cv 15mm seriously vignettes

[morgan]

I finally got a few shots off with the cv 15 today at the beach. Even maxing it out in lightroom couldn't get rid of it. I was getting images that looked very Holga like. I'm kind of bummed a bit, but otherwise love the camera. I also oddly at trouble focusing it, which doesn't usually happen very easily with this lens. Here's an image with the vignetting maxed out in lightroom and it still doesn't clear it up.

 

[Ororaro]

So what do you think? All the CV 15 are like that or just your bad sample?

 

[Johnmcd]

So what do you think? All the CV 15 are like that or just your bad sample?

Ouch! How about you tell us what you really think!

Morgan, have you tried shooting raw and using the Epson Raw to convert? It has a quite effective vignetting settings to remove / adjust.

John

 

[Ororaro]

What I really think: I'm extremely astounded at the very low level of knowledge or even common sense regarding this issue.

Look at the image: The center is blurry and the edges are sharp. I think it's seriously front-focusing. Isn't this a clear indication of the lens being out of alignment? And not a single serious company in the world would market a lens with such severe light falloff. So it's clear the sample has probably been seriously abused.

All this combined to stiff focusing makes me suspect the focusing barrel inside is broken.

 

[PICHA]

Vignetting is normal with this lens, shut at least 2 or 3 stops to reduce it. Don't forget the rangefinder is not coupled.

 

[Johnmcd]

What I really think: I'm extremely astounded at the very low level of knowledge or even common sense regarding this issue.

Look at the image: The center is blurry and the edges are sharp. I think it's seriously front-focusing. Isn't this a clear indication of the lens being out of alignment? And not a single serious company in the world would market a lens with such severe light falloff. So it's clear the sample has probably been seriously abused.

All this combined to stiff focusing makes me suspect the focusing barrel inside is broken.

I have looked at the image and you may well be correct and the lens is damaged. I personally think it is hard, on an image this size, to determine what you believe is hard evidence of this fact. But then again, perhaps my eyes aren't what they used to be.

Perhaps the Op could comment on the sharpness of this and the other shots which may confirm your thoughts.

I don't own this lens but it is usually well regarded and the vignetting is probably worse on a R-D1 than a film body.

Thanks for expanding on your first post, I now know exactly where you are coming from.

 

[Johnmcd]

Vignetting is normal with this lens, shut at least 2 or 3 stops to reduce it. Don't forget the rangefinder is not coupled.

I agree. I imagine that at most F stops focusing would just about take care of itself.

 

[morgan]

I've had the lens for awhile and used it on my film bodies with good results. It never vignetted this badly on film. It's mostly been sitting for maybe a year. I took a few shots during a snowstorm a few months back with it on my R2A, and it was fine. I'll try and take a few more shots with it tomorrow on the R-D1 and see what happens. This was shot raw and converted in lightroom. I think this was probably shot at 5.6 or 8, given that it was very bright out. NB23, now that you mention it, the focus ring feels kind of loose, and I don't remember it being that way before. I don't think I necessarily "abused" the lens, which bought new. When it does come with me, it's usually in a case in my bag. But who knows, perhaps it might need a repair...

 

[georgef]

the 15 indeed has fall off on the RD1, but that is known about this lens. However, it does not show the OOF centre your has. This is kinda weird because even if it front focused, the image as a whole would exhibit that, not just the middle😕

Here is a shot with mine; most of mine have this quality; I personaly like the vignetting about this lens the best! I tend to keep that quality in my images.
you may indeed have a reapir comming up.🙁

 

[mobilexile]

...have you tried shooting raw and using the Epson Raw to convert? It has a quite effective vignetting settings to remove / adjust...

John:

Can you please speak to the technique you use for processing?

I'm waiting on an RD-1S and am curious about how the Epson RAW software fits into your workflow. Do you run images through it then into Lightroom / Aperature / Capture One (Pro?)? Do you only use the Epson app then go into Photoshop? Other?

Would also be interested in hearing from others.

Thank you.

 

[Johnmcd]

John:

Can you please speak to the technique you use for processing?

I'm waiting on an RD-1S and am curious about how the Epson RAW software fits into your workflow. Do you run images through it then into Lightroom / Aperature / Capture One (Pro?)? Do you only use the Epson app then go into Photoshop? Other?

Would also be interested in hearing from others.

Thank you.

Hi,

I did use a beta version of Capture One (that has now expired) that gave good results but the Epson Raw plugin for Photoshop is very convenient and has some very useful features. Such as B/W filters and vignetting adjustment.

The vignetting adjustment is as easy as selecting what lens you used and a sliding scale to adjust. My widest is the 21mm Skopar so I only use it sparingly on the 35mm setting and only on images with lots of sky.

Epson Raw loads up automatically when a .erf file is selected from Adobe Bridge (which can also view the files).

