ppenguin

Hi all, Reporting back on what I did with the advice given to me on this thread. I eventually got a very good deal on black Friday for a new "Manfrotto MVH400AH Befree Live video head" 20% less than some were fighting for one on ebay! Having used the head on my lightweight tripod ( sirii T-025X) a few times while creeping up on otters I have the following observations. The panning arm weighs in at 100grams and produces enough turning moment with its mass and length that I cannot position my video camera on the mount so that it balances and does not tip upwards when not held manually. This was overcome by making my own panning handle out of an old artist paint brush handle weighing all of 7grams. Now it is in balance. The panning motion is smooth and the resistance is quite stiff but manageable. I do need to hold the tripod firmly or hang weight on it. The two axis screws are just for locking the head not adjusting friction. I suspect using them as friction adjustments could lead to scraping damage and jerky motion. Finally I suspect the viscosity of the fluid (silicon grease?) means there is a small amount of rebound at the end of a pan, i.e. the head springs back a small amount which means following moving targets is not as smooth as you would wish for. Having said that this is a fairly inexpensive and very lightweight (380g) piece of equipment and I am generally very happy with it. Paul

Thanks for the reply Ed-Ingold. Following your suggestion I have come around to liking the look of the "Manfrotto MVH400AH Befree Live video head" which is also lighter at 380g than the cheapo head I have which weighs in at 450g

Hello, I am looking for suggestions for a lightweight, compact pan/tilt head for recording wildlife (otters and birds etc) on my Panasonic HDC-SD80 video recorder. I has to be lightweight otherwise it won't get taken out with me when I go walking, and I cannot carry a lot due to ill health. I bough at very lightweight tripod ( sirii T-025X) which has improved things massively. The ball head that comes with the tripod is no use, and I have cheep “Andoer Aluminum Alloy Q08 Video Tripod Ball Head 3-way Fluid Head” which does for the moment but is fundamentally cr&p. I have had the head apart in an attempt to smooth up movement but it is not a long term solution. I realise that lightweight and tripod etc are generally classed as opposites on the quality scales but someone may have a great idea for my needs. I am not trying to shoot award winning video, I just want to record wildlife as well as possible. Many thanks

I guess the first thing to say is my setup looks rather underwhelming, but having said that it is carefuly thoughtout and setup and the results are in the detail. The photographing took place in my lounge which is spartanly furnished as I have not been in the house long. The walls are almost white and the floor pale oak, The snaps make it look more coloured. Snap 1 shows my painting stand which is cobbled together from a extendable ladder, 2 g clamps and a couple of bits of wood leaned against the wall. The wood has coloured pins marking positions of the painting as this one was shot in 2 sections. This arrangement allows paintings to be slid left and right and rotated 180 degrees once everything else is setup. Snap 1 shows the small mirror dangled on thread held flat aginst the paintings surface which is used to get the camera exactly perpendicular to the picture which is CRUCIAL for sharp images. The camera is on a cobbled togther astronomical tripod with heavy weight in a bag, I will get a better tripod eventually but this system is steady enough. Flash units are mounted on cheap stands which do the job. The position of everything was adjusted until results were ok and the positions were marked on the floor with small white tape triangles and measurements taken as shown in diagram, the tape is still there. Equipment used : Eos 750D 24Mpix, Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. 2 YongNuo YN-560 III flash units, a Yongnuo RF603 Flash Trigger. colordata spyderchecker and spyder5 express monitor calibrator. Settings: Raw Large + jpeg, F11, ISO 100, WB flash but irrelevant as shooting raw, Flash zoom 50mm, Flash power 1/4. Flash angled down to match tilt of picture. Curtians closed so room dark, Mirror lockup was used with a 2 second delay till shooting. Focusing was done in auto then switched to manual once satisfied. Basically all the above was setup then the sections were shot moving the painting on the stand between shots.

Hi David I think I took a couple of pictures of my fimal setup, I will put together a summary of what i did

Hi Joe I do apply lens corrections when processing the raw files. I also allow a generous overlap of the sections so I can check exposure in the spliced areas. It also allows me to avoid the areas of most significant vignetting, which I don't think is that strong for the 60mm macro I am using.

Hi Joe I have just spent the last 3 hours in photoshop investigating or should that be messing around with this problem so you reply is very timely. Your suggestion looks to be the way to go, I was in the right area but confirmation by someone better informed really helps. I think the difference between my photographed image (the first shown above) and the printers scan (second image) lies in the reflected light due to surface texture picked up by the printers scanner ( epson expression 11000xl) you can see this by clicking on the pictures above. This texture reflected light greys the darks in the image so there is no/very little pure black. The last 3 images are my photographs the full paintings which are are about 3 to 4 feet wide. I think they have come out well apart from the darks being too insistant, which I can now fix. Photographing the paintings in sections required careful adjustment of the flash lighting to get even exposure over the photographed area. Any variation shows up as edges in the pale blue sky when stitching together the sections. Thanks Joe!

