I work in Film VFX on set, so have been looking into a way to use the Theta Z1 to replace my full frame camera and 8mm for taking bracketed HDRI images.
I had previously been testing Authydra, which is an excellent app but doesn’t yet have the DNG support. This one does!
Here are my thoughts when testing:
Captures DNG and jpg - Excellent!
Brackets up to 9 images - Just what I needed!
Takes both 180º photos at the same time - and this is a fast process. All said and done, capturing all the images I needed took less than a minute.
No HDR processing, just the raw images and saves so much time without this.
Easy to set up. Doesn’t require connecting with an iPhone/iPad. All set up and capture done on camera.
Each sequence of photos is saved in a new folder and easily transfers to a computer with Theta File transfer app.
You can set a 10 second delay. so press the button and step back.
It retains previous plugin settings.
much faster capture than any of the other plugins I’ve tried!
Attached are some quick tests I did. One inside, one outside.
Inside
This app is excellent, there are a couple of things I’d love to see in a next version (if requests are being taken)
As you can see from my tests, the settings work great inside, but the bracketing range is not so good outside. (aperture is set to f2.1. It would be great if there was an indoor/outdoor setting or you could close down the aperture).
In the DNGs, the 2 180º images are top up. However, in the corresponding jpg the images are rotated. It would be great if the jpg could have the images top up too, like the DNG.
Attached are examples of a DNG and corresponding JPG.
DNG
Thanks for all this awesome feedback. I’ve emailed Ichi Hirota and included the specific feature requests from @JollyTVFX and @CorLeone. I’ve also sent him the link to this discussion thread.
Also want to make sure people know about Ichi’s other mobile apps.
inconsistency of image direction between DNG and JPG
That’s RICOH’s implementation. Somehow JPG is weirdly rotated. Maybe because V was like that…?
outside issue
That’s a bug of aperture control. Current version always sets it at f2.1. I already fixed this issue, but new version has been still under review by RICOH. Normally it takes 1 week+.
ISO for burst mode
For it’s limited # of buttons, selecting ISO is not feasible. Let me know if there is common agreement of controlling ISO vs shutter values. I guess it depends on scenes though.
We are, we are verifying the HDRI creation using the RAW of the Z1.
This plugin is great,
However, this plugin does not fully utilize the RAW of Z1.
When shooting in RAW, 3EV steps are fine.
In addition, the setting of 6 brackets of the following image is a setting that can be used in most scenes, and the upper 4 sheets are sufficient for outdoor use.
I am happy to be able to set my own brackets like this.
I think that RAW bracket shooting will be possible in about 10 seconds with 4 or 6 images in 3EV steps. This is great!
It’s revolutionary if these are made possible with additional features or separate plugins.
360 Timelapse—This is the target that Ichi Hirota has aimed. I believe so.
My workflow;
1.Shoot 17 Raw images with Burst Mode of Dualfisheye Plugin
2.Developed and stitched in Lightroom and Theta Stitcher
3.Exported JPG equirectangular.
4.Import them Pano2VR Pro to patch the nadir
5.Export again as transformed JPG images.
6.Import them to Android phone(SH-M12 Android9 Pie)
7.Converted the Timelapse movie file(.mp4) with THETA+ app
6.Import it into THETA Basic app
7.Uploaded it on YouTube.
8.Done.
You can also see the 360 photo merged in Kandao Raw+. In this case, the merged dng is not compartible with THETA Stitcher.
Lots of nice details here. I believe you picked human subjects who are wearing masks (presumably to avoid germs) as a way of protecting privacy. Interesting.
Maybe its allowed to ask that here. I am trying >dualFishEye and its working fine - when i am manually click on the shutter button.
Unfortunately i need to “click” during the cam is on a 7meter stick up in the air. How could i solve that problem when i want to use that plugin?
When the plugin is used, the connection to my phone are “cutted/ended”.
Is there a option i do not see at the moment?
No problem asking the question, but I don’t know of an answer right now. I believe the author would need to add bluetooth support to the plug-in. He’s on this forum and might respond.
Hi, @gcorner
You can use 10sec Timer to hold the WiFi button.(long press but not too long)
And let me notice that this plug-in should not be supported for handheld shooting.
Good luck
Toyo.
PS. This is the latest shooting sample for HDR-DNG +/-4. Please share yours with us.
Hello @Juantonto
Thanks for you reply.
The 10sec timer is normally a good idea. But my Theta is at around 7 meter up in the sky (i am not using it handheld). I cannot push the Button. And even mounting takes longer than 10 seconds (base is my stable tripod, then a microphone pole, than the stick, then the Theta - it stand stable). But it takes some time to mount securely. That last longer than 10 seconds (more 2-4 minutes or longer).
I am searching for a way to use the plugin and be able to “push the shutter” even when the Theta is mounted up in the sky not reachable by me with my hands.
In which way ever that might be. Long cable(?), Bluetooth(?), Wlan and via Browser? (like e.g. Authydra). At the moment i have no idea to use that helpful plugin.
Good afternoon! Using plugin, when exporting an HDR file, I get the error “no compatible dng file”. Tell me what the problem is? I shoot on Theta Z1, with the latest firmware and updated plugin. I’ll attach screenshots.
Hi:
Can’t figure out how to delete dual fisheye images from camera. When connected to camera via iPhone, it only shows the regular images taken, not the HDR images which are in separate folder. If connected to my Mac and using the ricoh transfer program, I can see all the images but can only transfer them…not delete them! Also where is the very long instructional video on how to shoot and edit the images…can’t find it any more on Youtube…
Hello everyone,
I’ve started to use the DualFisheye Plugin and I’m really happy with it. After taking a few stills I figured out that I cannot delete the pictures made with the Plugin. They don’t appear on the iPhone app and with the File transfer for Mac I can only copy them to my computer.
Would be great if you guys could help me because the number of stills is running down pretty fast
Best regards
Patrick
