Equipment for Panoramic Photography

Hoppy yes tried the 24-70 lens and at the 70 end the Kirk rail is at the vey end. There is a difference of about 8 cm between this and the 35mm prime. Just as well I got a good long rail. Tried the 24-120 and at the 120 end it wanted to go right off the rail! Don't think I'd be working very often near 120mm focal length for panos but you never know. Thanks for all that have learned a lot from this thread. Thanks for stepping in on the other!!!!!!!!!
Merv
 
HI
I'm looking to buy a nodal rail and was wondering what the minimum length it should be. my longest lens is the 70-200, and like merv will probably 'go' to around 100mm focal length for pano's. Also, won't the nodal point be a set distance for a particular lens...eg if merv say measures the nodal point on his lens it will be the same on mine ?
Does it matter about the nodal rail being really good quality as long as it's clamped to a good head? Don't get me wrong I will buy the better option if it's worth it.
Thanks
JohnyT
 
For convenience I marked my slide with distances for a selection of focal lengths...

Typed with small prints, cut out and added a piece of tape above it for protection.
Nodalslide.jpg
 
Johnytuono said:
HI
I'm looking to buy a nodal rail and was wondering what the minimum length it should be. my longest lens is the 70-200, and like merv will probably 'go' to around 100mm focal length for pano's. Also, won't the nodal point be a set distance for a particular lens...eg if merv say measures the nodal point on his lens it will be the same on mine ?
Does it matter about the nodal rail being really good quality as long as it's clamped to a good head? Don't get me wrong I will buy the better option if it's worth it.
Thanks
JohnyT
Click to expand...

The pivot point depends more on the physical length of the lens rather than the focal length, as Merv mentions above. You would need a long rail for a 70-200, even if you only use it at 100mm as the pivot point will still be well towards the front. But a lens like that suggests distant landscapes, in which case you don't need to bother about the pivot point at all - it only matters with close range subjects.

All the rail does is move the camera back. It just needs to be solid.
 
The rail is graduated along its edge in centimetres
 
I would recommend the Nodal Ninja range of Pan Heads they are by far the most used by professional panographers and for high quality immersive work. They are no where near as costly or as heavy as others like the manfrotto ones.
They have been chosen to be used in combination with a modified Sony nex camera in creating an interactive immersive Virtual Tour of the International Space Station which will be used by museums and educational institutions world wide.

They are also chosen by Leica to be used with the Leica Geosystem to provide matched 360x180 images in survey work.

I have one of their early NN3 Mk2 heads which is both light and sturdy.
 
For greatest sturdiness when using a pano head it is best not to use any other levelling device or head, but fix the Pan head directly on the Tripod legs, and level by adjusting the legs.
I use a manfrotto O55 proB and the legs are very easy to adjust to level, very accurately, in only a few seconds.

The bubbles in pan heads are very sensitive and do move a little when the head is rotated. On no account should this be adjusted between shots. Although the bubble may move a little the Plane of rotation can not, so all is well.

It will make no difference to the quality of the stitching, even if the plane of rotation is way out. In 360x180 this is often set at an angle to reduce the number of shots required.
The level can be reestablished in the software. In single and double row work it is best to keep things level or more of the image will be lost in cropping.
 
Even Hand held pans with close foregrounds can work.
This was taken with my little X10 set at manual everything I was trying out the new version of PTAssembler.
It has a totally new and improved point picker and I used Smart blend as the blender (this helps with seams by placing them between features and avoiding parallax)

I would not care to try Photoshop for this.


(Pic taken at recent Derby V Essex one day match)

 
Terry, where have you been? (To others, Terry is good at this stuff :))

Just a comment on the levelling thing. Personally, I find levelling a tripod, as opposed to a top-pan platform, to be a rather tedious fiddle but maybe that's just me. Tripod flip-locks, as on Terry's M'frotto, are much easier for this than collar-locks (I have collars LOL).

And on the bubble levels fitted to many heads, I've tested maybe 30-40 of those those and about 50% are out if it's dead accuracy you're wanting. In practise a small error may not matter much, but the downside of levelling everything up in post processing is that in a wide pan like 180 degrees you will have to crop a lot off the top and bottom that loses considerable depth from the final image.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
hi Terry - regards to levelling what about the levelling heads that the likes of Nodal Ninja's EZ Leveller?
Click to expand...

There are lots of ways of levelling the tripod/head. Levelling columns and platforms of all sorts from numerous manufacturers.

All I would say is, if you're using a ball head, then even when the tripod or platform is level, you still have to get the ball dead centred and level for everything to pan flat.

This is not that difficult, but it takes time and fiddling around and it's important as otherwise you'll have to level the final image in post processing and quite possibly have to crop a lot of the height to achieve that.

A panning top clamp on the head avoids this, as Merv now has. With that and an accurate bubble level, it's the work of two seconds to get everything perfect.
 
Uneducated_Rick said:
hi Terry - regards to levelling what about the levelling heads that the likes of Nodal Ninja's EZ Leveller?
Click to expand...

I do have an EZ leveller that was given to me as a present. Apart from setting it up when I got it, I have never used it. It is just as quick and easy to level the legs, if you use the right sequence.
1) mount the bracket and camera on the legs of the tripod.
2) point the camera to face in the same direction as one of the legs
and adjust that leg so that the bubble sits on a centre line of the circle.
3) the bubble will now be central in the forward back direction but probably not in the left right direction. Adjust either the left or right leg to centre bubble.