Hello, reporing back on my 'adventures' so far in photographing art work. I have purchaced: Eos 750D, a couple of YongNuo YN-560 III flash units, a Yongnuo RF603 Flash Trigger, colordata spyderchecker and spyder5 express monitor calibrator. Finally after two failed attempts, broken E-bay purchaces, I got a very good Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM that works. I have used the standard setup of 2 flashes at 45 deg to the painting, shooting raw. Grey, white and black points set with spyderchecker. the larger paintings shot in sections and manually stiched together. Shearwaters Printer.jpg shows the scan i had done on a epson 11000 high resolutuion scanner in the past and sheaerwaters 750D.jpg shows the results of my efforts with the same picture. These pictures show the results at actual pixel resolution. I have also included a shot of the whole painting. Overall I am happy with the results and have had some prints made with my 750D pictures (which have sold). However I have notice that the darks in the prints are a bit too insistent and would like to reduce their intensity a bit, they are too dark and loose the colours in the shaddows, Low water750D and Puffin750D show examples of this. Can you offer advice on how to reduce this over darkness using photoshop I have been experimenting and not been successful, I just want to soften the darks. My work flow has been to photograph in raw, correct with colordata spyderchecker on a calibrated monitor. The 750D is a great camera, a mighty improvement on my old 350D. Many Thanks

Hi All Update, I have bought a Eos 750D and am awaiting the arrival of Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. I am currently trying to buy a couple of YongNuo YN-560 III flash units and a Yongnuo RF-602 or 603 Flash Trigger. My problem is selcting the correct model of trigger that is compatible with the 750D. Anyone know which one I need? this info would be greatfully received. I am try to buy on amazon in the uk Thanks

Thank you for that information William. I looks like they are very similar beasts. The 60mm lense being a newer offering though. Paul

Hi All I am having difficulty sourcing a Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens, I failed to get after two good examples on ebay. I was wondering how the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM compairs performance wise as there seem to be more available? Thanks

Thankyou all for your guidance this far. I am away for the 'festive' season and will be thinking over my next steps, probably talking to my printer in the new year and then deciding on how to proceed. It is my intention to follow up and add to this thread about how it goes, even if its just to say it became all too daunting or expensive. Many thanks

Thankyou Joe for the flash recomendations. I hope is the last part in the puzzle. When you come at something like this it is difficult to navigate a clear path through all the information, suggestions and counter opinions. I have done a lot of research for this. Two of the best web sites I initially found were. Photographing Paintings with a DSLR | Marc Dalessio and How to Photograph Paintings and Prints with Copy Lighting From these sites I devised my initial test setup shown in my first post, now I am looking at something quite different thanks to you contributions. The suggested lense means i really need to work horizontally for a start. On the subject CFL light sources can you tell from the histograms whether they are comprimised light source, not that I intend to use them now. On the subject of reflections off impasto, you definitly need some as thats what you get when you view the painting in a gallery. Although the question of how pictures are lit for viewing in galleries is a good one, as conservation of the painting is often a major consideration as well.

William I was quite liking the 750D for its similarity to the 350D in size and weight. I need a replacement for my old knackered 350D for when I am painting outdoors and need reference pictures. I think the 750 should provide enough pixels per inch for most work, I can handle stitching the odd large work together as long as I can achive good exposures and the Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro Lens sounds just the job. Joe I get the point that 300 pixels per inch is only a recommendation and the quality of everything else about the picture is crucial to success. I have been shooting in manual and keeping the same settings between exposures. Paddler4 I have been and will continue to shoot raw and use custom WB. I plan to get a colour checker as well. Thanks for the vote for the mentioned lens, it is good to have agreement on things Can anyone point me to some links for suitable flash units I intend to get 2 to begin with, this is the area thats a real of an unknown for me. Many thanks

William Thank you for the macro lens explanation, that makes things clearer. I am now searching for your suggested lenses specs so I can get to grips with shooting distances from the paintings. Regarding the print sizes I have up till now been producing ¾ size prints of my larger works (paulhowey.co.uk), the largest print being 36” x 18” which sells well. Some of my on going works are up to 48”on one dimension. Bill Thanks for taking the time to explain about CFL,s and their spectra, I understand the points your making and can see it is an issue you have had to confront and explain more than a few times. I will look to flash for my illumination and at least I can use the tripods from the CFL lights I have to mount the flash.