High Resolution Gun Photography

SquamishPhoto

See the article here: http://fstoppers.com/shooting-point-blank-high-resolution-gun-photography

Im not big on handguns myself, but I know that donald and a few others here would probably appreciate the photos and Im sure everyone else will appreciate the technical information of the shoot and prints.

spraynpray

Interesting stuff Squamish - thanks for posting. As he says, it is the perspective that makes these images compelling, if they were side-on they would be benign.

donaldejose

Interesting to put together many 36mp files for one huge image file which lets you have one focus point for the end of the barrel and a totally different focus point for the front of the handgrip (which is going to be about 4, 5 or 6 inches back). Perhaps my reaction is muted because I have seen the front end of countless handguns countless times. That viewpoint has no scare factor for me. Now what I think would really be a technically difficult issue to solve would be to capture the bullet as it just exits the barrel and not from the side view (which I have seen) but from the front view. The path of the bullet would have to pass just over or under the camera or perhaps you could use a mirror with the camera to the side and let the bullet pass through the center of the mirror. I think it could be done. Maybe someone knows it has been done.

I should add this comment: If you can stitch together many 36mp images rather easily is there really a need for a separate medium format system? Or put another way, can the D800/D800e serve adequately as a poor man's medium format system allowing you to use all your old lenses? Technical issue: if we could mount a D800/D800e on some device which allowed us to shift the whole body up-down and left-right just enough to let the images overlap a bit would that be a nice device to have? Four images of about 30mp each (allowing for overlap) would give us a 120 megapixel sensor image. That could be a really cheap way to achieve essentially the same image you would get from a 130 megapixel sensor.

Symphotic

I was playing with stacking macro photographs last night and it is a fine art. My customers don't demand the type of results these gun photos show, but it is nice to be able to give them photos of components with everything in focus, front to back.

Elvishefer

@symphotic - I've found a macro rail helps a lot when doing stacking, as it takes the guess work out of focusing.

Since the camera/tripod system is fairly locked down, it becomes a simple (almost boring) exercise of turning the rail knob a small increment, locking the mirror up, waiting for the camera to settle, and pressing the shutter button on the remote. Rinse, repeat.

Also, shooting what feels like more frames than you need and having a computer that will happily chew through the ensuing edit is very helpful.

@donaldjose - I think the D800 vs. medium format argument is never really about resolution, as what you're suggesting can be done. In fact, the same process with more images could be done with a 6MP camera, albeit more painfully. Typically, the medium format argument falls back on color tones, dynamic range, etc. based on sensor pixel size or and subsequent technical wizardry that is beyond me.

Symphotic

@symphotic - I've found a macro rail helps a lot when doing stacking, as it takes the guess work out of focusing.

Also, shooting what feels like more frames than you need and having a computer that will happily chew through the ensuing edit is very helpful. ....

I hear you on the macro rail. I've got one for front to back focusing, but I'm thinking of stacking a right to left rail on my head as well, as I'm getting poor results trying to position my tripod laterally.

I was stacking 13 exposures on my little MacBook Air to see how it would work. It takes quite a while, and tested my faith that something was happening and I didn't just lock up Photoshop. But after a while, there it was.

donaldejose

I have read that the MF sensors in many bodies has been optimized for delicate graduations in skin tones at the cost of high ISO ability. That makes sense for a camera which is designed to be used in the studio with supplemental lighting. I don't know if what I read was correct but if so I would think an FX sensor could likewise be optimized for subtle skin tones at the expense of high ISO and then we would have the subspecialty of a D800p body with the p standing for optimized for portrait work.

Ironheart

MF sensors generally have a wider color gamut in general, skin tones included. For example, the latest PhaseOne backs have 16-bit color depth. MF sensors also have larger photo sites, inherent to the larger format so in theory they could be high-ISO monsters, but they are as @donaldejose points out, optimized for a different purpose. They do have phenominal low light capability due to this but you need a tripod and long exposures to reap this benefit. Again, the latest PhaseOne 60MP back will take up to 60min exposures. They do however max out at 1fps :-)
I think the D800 high mp sensor could be optimized in a number of different ways if Nikon wanted to/saw a market. The one that would make tons of folks happy is an option for binned raw output that would cut the raw file size in quarter, and increase ISO by 4x at the same time.

Who wouldn't want 9MP files at ISO 51,200 usable

donaldejose

I have long been a proponent of "binning" in some way with software. But that may take a lot of processing power.