Our-Lady-of-Miracles

This is a view of the top of Santa Maria dei Miracolo, one of the twin

churches in Popolo square in Rome. I assume the statue is of Mary

and the fish scale dome unique. The moon was both a blessing and a

processing challenge. Lost in Rome and following the crowds along Via

del Corso, my wife and I entered into this breath taking piazza, the

Piazza del Popolo (the people’s square) between twin churches (the

chiese gemelle) of Santa Maria in Montesanto to our right and Santa

Maria dei Miracolo to our left. I think neither one of us wanted to

leave this piazza anytime soon not just because we needed the rest but

because there was so much happening and so much to see in this piazza.

Seems everybody – locals and tourists came through Popolo. This

being the hub of so much activity was no accident. The piazza lies

inside the northern gate in the Aurelian Walls (a wall built as

fortification against invaders between 271and 275 AD extending 12mi

and surrounded an area of 5.3 mi). Popolo was a place for public

executions, the last of which took place in 1826. Before the age of

railroads, Popolo was a traveller’s first view of Rome upon arrival.

This is one that remains with me. Comments and critique welcome.

Hi Wayne,

A nice scene with the Moon as the added touch to this Artistic rendering.

The technical details do not comply with the lens stated.

An 85 mm lens at F/2.8 is not the zoom range for your Sigma lens. What happened  ?

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Thanks, Mike, for pointing out the lens error.  I forgot I pulled out the long lens once in Popolo. I had noticed a degradation in image quality when I started using my old (35mm) lens with digital equipment and I didn't think I was getting this level of resolution with this lens. I have changed the EXIF data. 

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the correction.

The image taken at 85 mm F/2.8 does reveal differences in the plane of focus at different locations in the image. You certainly did not set the lens to Infinity,as the Moon would have been sharper, and the building would need to be about 350 + feet away to look as it does now.

If auto-focus was used, it most likely locked onto the tower to the lef tside of the image, where the cross is located. At a range of 200 feet away from these structures, the effective DOF would cover the entire scene except the Moon.

Now, if you were standing closer, than using manual focus would be advised as the selection of best focus for clarity purposes would need to be more precise than auto-focusing can do.

The Sigma 70-210 APO lens used is not a true "APO" lens, but it does provide reasonable clarity level from F/2.8 to F/5.6 for any digital camera. The Nikon equivalent scores higher in all my lab tests between the two zoom lens.

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Very helpful information, Mike.  Bottom line - there is nothing wrong with my old long lens on my digital equipment, I am not using it properly (proper distance and focus point at a given focal length).

I know very well this church and so I can say this one is a very good shot and composition!

Hi Wayne,

  Beautiful image with wonderful composition, colors & details.  Like I have said before you make me wish I was there.  Take care, Patsy

Thanks, Maurizio and Patsy.  I think everything took my breath away in Rome.

Hi Wayne,

Part of the fun of imaging is that you can do it over and over again until you do achieve the best results from the camera and  lens that you are using.

In testing thousands of old lens as well as new ones, I have not ever come across a lens that is "for digital use only". From an optical design point of view, a good design is adequate for any type of media used. The only exception is found in highly technical areas (for scientific purposes) where a lens might need to be optimized for a specific wavelength, for a specific sensor package, etc..

You are wise to keep the Sigma 70-210 APO on the wide open to F/5.6 side of the f-stop settings.

Best Regards my friend, Mike

Very nice capture and very nice explanation about this beautiful and historical place!

Thanks for sharing.

Best regards/Sadegh

Thanks Mike & Sadegh.  Your comments are always appreciated and helpful.