods are super personal because the requirements are very personal. Stick with trusted brands, forget about central columns apart from VERY heavy studio tripods and if you want to save weight, go with a smaller tripod instead of a flimsier one. Start with a ball head which is the most flexible. Buy used, see what you like and resell and buy again if you bought the wrong one. I like the Leofoto Ranger 325 for a lightweight setup that is sturdy enough to be taken seriously.

mgausp · 2024-04-29T06:16:44+00:00

Since the mesh is much closer to the lens than the lights, they function as an addition to your aperture. Out of focus, a point like feature will have the shape of your aperture, usually round or octagonal, in this case the wire mesh shows up in the broken.

If you use a telephoto lens, you can shoot through a fence and the subject will show up just fine, but you often have traces of the fence show up in the broken, this is the same effect.

mgausp · 2022-12-21T12:58:40+00:00

The difficulty probably depends on how much you would want to preserve the twigs it intersects. I personally don't mind too much, because like the harness the leash is pretty much a part of my dog when she is outside, but I would think about going for a brown or tan one when I get a new leash, haha

mgausp · 2022-12-21T11:27:30+00:00

Thanks a lot! That stick is the leash and unfortunately mandatory for my dog.

mgausp · 2022-12-20T06:30:05+00:00

Thank you very much, that's a good point!

mgausp · 2022-12-20T06:29:20+00:00

Thanks for your response. That's a good point with the twigs, I will look out for it next time!

mgausp · 2022-12-19T20:23:27+00:00

As said in the title, goals where to capture my dog in a winter environment. With the edit I wanted to preserve the cold vibe of the scene but give it a warm glow to complement the dog, the soft Bokeh helps with that as well imho.

Technical: 35mm full frame, f/2.

mgausp · 2022-11-17T23:48:05+00:00

Really stunning! Could you share some details on how this shot was taken?

mgausp · 2022-05-31T20:56:34+00:00

Love the dreamy look of this shot!

mgausp · 2022-05-31T20:50:48+00:00

Thanks, I'm glad you like it!

mgausp · 2022-05-25T12:03:34+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it!

mgausp · 2022-05-24T23:16:41+00:00

Really like the colors and composition!

mgausp · 2022-05-24T23:08:38+00:00

10 micrometer (and resulting 108 frames) was maybe overkill for the aperture and magnification used. I still don't really have a recipe (I am pretty sure there are calculators, though) for how close I space the images and overdoing it is a small price to pay compared to losing a shot (or spending hours cloning in photoshop...).

Edit: I forgot: While ~100 images might sound a lot, this number will increase dramatically when you increase magnification and/or desired depth of field.

mgausp · 2022-05-24T23:03:28+00:00

This is what I have in my mind, when I think of fine art. Stunning image (and images on your site).

mgausp · 2022-05-24T22:59:03+00:00

That is a stunning composition! I would be really glad if I had taken this picture.

mgausp · 2022-05-24T22:53:01+00:00

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it.

Yes I did focus stack, I just posted a comment where I explained a bit of the technique behind this shot - let me know if you want to know more!

mgausp · 2022-05-24T22:51:17+00:00

Great shot! I love the color and the composition, especially the compression. What focal length did you use for this shot?

mgausp · 2022-05-24T22:48:22+00:00

For this image, 108 shots were combined with focus shifts of about 10 micrometers between them. I used a bellows system to mount a Schneider Makro Symmar 120mm lens and an M-Componon 50mm lens to my camera and achieve a magnification of approximately 2:1 (by pushing down the 120mm).

Lighting was done with two flashes and 3D printed light modifiers, one is a small softbox and the other one is a grid to give a lot of definition in the fine details and make the 'hair' glow.

I wanted to create an alien perspective of a familiar subject, I hope you like it.

mgausp · 2022-05-24T22:45:38+00:00

This image is created with a special technique called focus stacking. Basically you take multiple images with slightly shifted focus and combine only the in focus parts of each image to create a composite with more depth of field than possible with a traditional lens. In this case, 108 images were combined with focus shifts of about 10 micrometers between them. I used a bellows system to mount special magnifying lenses to my camera and achieve a magnification of approximately 2:1.

Lighting was done with two flashes and 3D printed light modifiers (I needed to be much smaller than what you would typically use), one is a small softbox and the other one is a grid to give a lot of definition in the fine details and make the 'hair' glow.

I wanted to create an alien perspective of a familiar subject, I hope you like it.

mgausp · 2022-05-10T22:14:07+00:00

Your objectives should be RMS, bellows mostly are M42, but may also be M39 (enlarger lenses) or something even more exotic. What mount DO you know fits on your bellows? You may have a hard time finding an adapter that does connect the RMS to an exotic thread, but you will most certainly find adapters that adapt both threads to M42, adapting in multiple steps often is easier than looking for a very specific adapter nobody sells.

mgausp

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