Combining an old lens, a DSLR and Photoshop

[ismaelg]

Hello,

We all brag about our favorite camera brand been capable of using every single lens ever made since the dawn of civilization. But, how many actually do it? Does it really work?
Well, I wanted to find out.
Around 1989 I bought my first true camera: a K1000 which is still in use. As a college student back then, I couldn't really afford much, but I was very interested in telephoto zooms. So I mail ordered a fully manual Korean made "famous brand" (read cheap) 60-300 f4-5.6 lens from the ad pages of Popular Photography mag. The lens brand is Samyang. Never heard of it before or since. Anyway, I used it a little bit, was not impressed with it especially with the low contrast and it ended up in it's original box in a closet for well over 15 years.
Recently, I thought "why not try it in the K100D?" So I tried it with low expectations. Again, contrast is a low point but this time, I can manipulate the image in Photoshop. So maybe, just maybe, all is not lost.... Hmm....

Here is picture of a "Bread fruit" tree behind my house, shot handheld at full zoom. I understand that the 300mm lenght would lously translate to about 450 in the digital frame.
Low contrast.


and this is the image after only a minute or 2 in Photoshop, working ONLY with levels.



Here is a more dramatic case: Again handheld full zoom. Manual focusing this rig is a bit of a challenge but that's another story.
Before:


After playing with levels and a minor cropping:


Another full zoom handheld
Before


After:



Last sample. This time zoomed all the way back to the widest 60mm
Before:


After:



I know these images can be processed much further. They were shot in JPEG so raw may have even more possibilities. I feel like I just got a zoom lens for free
What do you think?

Thanks,

[Canada_Rockies]

Looking good, Ismael. You know your Photoshop. By the way your "food bread" tree is, I think, called "bread fruit" in English. Don't ask me why, that's just the way English is. Samyang is still in business making "consumer" lenses.

[ismaelg]

Originally Posted by Canada_Rockies

Looking good, Ismael. You know your Photoshop. By the way your "food bread" tree is, I think, called "bread fruit" in English. Don't ask me why, that's just the way English is. Samyang is still in business making "consumer" lenses.

Thanks. I corrected the post. Never made any sense. It's not a fruit, certainly not bread and bread is not a fruit
Thanks,

[indytax]

Nice improvement to those images, Ismael. Perhaps you can breathe some life into that Samyang yet.

[Lowell Goudge]

in looking at these images, and not seeing the exif data, I can;t help but wonder if you could have had better settings for exposure and contrast in the camera and gotten a JPEG out of the camera to look just like your processed images.

My own thinking is that you shoul dlearn how to adjust the settings to get as close to a perfect JPEG as possible, and just shoot JPEG, Forget about RAW

The reason I say this is that ultimately you will process and reduce it down to JPEG even with a raw processor. Why not learn to evaluate your scene and make appropriate adjustments at the time shooting jpegs only.

I have no problem printing 13 x 19 from my *istD with JPEGs, let alone what the K10D can do, and although many state it is only a minute or so to process each RAW image, I have taken 23,000 digital images to date, that represents 380 hours of additional time in front of the computer just to do that one simple little step

[ismaelg]

Originally Posted by Lowell Goudge

in looking at these images, and not seeing the exif data, I can;t help but wonder if you could have had better settings for exposure and contrast in the camera and gotten a JPEG out of the camera to look just like your processed images.

My own thinking is that you shoul dlearn how to adjust the settings to get as close to a perfect JPEG as possible, and just shoot JPEG, Forget about RAW

The reason I say this is that ultimately you will process and reduce it down to JPEG even with a raw processor. Why not learn to evaluate your scene and make appropriate adjustments at the time shooting jpegs only.

I have no problem printing 13 x 19 from my *istD with JPEGs, let alone what the K10D can do, and although many state it is only a minute or so to process each RAW image, I have taken 23,000 digital images to date, that represents 380 hours of additional time in front of the computer just to do that one simple little step

These are not raw. These pictures were taken in JPEG mode as stated at the bottom of the post. I am still very early learning to work with raw. I have a 30x20 poster printed from a JPEG image I shot with my K100DS.
This is a totally manual 20+ years old lens that has not been even properly cleaned. Trust me, from 20 years of shooting with a K1000 I know how to expose manually. Lack of contrast was the low point of this lens back when shooting film.

Thanks,

[Marc Sabatella]

That's pretty low contrast all right - almost as low as mirror lens. Were using a hood? Shooting through a cheap filter? I mean, I'm sure the lens itself is low contrast too, but that's surprisingly low for a regular glass lens.

