M8 observations

[guy_mancuso]

Well as I sat and poured over hundreds of images of a wedding in C1 than went back and tried some in ACR and right now i am finding I like ACR but it does have a touch of too much red . Okay i went back and picked some random images from this thing , now let me say right off the bat I DON"T DO WEDDINGS. LOL But my lovely wife and her big mouth put me in a bad spot and could not say no. Anyway if you like the images fine if not that is okay too but not the reason i am showing them. I do have some observations on this system that i would like to share . First the lenses are killer but lets go image by image and i will give you some thoughts. this image was shot with daylight coming in the room with the 75mm lux at f2 i believe. this image is WHY you buy this lens. It just has great falloff afteryour point of focus. I like both eyes in focus, Guy's preference but i like falloff . One reason i shoot protraits with a 180 f2 sumi on the DMR is for this effect

[guy_mancuso]

Next on my hit list and you will see this on almost all images is the IR filter , it works and there is no question about it after 9 k images i will swear on a stack of bibles it works. This image is outside at ISO 320. BTW i shot this whole wedding at ISO 320 and inside stuff at ISO 640. I am not a noise fan. Back to the IR filter, here is a classic example of cheap suits from a rental house that are half polyester and no magenta bleed.

[guy_mancuso]

Next color and saturation. Frankly i think Leica beats everyone to a pulp on this alone . No flames please not interested in debating it.

But look at the reds , frankly i have had major issues with reds in other systems . Now this is exactly like the color of the dress it is not a pure red but very close in real life

[guy_mancuso]

Now i didi say these are running a touch red so we need to calibrate ACR a little and one reason i say this is the lady on the right i have been with for 20 years and i certainly know her skin tone color and it is a touch red not a lot but slightly. BTW this is ISO 640 with a Metz. Also again no IR issues . This would be loaded without a filter

[guy_mancuso]

Okay first one is the 75 lux again in overcast sky and it handled it pretty well.BTW the groom is a red face kid, nothing i can do there. LOL

Second image is the 50 lux and the second and third one has Metz fill

[philipotto]

VERY well done Guy!
Will you shoot my wedding?

[guy_mancuso]

Last issue that we need to tackle or should I say leica and that is cyan cast. here is a 21mm and it is obvious at least to me that there is a cyan drift here that needs to be controlled . It really comes up in the 21 the 28 on certain things yes but still not acceptable , the 35mm I barely notice it but again it needs to go bye bye. This image it is obviously there and reason i am showing it and frankly reason i am showing all of these in the first place. is to point out certain things with this system.

So my final observations are this if I did not think it was worth it , i would have sold the whole lot months ago, that is the bottom line . But the images are stellar in many ways and the camera is a small tool that cranks out great images that is hard to pass on. After months with this i could not sell it even if i tried my heart would be ripped out. BUT we still need to clear the air here and that is the cyan drift must go PERIOD. And with that cure we need to calibrate and profile the raw processors to get the critical color we need. Okay most clients would never notice it is slightly off but i do and that is what counts and i come first. The bug fixes need to be fixed and we all know that is a short time away. Too me the biggies are the cyan cast , let's solve these shutdowns and new profiles. lets throw in a couple fast wides to boot .

[philipotto]

I like the first shot BTW.
I was waiting to see photos from the wedding.

A very lucky bride and groom.

[carcam]

Wow- very nice. A tribute to the M8 and your skill.

[eronald]

Originally Posted by carcam

Wow- very nice. A tribute to the M8 and your skill.

Guy,

Nice work - try and run some thru my profile and tell me if the red faces are still there.

Edmund

[guy_mancuso]

Well thanks guys but there are certainly better wedding shooters out there for sure but the key is i did a nice job and they will be happy . So as long as i did a decent job than i feel good. I'm much better at other things that I shoot.

BTW just for the record all i had was 2 M8's and 7 lenses, that does say i trust the system.

[guy_mancuso]

Originally Posted by eronald

Guy,

Nice work - try and run some thru my profile and tell me if the red faces are still there.

Edmund

Edmund let's try the first one again in C1 the first run at it was green. i will try the linear lowsat on linear respnse. i still don't see that portrait one you sent me. BTW i do like Edmunds profiles too they are a little less red.

[thpeters]

Guy,

Great pictures on that wedding party, thanks for sharing.

And remember ALCOHOL in peoples bodies give always a more red skin.....right?


Coming week my M8 is coming, I keep you all updated.

Theo

[eronald]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Edmund let's try the first one again in C1 the first run at it was green. i will try the linear lowsat on linear respnse. i still don't see that portrait one you sent me. BTW i do like Edmunds profiles too they are a little less red.

You mean the portrait look- did you try it ?

Edmund

[guy_mancuso]

i can't seem to find it in the program

[eronald]

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

i can't seem to find it in the program

Guy -

It's an exposure file, which complements a profile.

Save an exposure setting - with the box with an arrow going down in the exposure tab. Give it a cute name. Find where it got written, then drop the portrait look there.
Load it in with the the box with an arrow going up icon.

Edmund

[guy_mancuso]

Found it and you have to load it. Big dummy I am , give me minute and will post together

[guy_mancuso]

Well i will be burned at the stake . This is really nice Edmund the red seemed to go away

Side by side

ACR
Than Edmunds Low sat linear with the loaded portrait look.

[eronald]

Guy,

Thank you ! The way it works is you need to load the profile and look, convert, and then you go into PS and apply a curve to get some brilliance back into the image.

The look gives you the midtone space you need for retouching, but when yourd finished you want to spiff the result up a bit again.

Edmund

Originally Posted by guy_mancuso

Well i will be burned at the stake . This is really nice Edmund the red seemed to go away

Side by side

ACR
Than Edmunds Low sat linear with the loaded portrait look.

[guy_mancuso]

Yes it looks much better than what i had before , this was a quickie too so i will play with it some more. But Edmund very nice job my friend .