Advice for architectural shots

[Shirozina]

7 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Fair point about many real estate shoots being low cost / high volume shoots. 

In that case it is very important that you have a highly functional camera which operates smoothly to just get out of the way and let you get your shots!

In which case the Panasonic GH5 is the clear winner hear ahead of any other hybrid/stills camera. 

Apart from the fact that the small sensor makes the OP's existing wide shift lenses near useless.........

[IronFilm]

T-S in video is rather rare, he can still stand out without using them. 
And if the budgets are so low and turn around is so tight, then they don't justify being used anyway!

[noone]

4 hours ago, IronFilm said:

T-S in video is rather rare, he can still stand out without using them. 
And if the budgets are so low and turn around is so tight, then they don't justify being used anyway!

If you have the lenses, why doesn't it justify using them?     It is not like you can only use a lens so many times.

The fact that it IS rare in video could well be a selling point for further jobs.

You CAN use the TS lenses on M43 but it isn't as useful for the OPs needs I think.      Maybe the 17mm TS-E on the GH5 would have some use for real estate but I know I don't like it on my GX7 (with or without focal reducer) anywhere near as much as on my A7s.

With the FF Sony's, you also get double duty by having APSC and FF and you can also use the TS-E lenses as zooms in video using clearzoom (variable to 2x is close to lossless at 2x and even better at less).

[noone]

Very quick and dirty (and temporary) shot using the 17 TS-E on the A7s shifting and then using Clearzoom.     Was tripod mounted (I know it isn't level- but this was very quick and it is cold away from my heater) and about ISO 8000 I think.     Normally I would have used maybe f8 (this was 5.6).

 

[maxotics]

@noone it may be difficult for people to appreciate what you've done without having that next to footage shot with a normal lens.  

I agree, doing TS architectural stuff on a 5D3 (especially since it now has 3K and 10bit RAW) would definitely make the OP stand out.

[noone]

47 minutes ago, maxotics said:

@noone it may be difficult for people to appreciate what you've done without having that next to footage shot with a normal lens.  

I agree, doing TS architectural stuff on a 5D3 (especially since it now has 3K and 10bit RAW) would definitely make the OP stand out.

I am a stills shooter who just dabbles in video and this really needs someone better at this than me to properly demonstrate but it is simple to do with a TS lens.

I think the 17 might best show for exteriors of buildings from fairly close in.     I don't have any other 17mm lens but it is the local show here this weekend and I am thinking (if I get there) that it might be ideal to shoot a Ferris wheel from close in at night both shifted and not (and if I am allowed a tripod in a busy sideshow alley).

[maxotics]

56 minutes ago, noone said:

I am a stills shooter who just dabbles in video and this really needs someone better at this than me to properly demonstrate but it is simple to do with a TS lens.

I think the 17 might best show for exteriors of buildings from fairly close in.     I don't have any other 17mm lens but it is the local show here this weekend and I am thinking (if I get there) that it might be ideal to shoot a Ferris wheel from close in at night both shifted and not (and if I am allowed a tripod in a busy sideshow alley).

You just need to shoot the first clip with no shift, than the second clip with it shifted to straighten the verticals, say, to give people an idea of what TS lenses can do.   The main problem is that to shoot vertical doorways the angle to the farthest point of the frame at the top but equal the angle at the bottom.  In other words, the camera must be facing at center of your verticals.  The beauty of TS lenses is you can shoot towards the lower 3rd of the doorway say, and shift the image down to square the image so to speak.   That is, you can "bend" the top 3rd of your vertical to appear straight.

[noone]

1 hour ago, maxotics said:

You just need to shoot the first clip with no shift, than the second clip with it shifted to straighten the verticals, say, to give people an idea of what TS lenses can do.   The main problem is that to shoot vertical doorways the angle to the farthest point of the frame at the top but equal the angle at the bottom.  In other words, the camera must be facing at center of your verticals.  The beauty of TS lenses is you can shoot towards the lower 3rd of the doorway say, and shift the image down to square the image so to speak.   That is, you can "bend" the top 3rd of your vertical to appear straight.

The clip I posted at the start has no shift, then I shifted during the video and then I used zoom (while  shifted).    It doesn't show up with converging verticals because in the middle of that passageway it doesn't look bad for converging verticals.  

 

It really shows up the closer you get to a building/wall or for taller structures.     Yes you have to be in the centre or it can look odd sometimes (both stills and video).  

I will try and shoot something where the difference shows more.

[Shirozina]

If you are careful you can manually do a vertical or horizontal pan with a shift lens. One thing to avoid with shift lenses and video is moving the camera - panning while having a lots of shift as the aparent movement in the shifted corners can be quite excessive. They are best used for locked off shots. Also If your clients are architects they won't understand a world that is not in 2 point perspective............ 

[Marc T]

Thanks again for your feedback!

I have three TS lenses, it is main reason I am looking for the best way to use them for architectural video. I do not expect to shift the lens while recording, but to record static shots (with the lens shifted) while something happens in the scene or very slow slide movements.

Reading your comments, I am convinced that I have to give ML a try, furthermore with the new guide published here at Eoshd.

But I still have the doubt about the GH5 and Metabones. How can I achieve the 1.28x crop from my TS FF lenses in the GH5? The 17TS should became a 22mm and the 24TS a 31mm, not so bad. But someone pointed out that sharpness would fall sooo much. Please, do you have any example of this effect? I would like to evaluate it from the point of view of video, which is far less demanding than a fine art print.

 

[Shirozina]

You get a 0.71x focal reduction with the speedbooster so your 17mm becomes a 12mm = 24mm equivalent. I have only used a speed booster on my Sony A7r2 in APS-C mode and was disappointed by the sudden fall off or field curvature at the frame edges but you could get around this by using the teleconverter setting in the GH5 with some loss of coverage. Maybe the speedbooster for M43 is better than the one for APS-C as well? I'd still say a full frame camera gives you more options as it's easier to get longer focal lengths with M43 than wider ones. I've just bought a GH5 but I don't intend on using it for my architectural work and if I wanted to go into video of architecture I'd use ( and have used) my A7s with an external recorder to get UHD 8bit 4.2.2 files on ProRes for the highest quality  - I wouldn't feel comfortable passing on highly compressed 4.2.0 footage to a paying client......

[noone]

I have never shifted while recording before.     I just did that because I was being lazy and it was cold and I didn't want to upload two lame temporary videos.

I am still deciding if I go to the show (I really want to try and shoot a few things there up close but it isn't all that good a show by most accounts this year).

Here are two stills shot from the same spot with the same settings (f8 1/60) except shift being used in one of them ISOs (auto ISO) 40,000 unshifted and 32,000 shifted.  

   Just hand held jpeg snaps (I took the 17 and A7s for a early morning walk).    Video would be very similar.