Is an L bracket required for panoramic shots?

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Ian
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Looking to do some panoramic shots. Seen a video on YouTube suggesting an L bracket to get the best results. Is it possible to do without one? When shooting in the portrait format?
 
Yes - it's possible. You just need to rotate your tripod head 90 degrees. So you need a head that will do that. And then you need a head that will pan through the panorama whilst it's rotated.

All the heads I've used work best in the upright position, which is why I use an L bracket. I can go portrait, level and pan with minimum fuss. It's also much easier to level than (say) a ball socket head that's fixed in its 90 degree rotation slot.

I've shot quite a few panoramas with & without an L bracket (and always with a ball head) and with is definitely easier. I've never used a geared/pan & tilt head though so can't comment on that.
 
@ian-83 this may give you some more information. https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/is-there-an-idiots-guide-to-panoramas.667246/

Now some time on I have gone down the L bracket route with arca swiss as the manfrotto one's hideously expensive and clunky. Aditionally as some have said on the thread ive actually shot a few just handheld, so to answer your original question, yes it is possible to do without one :) but I don't regret the l bracket as there will be some shots where the length of exposure means it would be impossible to handhold.
 
Yes - it's possible. You just need to rotate your tripod head 90 degrees. So you need a head that will do that. And then you need a head that will pan through the panorama whilst it's rotated.

All the heads I've used work best in the upright position, which is why I use an L bracket. I can go portrait, level and pan with minimum fuss. It's also much easier to level than (say) a ball socket head that's fixed in its 90 degree rotation slot.

I've shot quite a few panoramas with & without an L bracket (and always with a ball head) and with is definitely easier. I've never used a geared/pan & tilt head though so can't comment on that.

Thanks, I have seen some suggestions without an L bracket and the head tilted over 90 degrees it can mess it up when it comes to editing the inage.

@ian-83 this may give you some more information. https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/is-there-an-idiots-guide-to-panoramas.667246/

Now some time on I have gone down the L bracket route with arca swiss as the manfrotto one's hideously expensive and clunky. Aditionally as some have said on the thread ive actually shot a few just handheld, so to answer your original question, yes it is possible to do without one :) but I don't regret the l bracket as there will be some shots where the length of exposure means it would be impossible to handhold.

Will have a look at that post when I get a chance later on.

Annoying thing with my camera is there isn't a dedicated L bracket available so I would need a universal one but the tripod socket it's very far forwards on the body.
 
Panasonic G80 according to your profile. Found this on ebay for your model https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pig-Iron...ick-Release-Camera-Tripod-Plate-/381850179354

One of the reviews says

"This L-Bracket is of superb quality. I just wrote this review to help Panasonic owners. Since Panasonic G80 / G85 have the bracket hole so far forward towards the lens it’s almost impossible to get any bracket to fit. This one is easy to modify to fit. Line up the bracket under the camera and drill a hole in the bracket to make it fit. Also need to make a 2mm cut for the strap-”ears” on the camera. After that it fits beautifully! Perfect! So happy that I actually found a bracket that fit Panasonics stupid mistake!!"
 
Yes, you can do a panorama in portrait mode without an L bracket or a tripod. All the panoramas I have done have been handheld. However, I suspect if there are elements in the image that are close to the camera distortion might result and therefore aligning the images might be difficult or impossible.

Dave
 
Panasonic G80 according to your profile. Found this on ebay for your model https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pig-Iron...ick-Release-Camera-Tripod-Plate-/381850179354

One of the reviews says

"This L-Bracket is of superb quality. I just wrote this review to help Panasonic owners. Since Panasonic G80 / G85 have the bracket hole so far forward towards the lens it’s almost impossible to get any bracket to fit. This one is easy to modify to fit. Line up the bracket under the camera and drill a hole in the bracket to make it fit. Also need to make a 2mm cut for the strap-”ears” on the camera. After that it fits beautifully! Perfect! So happy that I actually found a bracket that fit Panasonics stupid mistake!!"

Cheers for that, might have to invest in one of those and modify it as the reviewer has done.
 
I've almost always just bought cheap L-brackets from ebay for about £30 a pop. Like everything else in photography, there is almost always an alternative method but L-brackets do make things very easy. I like the fact that I can get my tripod head set up absolutely level using the integrate bubbles and then just pop the camera on and pan it using the pano head and know that it's going to remain level. I'm not sure how you'd know this if you have the head cranked over 90 degrees, maybe using the camera built in 2-axis level if it has it.

The other nice thing about L-brackets is the ease with which you can swap between landscape and portrait for general tripod shooting. Really handy.
 
@Ian W
Nice try, but the email notification went out before you deleted your post:mad:
I deleted it because another smiley I inserted wasn't recognised by the forum.

I assure you however, it was tongue in cheek and an insight into my own shooting of landscapes/panoramas (ie I don't get anything used beyond an L bracket!).
 