BTW, Samyang has been around a while; they make a varietyof different lens often marketed under other names. Nothing spectacular as far as I know.

[res3567]

Originally Posted by ismaelg

These are not raw. These pictures were taken in JPEG mode as stated at the bottom of the post. I am still very early learning to work with raw. I have a 30x20 poster printed from a JPEG image I shot with my K100DS.
This is a totally manual 20+ years old lens that has not been even properly cleaned. Trust me, from 20 years of shooting with a K1000 I know how to expose manually. Lack of contrast was the low point of this lens back when shooting film.

Thanks,

Did you bracket the exposures?

[deejjjaaaa]

Originally Posted by Marc Sabatella

BTW, Samyang has been around a while; they make a varietyof different lens often marketed under other names.

recently discussed 85/1.4 : Bower | 85mm f/1.4 LENS f/PENTAX | SLY85P | B&H Photo Video

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by ismaelg

These are not raw. These pictures were taken in JPEG mode as stated at the bottom of the post. I am still very early learning to work with raw. I have a 30x20 poster printed from a JPEG image I shot with my K100DS.
This is a totally manual 20+ years old lens that has not been even properly cleaned. Trust me, from 20 years of shooting with a K1000 I know how to expose manually. Lack of contrast was the low point of this lens back when shooting film.

Thanks,

I think you mis-understood my point. I know you shot JPEG, BUT....

The JPEG settings are highly adjustable in terms of contrast, saturation, sharpness etc.

I modify these settings as a function of lighting condition and lens behavior, to produce JPEG images that are much closer to your finished post processed images with the intend that I am at the final image with the JPEG right out of the camera.

This takes time to learn, and has nothing to do with the exposure itself, as you state, if you have shot film for 20 years you know exposure.

In fact, I think about 18 months ago, there was a great post which showed the range of contrast and saturation possible within the camera

[ismaelg]

Originally Posted by Lowell Goudge

I think you mis-understood my point. I know you shot JPEG, BUT....

The JPEG settings are highly adjustable in terms of contrast, saturation, sharpness etc.

I modify these settings as a function of lighting condition and lens behavior, to produce JPEG images that are much closer to your finished post processed images with the intend that I am at the final image with the JPEG right out of the camera.

This takes time to learn, and has nothing to do with the exposure itself, as you state, if you have shot film for 20 years you know exposure.

In fact, I think about 18 months ago, there was a great post which showed the range of contrast and saturation possible within the camera

Thanks Lowell,

I now see what you mean. Do you have more information on those settings? I suppose they have nothing to do with the shooting mode (limited to fully manual in this case). I am new to this forum. I did a quick search but could not find the thread you mention. Any details to help find it?

Thanks,

[Lowell Goudge]

Originally Posted by ismaelg

Thanks Lowell,

I now see what you mean. Do you have more information on those settings? I suppose they have nothing to do with the shooting mode (limited to fully manual in this case). I am new to this forum. I did a quick search but could not find the thread you mention. Any details to help find it?

Thanks,

I think the best way is to read the manual (always first recomendation but last thing everyone ever does), and try changing the adjustments systematically.

You can do the same shot over and over, with the different settings and compare. This is what the posting I referenced did.

edit note see
More K10D saturation/contrast matrices
http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/116100-post19.html
K10D contrast/saturation settings matrix

What I do generally is modify only the contrast. Overall I am pleased with color saturation. my approach is set contrast to minimum on very bright days, and to maximum on dull days or when lighting is very flat.

This compensates for the difference in lighting.

For exposure, and this can sometimes be off on old lenses, is to shoot any uniform object (I like roads, sidewalks and block walls) the peak of the histogram should be in the center. Using a road was the way I set manual exposure years ago. I considered the road as a grey card.

[Ira]

That lens looks it should have been 7 elements, but they left a few out at the factory.

OUCH!

[cosmicap]

Originally Posted by Canada_Rockies

Looking good, Ismael. You know your Photoshop. By the way your "food bread" tree is, I think, called "bread fruit" in English. Don't ask me why, that's just the way English is.

Bread fruit can be delicious. Had access to a tree in Broome, West Australia, some years ago and used to slice it like chips and fry it like chips. Eat on a warm balmy evening with a leafy salad and an icy beer.

I have a Pentax SMC F 100 - 300 zoom which has always had miserable contrast. I tidy up the pictures very simply in iPhoto. A little less exposure, a little more contrast and a touch of saturation. Bingo! Then again I'm not a photographer's a****ole and I'm very easily satisfied! So much to learn......Would love to get to grips with PS.