My work flow is probably best summarised as,

1. View thumbnails and open from CS2 Bridge

2. Loads Epson Raw where I,

a) adjust white balance
b) adjust exposure
c) rotate
d) maybe sepia
e) maybe select graypoint if converting infrared

3. Then hit 'ok' which sends it to Photoshop for,

a) levels
b) saturation adjustment (if necessary)
c) sharpening (Smart sharpen - Amount 100%, radius 0.3)
d) resize
e) saving

I find the quality of Epson Raw at least as good as Capture One.

Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy the camera as much as I do.

Cheers,

John

 

[Pherdinand]

Excuse me, but this is a 15mm rectilinear super-ultrawide lens.
Look it up anywhere on the Net, how a 15mm ultrawide behaves regarding light falloff.
Even a 50mm summicton has a 1.5 stops vignetting. My 35mm lens on the konica hexar af is visibly vignetting. Shoot blue skies on a slide film and you will go crazy trying to reduce vignetting with a wide angle.

Ned might be right about that sharpness thing, though. Looks funky. Or maybe you misfocused it badly, and things at the frame edge are much closer, and those are in focus?

 

[morgan]

I'm not ignorant about the light fall off on the 15. Like I said, I've had it for awhiile and used it a lot on my R2A. It seems more severe on the R-D1 though. Like somebody else above said, I kind of like the effect as well (at least when I want it, rather than as a matter of course). I actually kind of like the image I attached. The focus thing is more strange though, I'm going to go out today and take some shots with it at different settings and see what's going on.

 

[morgan]

I just took a few shots. Below f11 it's a blurry mess with serious vignetting. F11 on up, as sharp as it's ever been and looks pretty good. I guess it should go in for a repair somewhere. I probably rarely shot this at over f 5.6 previously since i usually used 400 or 1600 speed film and it used to be great. Any ideas where to send it? I bought it from Cameraquest...

 

[myoptic3]

Thanks georgef for sharing that photo. While I am not a fan of digital images, I have to admit that one looks great, and it's the dreamy quality of the lens vignetting that compliments that. Obviously, this is a lens that should only be used in certain circumstances. At least w/ digital you can preview it afterward and see if it works, or whether you should switch to a wider lens. If you are shooting w/ light skies like the picture morgan took it might not be the way to go.

 

[Shac]

Morgan - looking at your posted picture not only is the centre out of focus but the lens isn't really vignetting. There is no darkening in the bottom corners (although it's there in the top corners) - also there's an obvious dark area in the upper centre region with light patches either side. Very strange. So as NB23 suggests - there might be major internal problems

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Here is a shot with mine; most of mine have this quality; I personaly like the vignetting about this lens the best! I tend to keep that quality in my images.
you may indeed have a reapir comming up.🙁

Gorgeous.

(typing more words because RFF system thinks my message is too short. There. That should do it. What do you think? Ok)

 

[mobilexile]

Hi,

I did use a beta version of Capture One (that has now expired) that gave good results but the Epson Raw plugin for Photoshop is very convenient and has some very useful features. Such as B/W filters and vignetting adjustment.

The vignetting adjustment is as easy as selecting what lens you used and a sliding scale to adjust. My widest is the 21mm Skopar so I only use it sparingly on the 35mm setting and only on images with lots of sky.

Epson Raw loads up automatically when a .erf file is selected from Adobe Bridge (which can also view the files).

My work flow is probably best summarised as,

1. View thumbnails and open from CS2 Bridge

2. Loads Epson Raw where I,

a) adjust white balance
b) adjust exposure
c) rotate
d) maybe sepia
e) maybe select graypoint if converting infrared

3. Then hit 'ok' which sends it to Photoshop for,

a) levels
b) saturation adjustment (if necessary)
c) sharpening (Smart sharpen - Amount 100%, radius 0.3)
d) resize
e) saving

I find the quality of Epson Raw at least as good as Capture One.

Hope this helps and I hope you enjoy the camera as much as I do.

Cheers,

John

John:

Thank you for the detailed post. It's interesting to hear how others tweak / fine tune their imagery.

I dabbled with Capture One Pro a while back. Have also test driven Aperature but have fallen in love with Lightroom. Will have to check out the Epson RAW app and see how it performs for my needs.

I'm also an experienced Photoshop user. That said, I don't convert with Pshop, I find it does a marginal job at best.

Again, thx.

Dave

 

[Pherdinand]

The digital sensors are more sensitive to light coming in a large angle of incidence (i.e. far from perpendicular)than film... This is especially the case for wide angles.
Combined with a slide film-like lower dynamic range, this can lead to more serious vignetting.
Maybe that's why you see it more pronounced with the rd-1, although the cropping factor should help a bit.

 

[Geo]

may be just me, but I don't mind vignetting at all.
I have a 12mm and don't make any effort to correct the vignetting.
Geo