halflife
Posts: 145
Location: Romania
Registered: 3 May 2006
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Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 5:45 GMT
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Hello my friends,
Recently I have acquire the famous  8mm Peleng lens. I have made a quick test and I want to ask you if this is normal; it doesn't look very sharp to me:
eugen360.deviantart.com/art/test-93335407
- tripod used
- mirror look-up function used
- Canon 400D XTi
- 1/640 sec.
- ISO 200
- f8
- focus of the lens set to infinity
Please tell me what you think?
Thank you!
All the best
Eugen.
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ebig
Posts: 159
Location: Haiku, Maui, Hawaii, United States
Registered: 21 May 2007
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 7:34 GMT
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I have made friends with this lens in hundreds of images.
You are showing a single jpeg exposure that appears not to have been converted from RAW with proper adjustments.
The image center looks fine, given the pixels per degree FOV provided by an 8mm lens. Obviously more images taken with a longer lens (say the 10.5mm Nikon) will give more pixels per degree, and therefore a larger, sharper image.
The Peleng should easily make a pano around 8000x4000 pixels. As with any 8mm, the edges are not perfect and in this shot I don't see any of the normal Peleng's obnoxious internal reflections.
When used carefully for a 360, with multiple exposures blended together, the lens can do good work within the limitations of being manual and requiring careful post-processing.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
Ed
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frozenjaZz
Posts: 47
Location: France
Registered: 8 Apr 2008
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 7:46 GMT
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Hello,
I used Peleng a lot before going for the Sigma.
Your image is fine, but could be sharper I think if you used a setting other than infinity.
On the Peleng, the best setting is usually not infinity, but rather 2 meters or sometimes 1 meter. On mine, 2 meters is the best compromise at f8.
See this pano: www.cedricsimon.com/panos/fl.php?dir=2008/montsto...
350D, Peleng, f8, 2 meters.
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mhc1
Posts: 193
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Registered: 29 Dec 2005
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 7:52 GMT
updated: 31 Jul 2008 at 7:53 GMT
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Eugen,
on my Sigma 8 infinty is by far not the best setting.
Try to set it hyperfocal.
Turn the infinity mark to the used aperture.
I did some tests with the Sigma and found (as many others too) that 1m setting is much better as infinity settimg.
Stop down to F8, I think the lens is best there.
You should do some test with various setting and then decide which one is the best for your part.
Ciao
Mike
www.360de.de
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rudders
Posts: 380
Location: North Yorkshire & Northern England, United Kingdom
Registered: 21 Aug 2005
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 8:03 GMT
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The peleng is well known for have variations between lens 'batches' We use it mainly with a 40d and the one we have is impressively sharp. Make sure you have it set at F8 or F11 at least.
The way we got the best setting for the lens was to set it up in a static indoor scene and take a single frame and change the lens settings as you go but keep the camera settings exactly the same in manual mode. then you will find the optimum. Ours is set to completely the opposite we expected! 
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halflife
Posts: 145
Location: Romania
Registered: 3 May 2006
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 10:27 GMT
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Hi,
Thanks a lot for the replies.. I will try to go under "infinity". Another problem is that if I remove the filter (UV I presume) from the rear side the image is more blurry... I thought it will be better but not... 
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ebig
Posts: 159
Location: Haiku, Maui, Hawaii, United States
Registered: 21 May 2007
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 31 Jul 2008 at 17:22 GMT
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Hi halflife,
Yes the rear removable lens is part of the lens system but is removable so there is a place for gels.
To me the Peleng can be marginally sharper than the Sigma when stopped down (not too far,) however the Sigma has two advantages (from my perspective.)
1-It is sharper when used at wider open f-stops than the Peleng, and 2- the internal reflections of the Sigma are much better controlled.
This latter need not be a big problem for 360s, though it may take a little more care in shooting and post processing. This implies that the Sigma offers a little more freedom of use(fewer constraints.)
Generally the Peleng is less contrasty than the Sigma. Your sample image is contrasty, which suggests the contrast on your camera may not be turned down, and so DR will suffer. Often using RAW, combined with PS Highlights & Shadows, much more shadow detail should be revealed.
Regards,
Ed
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Ashnak
Posts: 1
Location: United States
Registered: 7 Aug 2008
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 7 Aug 2008 at 19:29 GMT
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I also have the Peleng and I've noticed that focusing at infinity at f8 gives me the sharpest results. However when I try to use it indoors I have mixed results. Can anybody provide some feedback in the settings used indoors, specifically focusing distance.
Thanks in advance,
Ashnak
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Tom Vogel
Posts: 27
Location: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Registered: 5 Mar 2007
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 8 Aug 2008 at 3:34 GMT
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I am more than pleased with my Peleng. I love the 'Old School' construction of this lens. I place it on my Canon 400 xTi and it gives it a stroke - half of the digital settings go into a coma. Which is fine by me. I simply roll up my sleeves, set it to F8 / position the infinity mark under the little number 8 (hyperfocal focusing is simply the best) and every image is crisp and in deep focus.
I agree - the lens flare issue is the only true handicap with this lens. I get around this by shooting under whatever shade is available (under branches - the shade of lamp posts ... etc. When I can avoid shooting directly into the sun, I have a simple trick that is equally 'Old School'. I place my finger in the frame so that it just blots out the sun. I do this for at least 3 of the 8 shots I'll take that pan across the sun's path. I later clone stamp my finger out in PhotoShop. This is so easy because the part of sky that I'm dealing with is bleached white by the sheer intensity of the light. You'd never know my hand was in the shot and the shadow it provided during the shoot boosts the rich contrast throughout the rest of the image.
Give me a metal & glass lens with less digital buttons and knobs any day! Peleng is a winner in my books
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rudders
Posts: 380
Location: North Yorkshire & Northern England, United Kingdom
Registered: 21 Aug 2005
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Re: Peleng sharpness
Posted: 8 Aug 2008 at 10:36 GMT
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Another little thing to remember is as its a manual lens.. once youve found your optimum settings, fix them. So many times I forgot to put the apeture lock on and ruined the shot. Now I have put a strip of black tape under the lens across the rings to keep them all in place.
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