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Hey Lucia,
Come point out all of my mistakes. You know you want to 
https://support.capturingreality.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360017009192
Hey Steven, would you mind contacting me via Email? You should be able to find my humble page with my name, or just “first name (with oe instead of ö)” at “last name” dot “de”. Or you tell me how I can reach you, but Steven Smith has a few more hits than my name…
Did I get it right?
Hey Steven,
What Camera are you using? I am starting to wonder if my Canon 60D isnt enough to get me what I am looking for in terms of interior photogrammetry…
Or maybe im just making excuses :), sometimes its hard with lower light settings. But I normally want f/11 and a crisp image, and a full frame camera will give me much better results?
I dont know, maybe im just making excuses haha… Or could it just be the lens I am using…
Im just wondering how much a lens would improve things as well… Maybe I have to goto a professional camera shop and try out a new lens to see… and get their opinion.
I feel like the 60D should be good enough, but I always seem to have lots of noise
This is also a valuable tool when comparing camera bodies
https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/image-comparison/fullscreen
It is important to note glass is important too. Maybe even more so.
Pending again 
Hey Mike,
all I can say is that you can get good results with non-professional cameras. I don’t see why the 60D should not work for you. It’s not on the image comparison Steven linked (one of my favorites) but the 70D has acceptable noise. I got quite good results with a LX-100 and even a FZ28, both Panas. And from what I’ve seen, you are doing quite good actually. Modern surfaces are very hard if not impossible to capture properly anyway.
My suspicion is that f11 causes too much defraction (is that the word, Steven?). As I suspected, the D60 has an APSC sensor, which means that your full frame equivalent f-stop is around 16, a number where most lenses have show severe softening. For most cases in our area (buildings), your distance to the object should be so big, that f8 should be sufficient, I prefer f5,6 on my X-T20 since the lens has it’s sharpness peak there. Of course, you have to adjust from situation to situation. Another boon is that you get way shorter exposure times. Just try to find some in-depth test of you lens and see which f-stop produces the sharpest results. Maybe that’s better than buying a new one? Because not even high end lenses will produce crisp results at f16…
Well, I ask because if I dont turn on long exposure clean up, I have a ton of hot pixels. And maybe the lens I currently have should be upgraded to a better prime lens. (If I can find one).
All my photogrammetry is of interior rooms and of buildings. So I need to try to push that f stop to f11 at the least. Im going to play around this weekend to see how good I can take the photos.
I think it all comes down to rushing it. =/ Some rooms look way better because I took the time, and the first rooms I did I forgot to check a lot before I started. Or the focus becomes off …I think I need to tape it next time.
Hmm, hot pixels are a problem. But again, that would not be as bad with a smaller f-stop.
I’m not sure if it’s really neccessary to focus (pun intended) so much on a huge DOF. As long as the fore- or background is not completely blurry (as in only color gradients, which is hard to schieve, even if intended), then RC will stilll be able to find features for alignment. And there is no benefit to have far away surfaces crispy sharp when you have them again much closer, cause RC will use those then.
I think taking more care with shooting is probably the best way to go. I have difficulties in that respect myself - can never be fast enough. But I also need to change that…
Better lenses are always better! 
So no harm doen there.
Use manual and get consistent pictures. Use ISO 100, your pictures will be twice as clean.
You can apply this too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-GbuXU8YMQ
I’m not saying to make a pano. Just that you can make up for not capturing enough information (Fine Details) in one shot by taking more photos. Also don’t do the image averaging part either, Reality Capture will handle that part as well.
Also you can use sites like
I can’t remember your lens from the metadata but you can see how the f-stop tapers off in sharpness as you go up. Look up your lens. This will give you a better idea on what your actually trading off when trading between depth-of -field vs overall sharpness.
My lens data doesnt show up I dont think… Its a Tamron SP AF 17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD Aspherical [IF] …
Based on that site… it looks like a terrible lens!!!
New lens day! What lens works best with f11 and my Canon 60D? 
knowledge is power. I don’t know your budget but if you need under $100 get a 50mm prime at like a f1.8. Cheap as hell, and sharp as a tack. The one down side is it’s not as wide as you might like, but it will give you a instant improvement.
50mm would be impossible for interior rooms, I would need something closer to 17-22mm.
Ill check our local camera store for advice then check used after that.
I think i might pick up the Canon EF - S 24mm Lens…
Hi Mike,
this test: https://www.lenstip.com/18.4-Lens_review-Tamron_SP_AF_17-50_mm_f_2.8_XR_Di_II_LD_Aspherical_(IF)_Image_resolution.html does not confirm your worries, on the contrary.
As suspected, it’s sharpest point is also at f5,6 and there should be a very noticeable difference to f11. BTW, don’t look at the absolute numbers on the diagram, that is sensor specific and varies from camera to camera.
Also, if I would chose a first prime lens it would almost certainly be the widest possible angle, in your case 10 or 12mm, which is 15 or 18mm in FFE (full frame equivalent). How often do you use the medium zoom setting on your current lens?
I agree with Gotz here^^
Most lenses are sharpest 2 stops above there minimum. Also The wider the better. The 50mm is just the cheapest way I could see with instant improvement. Again, I don’t know what your budget is, but rokinon offers some really good wide angle lenses at a good price. The down side is they are all manual. I bought mine for night photography ( autofocus is useless here ) and now use it in every photogrammetry project, except the micro stuff.