Job done

Check that the bubble stays within the centre circle by rotating the bracket.
It will deflect a little, this is normal. If it goes outside the inner circle there probably is a manufacturing fault or something is loose...... Some brackets are not well enough made to pass this test.
 
HoppyUK said:
Terry, where have you been? (To others, Terry is good at this stuff :))

Just a comment on the levelling thing. Personally, I find levelling a tripod, as opposed to a top-pan platform, to be a rather tedious fiddle but maybe that's just me. Tripod flip-locks, as on Terry's M'frotto, are much easier for this than collar-locks (I have collars LOL).

And on the bubble levels fitted to many heads, I've tested maybe 30-40 of those those and about 50% are out if it's dead accuracy you're wanting. In practise a small error may not matter much, but the downside of levelling everything up in post processing is that in a wide pan like 180 degrees you will have to crop a lot off the top and bottom that loses considerable depth from the final image.
Click to expand...

Hi thanks for the comment....
It is true that flip locks are far easier to adjust and can not alter the length as they are locked.

I would not expect to alter the horizon, post processing, even in hand helds more than a degree at most.

such errors do not alter the stitching quality at all, only the amount that has to be cropped.

A bad bubble can be "saved". by levelling up to true, and then marking the centre of the bubble with a small permanent marker dot.
 
HoppyUK said:
There are lots of ways of levelling the tripod/head. Levelling columns and platforms of all sorts from numerous manufacturers.

All I would say is, if you're using a ball head, then even when the tripod or platform is level, you still have to get the ball dead centred and level for everything to pan flat.

This is not that difficult, but it takes time and fiddling around and it's important as otherwise you'll have to level the final image in post processing and quite possibly have to crop a lot of the height to achieve that.

A panning top clamp on the head avoids this, as Merv now has. With that and an accurate bubble level, it's the work of two seconds to get everything perfect.
Click to expand...
Hi
So, to use a panning top clamp I roughly get the legs level but then accurately level the ball head, this will then ensure the panning clamp rotates horizontal?
I don't know whether to go via the levelling base route or top panoramic clamp for my single row pano's. It's a Z1 sp ballhead if that's any help (maybe I should have gone for the dp head)
Thanks
JohnyT
 
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Johnytuono said:
Hi
So, to use a panning top clamp I roughly get the legs level but then accurately level the ball head, this will then ensure the panning clamp rotates horizontal?
I don't know whether to go via the levelling base route or top panoramic clamp for my single row pano's. It's a Z1 sp ballhead if that's any help (maybe I should have gone for the dp head)
Thanks
JohnyT
Click to expand...

Yes, and the Z1 with DP head is easiest way to do it, made for the job. Easy enough to change though - at a cost.
 
Johnytuono said:
...adding the Benro pc1 should be a good combination though? or can you suggest another route Hoppy
Click to expand...

Yes, that would do it :thumbs:

Don't know if this idea appeals, but you can get the same result by inverting the Z1 head, which puts the normal panning base on top. Then to make that work, attach an Arca-Swiss clamp to the base of the head, and an Arca-Swiss plate on top of the tripod. In this way, the head operates as normal, then when you want the flat panning option, simply turn the head upside-down and use it that way.

Hope you can make sense of that. I have it on one of my tripods and it works really well for minimal extra cost and weight, but there's a bit of work to be done getting exactly the right components together.
 
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I went for a simple and clean solution. No adding or removing bits as panoclamp is permanently attached...

Setup, level, shoot.

DSC_3526.jpg



Having added a few touches, I'm rather pleased with looks too! :D
 
Thanks Jan and Hoppy for the info. That looks a neat job Jan. Hoppy decided to exchange for the DP version (costs about the same as buying an extra pano clamp)
Can't get my head round why the Arca Swiss ballhead would have a rotating base below the ballhead.....surely it makes more sense to be like the Benro one or the Z1 with DP (which has 2 rotating bases?? Won't the bottom one be redundant?)
Any insight appreciated.
JohnyT
 
Johnytuono said:
Thanks Jan and Hoppy for the info. That looks a neat job Jan. Hoppy decided to exchange for the DP version (costs about the same as buying an extra pano clamp)
Can't get my head round why the Arca Swiss ballhead would have a rotating base below the ballhead.....surely it makes more sense to be like the Benro one or the Z1 with DP (which has 2 rotating bases?? Won't the bottom one be redundant?)
Any insight appreciated.
JohnyT
Click to expand...

LOL I only mentioned the inversion thing because you asked for other ideas, but the DP option on the Z1 is the best solution I think :thumbs:

It's imply this: if you turn the whole head upside down, the panning base is now on the top and can then rotate flat just like the DP top clamp you've got on the Z1. All it needs to function in the same way is a clamp attaching on top of the base for the camera, if you follow, and then a method of fixing the whole inverted rig on the tripod - ie, an Arca-Swiss plate on top of the tripod.

In this way, the head can work as normal, or just undo it and flip upside down for flat panning - takes two seconds. The main appeal of this method is it converts any ball head to a flat panning platform cheaply and easily. I'm surprised no manufacturer makes a little kit of parts.
 
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