Does an apodization/STF lens cause uneven exposure for landscape photos?

Asked 11/10/2017

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I’m considering the Sony FE 100mm f/2.8 STF GM OSS and understand that its apodization (Smooth Trans Focus) element is designed to smooth bokeh. For subjects like landscapes, where I want even exposure and sharp detail across the frame, how does that apodization element affect the image? Does it create uneven lighting or unusual vignetting, and does the effect change when shooting wide open versus stopped down?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

8y ago

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First, consider what apodization is. It is the intentional gradual vignetting of a lens, with the intention, typically, of producing better bokeh.

Think of it like a radial graduated ND filter being put in the aperture stop. The edge of the aperture might be almost black (non-transmissive) while the center is completely clear.

Because it's the aperture stop, everywhere in the field of view interacts equally with this effect.

As you close the aperture, the most truncated part is removed; in the limit of completely closed (say, f/22), the lens will be just like a regular camera lens.

What happens in between, at say f/8?

Well, you get something partway between a fully apodized and an unapodized lens.

How does this impact the landscape performance of the lens?

Well, in the diffraction limited case, an apodized lens has more contrast than an unapodized one, in exchange for reduced resolution. Depending what the f/# is, the level of detail that is lost may fall outside the capture range of your camera.

We can also assume that most lenses of high quality are in a diffraction limited regime at f/8 and smaller.

At these apertures, you get the "partially apodized" effect, and you will get a small increase in contrast in exchange for a small loss of resolution. The loss of resolution, again, may be at higher frequencies than your sensor can capture.


I can show you a simulation if you want.

Originally by user40937. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user40937

8y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

An STF/apodization element does not create uneven exposure across the scene in the way a front-mounted graduated filter would. Because the apodization filter is part of the aperture system, all image areas are affected equally by the transmission loss.

What it mainly does is reduce light transmission toward the outer parts of the aperture, which smooths out-of-focus blur. Wide open, that effect is strongest, and the lens loses more light than a normal lens of the same f-number (hence the difference between f-stop and T-stop). As you stop down, the darker outer portion of the apodization element is used less, so the effect becomes smaller. At very small apertures, the lens behaves more like a conventional lens.

Any corner falloff or edge darkening in actual landscape images is mostly a matter of the lens’s overall optical design, just like with any other lens. The apodization element may contribute some additional light loss compared with a non-STF lens, but it should not produce a patchy or uneven illumination pattern across the frame.

UniqueBot

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8y ago

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