Leica Q2 Monochrom - Image Thread

[Michi D]

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vor 54 Minuten schrieb Alan Friedman:

This rehabilitated eagle did not take to a tourist getting into his face with a 28mm lens, which might excuse this rushed snap with poor exposure... but it is fun to see how the Q2M files can be rehabilitated. I didn't work to quell the noise in the body feathers, just some quick stretching in Camera Raw. Cropped from a full frame shot with the lens wide open, just before he went for my nose.

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I have noticed this, too. It basically means higher (perceived) dynamic range I guess. One can expose to the right (highlights) and develop the shadows. 

[Alan Friedman]

38 minutes ago, Michi D said:

Looks great. What is the difference between taking one long exposure vs 40 shorter ones? Average out noise? Thanks 

I hope the original poster will share their thoughts on settings, but generally exposure length is limited by the earth's movement - stars will show trails if the shutter is left open too long. The Q2M's 28mm (26mm actual) should be able handle an exposure of 15 seconds or so before star trails are noticed. Basic rule of thumb is to divide 500 by your focal length for the maximum shutter in seconds.

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[Alan Friedman]

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[Michi D]

vor 26 Minuten schrieb Alan Friedman:

I hope the original poster will share their thoughts on settings, but generally exposure length is limited by the earth's movement - stars will show trails if the shutter is left open too long. The Q2M's 28mm (26mm actual) should be able handle an exposure of 15 seconds or so before star trails are noticed. Basic rule of thumb is to divide 500 by your focal length for the maximum shutter in seconds.

Thanks but I see to be missing something. If you do 40 exposures the stars should also move. So instead of moving stars they will multiply? Sorry, probably missing something obvious…

[Alan Friedman]

1 hour ago, Michi D said:

Thanks but I see to be missing something. If you do 40 exposures the stars should also move. So instead of moving stars they will multiply? Sorry, probably missing something obvious…

A good question!... This is not the kind of astronomy imaging that I do, but I'm guessing you can sum the exposures with the stars used as a registration marker and eliminate the foreground imagery, as that will move if you align on the stars. I hope @Jaredwill tell us more.

Edited August 1, 2022 by Alan Friedman

[jankap]

There exists software for this kind of stacking.

[Jared]

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5 hours ago, Michi D said:

Looks great. What is the difference between taking one long exposure vs 40 shorter ones? Average out noise? Thanks 

With a 28mm lens, depending on the part of the sky you are imaging, you are limited to about a 10s exposure before stars start to trail due to the Earth's rotation. So, rather than doing a long exposure, you do relatively short ones and then average the exposures together. When you average them together, you need to do it twice. The first time is just a straight average. You use this stack for the foreground since it won't move (aside from the water/waves which will just blur into softness).

Next, you ask Photoshop (or other software--there are a bunch of options--to auto-align on the stars. You often will need to crop out the foreground first or Photoshop will try to auto align on that. Then, after the layers have been auto-aligned on the stars, you convert to a smart object and perform a median combine. Median doesn't do quite as good a job as average for noise reduction, but it gets ride of satellite trails and aircraft really well. 

Then, you merge your two separate stacks.

You can also use products like "Starry Landscape Stacker" to try and simplify this process. It does a good job on many images, but not all. For example, I just processed a second image from the same night that included a lighthouse, and that really requires Photoshop to get a decent result. 

[Jared]

4 hours ago, Alan Friedman said:

I hope the original poster will share their thoughts on settings, but generally exposure length is limited by the earth's movement - stars will show trails if the shutter is left open too long. The Q2M's 28mm (26mm actual) should be able handle an exposure of 15 seconds or so before star trails are noticed. Basic rule of thumb is to divide 500 by your focal length for the maximum shutter in seconds.

The exact exposure before stars start to trail will depend on the part of the sky and the focal length. This image was almost due south and included the ecliptic, so the motion will be about as fast as it gets. For my comfort, that would limit exposure to 300/28 which would be about 10s. I think I chose the maximum exposure the Q2 allowed at the ISO I was using which was 4s. Honestly, I'm not sure what ISO is optimal for a Q2 Monochrome. I had a second complication which was a nearby lighthouse that would sweep this portion of beach every few seconds, and I didn't want to include that. 4s was a reasonable compromise.

[Jared]

3 hours ago, Alan Friedman said:

A good question!... This is not the kind of astronomy imaging that I do, but I'm guessing you can sum the exposures with the stars used as a registration marker and eliminate the foreground imagery, as that will move if you align on the stars. I hope @Jaredwill tell us more.

Exactly. You get Photoshop (or other software) to align the frames on the stars. You use a median combine for the sky in order to eliminate aircraft and satellites, and an un-aligned average combine for the foreground since it is mostly stationary.

[Mikael_L]

15 hours ago, TaoPicture said:

Love this photo. Im also Q2M user living and roaming the streets of Stockholm. Would be fun running into each other one day. 

Sure, that would be fun. I have seen a few with the regular Q2 but never anyone with a Q2M yet!

[Jared]

And here is the second image I took the same night. About a dozen separate 2s exposures. I was limited to 2s because of the rotating light of the lighthouse. I should have taken more frames, but it was late and I was tired.

This is the Gay Head Light from Aquinnah, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.  The bright "star" above the lighthouse is Jupiter.

 

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Edited August 1, 2022 by Jared

[Jared]

And a couple more from the same location, a couple days before (overcast). The lighthouse was open, so I even got some shots from inside. It's a beautiful location.

 

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[Michi D]

vor 7 Stunden schrieb Jared:

With a 28mm lens, depending on the part of the sky you are imaging, you are limited to about a 10s exposure before stars start to trail due to the Earth's rotation. So, rather than doing a long exposure, you do relatively short ones and then average the exposures together. When you average them together, you need to do it twice. The first time is just a straight average. You use this stack for the foreground since it won't move (aside from the water/waves which will just blur into softness).

Next, you ask Photoshop (or other software--there are a bunch of options--to auto-align on the stars. You often will need to crop out the foreground first or Photoshop will try to auto align on that. Then, after the layers have been auto-aligned on the stars, you convert to a smart object and perform a median combine. Median doesn't do quite as good a job as average for noise reduction, but it gets ride of satellite trails and aircraft really well. 

Then, you merge your two separate stacks.

You can also use products like "Starry Landscape Stacker" to try and simplify this process. It does a good job on many images, but not all. For example, I just processed a second image from the same night that included a lighthouse, and that really requires Photoshop to get a decent result. 

Great, thanks a lot for sharing those insides. Very interesting indeed. Will give this a try once I am in a less bright environment. Thanks again and keep up making fascinating pictures. 

[Trev]

On 6/14/2022 at 6:48 PM, Alan Friedman said:

Genesee County, NY

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Super. This Barn is a happy hunting ground for you.

[Alan Friedman]

Forest Lawn at close.

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[Alan Friedman]

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[Alan Friedman]

Lena and Nana.

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Edited August 2, 2022 by Alan Friedman

[Ba Erv]

Thai street artist

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[RobM]

A trip to the local rail museum at Bo'ness near Edinburgh. Fascinating place. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica Q

[RobM]

Train leaving...

 

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