A couple of months ago, I posted "Another short tour", a link to a small
gallery, which several people seemed to like.
What I didn't point out is that 11 of the 20 images were taken with a Panny
7-14/4.
For Bhutan, I bought a Laowa 7.5/2.0. I anticipated the need for close quarters UWA with speed. I did indeed encounter
close quarters where it allowed me to get shot I wouldn't have with even the 9-18, and I'm glad I had it along. But I
didn't encounter much in the way of a need for f2. Only a coupe of shots that dim AND flat enough for the DoF. The
really great shots with it were of deeply 3D subjects.
OTOH, I learned some of my limits. Working around the house, in the garden, etc., with tripod and MF lenses, I'm pretty
good at recording lens data. In the field, surrounded by seemingly endless photo ops, I am simply bad at it. Worse, in
the heat of using two or three cameras at a time, with multiple subjects, and so on, I don't always remember to focus an
MF lens. Bad Moosie!
The folks with DoF calculators will tell you that @ 7.5 mm and f4 or f5.6, you can set it at hyperfocal distance and all
will be in focus. I suppose that's true, if you are displaying uncropped at 8x10" display size. But it isn't true
looking closer.
Sooo, I decided that a 7-14 that would take care of focus and EXIF for me was in order. And I didn't see the need for a
stop of speed in exchange for the size/weight/$$ of the Oly 7-14/2.8 Pro. So far, I'm pretty happy with the Panny 7-14/4.
But MikeL showed a nice panorama shot with a fishy lens. Kept the horizon level and did some incomplete correction of
the distortion and it looks good! And Wiiiiiide!
So I did some research, and ended up with a new to me Panny 8/4 diagonal fishy lens. Again, I just didn't need the
speed, size, weight and $$ of the Oly f2.8 Pro.
It's a reasonably nice looking thingie, less retro cute than the Laowa, the same weight, a little shorter and fatter.
<http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=22599>
After a lot of futzing around with fishy images and software, I found a product called Fisheye-Hemi, by Imadio, did a
better job than anything I could get close to.
Here's a resulting, roughly 150°, panorama of sunset over Mendocino Bay. <https://photos.app.goo.gl/qVmVBqmhFxn5s1Zh1>
I did take some shots with the 7-14, too, and could do a stitched pano, but the clouds were moving and light changing
pretty fast, so it would take some work. For web and reasonable size print work, I'm pretty impressed.
Another example: This is a really lovely spot in the Blake House Garden near us, with a bench where we often sit for a
while. Even 7 mm doesn't capture the place/view, as it's quite an intimate spot (i.e. small).
<http://zone-10.com/tope2/main.php?g2_itemId=22729>
If the subject had any straight lines, they would be distorted. As it is, it's by far the closest to how the place
looks/feels that I've managed. The uncorrected fishy file looks pretty goofy, but Fisheye-Hemi has done a good job.
No Bunions Moose
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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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