Well, there certainly is a sharpness difference. The ice and snow also make it a bit harder to compare. I remember the shot and rather liked it. One of those "obvious" fisheye shots that is fun to look at and works quite well.
-- Best regards, Bruce Monday, February 7, 2005, 9:00:28 PM, you wrote: PJA> Some time ago I posted a PAW of a dam in a local State Park using the PJA> SMC-Pentax 17mm f4.0 fisheye. The results were fairly good and I PJA> decided to see if I could replicate the shot with my new Vemar 12mm. PJA> I've decided to post the original and the new version just in case PJA> anyone is interested in comparing them. PJA> As a side note both required some cropping to center up the dam, I have PJA> a very hard time shooting curved horizons and keeping them straight. PJA> (Yes I know that doesn't make much sense but I can't think of any better PJA> way to describe it). PJA> A few comments first. The film didn't scan as well as I would have PJA> hoped and I had a bit of trouble getting the white balance neutral, I PJA> wasn't really able to and I've left it with a pinkish cast. The *ist-D PJA> rendition seems to be a bit more neutral. The other differences stem PJA> mostly from the lenses, the SMC Pentax is quite a bit sharper, and the PJA> image was captured at a higher shutter speed with a wider aperture, to PJA> get even close to the same sharpness from the Vemer I had to use it's PJA> minimum aperture which necessitated a somewhat longer shutter speed. PJA> Over all the softer rendition of the digital shot isn't particularly PJA> objectionable in this case. Both underwent some post processing to PJA> minimize "noise" and a touch of USM are about the only actions taken, PJA> except for the attempt at color balance. PJA> The Original: PJA> http://www.mindspring.com/~pjalling/PESO_--_CircWater.html PJA> Technical information: PJA> Pentax LX @ 1/30sec [Kodak ISO 400 Gold] PJA> SMC-Pentax 17mm f4.0 @ f8.0. PJA> Revisited: PJA> http://www.mindspring.com/~pjalling/PESO_--_CircWaterRev.html PJA> Technical information: PJA> Pentax *ist-D ISO 400 @ 0.3sec PJA> Vemar 12mm f8.0 @ f16. PJA> At f16 the Color fringing is much less noticeable on the Vemar.