I bought a nodal rail after a thread on here.
I "think" it makes a difference. I suspect it will come into it's own on close range panos such as inside a room but outdoors I'm still to be convinced!
 
I bought a nodal rail after a thread on here.
I "think" it makes a difference. I suspect it will come into it's own on close range panos such as inside a room but outdoors I'm still to be convinced!
Aren't they a pain to carry around and a faff to use?
 
Aren't they a pain to carry around and a faff to use?
Well I didn't get the full blown all singing and dancing set up. The one with the vertical bracket that really is PIA to set up.
I just went for the base plate version. Took about 5 mins to set up for my camera and then a judicious mark showed me where to place it in future.

I suspect it's not as effective as the big one which is probably what you need in confined spaces. For the wide open panos that I take this is good enough and does away with distortion.
 
I bought a nodal rail
Me too :)

Aren't they a pain to carry around and a faff to use?
Yes. It went on fleabay as "never used". Admittedly it was el-cheapo, but it weighed a ton and was just annoying as hell to use.

I use a tripod because my hand-helds don't overlap enough or have a gentle sloping gradient because I can't see straight. It has the added benefit of slowing my down and making sure what I'm taking a picture of is worth it. Hand-held is fine for my scrutiny in a pinch though. And that's what matters.
 
Somewhere on here there is a long thread or threads about nodal rails. A lot of it seems to be answers searching for a problem.
 
Just to add my 2 p worth it is a lot easier to use an L bracket as it helps to keep the camera over the centre of the tripod I have a similar one to the one in the link above properly made in the same factory in China and just renamed. It all depends on how critical the stitching needs to if it is a scene close up or further away and also as said you can take the nodal point in to consideration quite a good video I watch recently on You Tube by Craig Roberts V6 vlogs explains it all quite well link attached. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqRkV8eRVvxwVStV5May0rQ

I have done it hand held but find they do come out better if you use a tripod and the L- bracket
 
All the panoramas I have done have been handheld. However, I suspect if there are elements in the image that are close to the camera distortion might result and therefore aligning the images might be difficult or impossible.
That's not quite right, but the conclusion is right.

The issue you have when there are elements close to the camera is perspective, not distortion. You can see this by closing one eye, looking at a nearby object and observing how it lines up with the background, then switching to the other eye: the object will line up withe the background differently. That's the danger you have with panoramas, and obviously it can make stitching difficult or impossible.

Shooting handheld, you can reduce this effect by consciously keeping the camera in the same place and rotating yourself around it, rather than vice versa. A tripod makes this easier, and of course a nodal rail is the ultimate solution because it ensures that the camera is rotated around the correct point - the nodal point - rather than around the tripod mounting point which is usually a bit too far back.
 
Looking to do some panoramic shots. Seen a video on YouTube suggesting an L bracket to get the best results. Is it possible to do without one? When shooting in the portrait format?

Yes... I do it all the time (using a geared head), the L bracket just keeps the camera centred over the tripod
 
Depending on panorama in case there is no foreground to worry about you can even do handheld. I've got plenty of examples I'm more than happy with on my site

If there is foreground to contend with or close structure in general you want a proper panoramic head
 
Looking to do some panoramic shots. Seen a video on YouTube suggesting an L bracket to get the best results. Is it possible to do without one? When shooting in the portrait format?

I've done pano's both with a ball head rotated to 90 and also handheld, so yes it's possible...

tripod (7 shots)
Angelzarke by Ash Smith, on Flickr

hand held... (9 shots)
Jurassic Coast by Ash Smith, on Flickr
 
I use a L-plate on my DLSR, but not for panoramic shots, for me it allows very quick changing from portrait to landscape orientation of the camera with out losing the tripod setup.

I use a Arca Swiss Style Panoramic tripod adaptor (cheap from Ebay) on my Manfrotto Geared head.

It does 2 things for me.

1 - It converts my tripod to an Arca Swiss Fitting and
2 - It makes using the tripod esay on unlevel ground. I use the Head to level the camera in all directions rather than trying to get the legs to the correct lenght to do this, then I can swivel the camera using the adaptor.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/g...-58mm-panoramic-tripod-head-qr-70ii-_1.18025/
360-deg-58mm-panoramic-tripod-head-qr-70ii-_1.18025
 
I will put this ismply you do not need any kit at all for panoramic shots

This was taken from a helicoptor that did not stop moving through a window and is three vertical shots

The Rockies 1- by Alf Branch, on Flickr

A handheld using vertical 5 shots

Banff and the bow river by Alf Branch, on Flickr
 
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I do use an L bracket after many months of mulling it over. I keep it on the camera nearly all the time. The most useful is the ability to flip from landscape to portrait without faffing about with the ball head.

I am an avid panorama taker I admit and I haven't done anything scientific to evaluate it but i do think it has got easier to combine images in PP since i started using the bracket. Particularly for multi row panorama's such as late season Milky Way arches where I used to have issues combining when the rows were taken with the ball head flipped over on one side for portrait.
 
Not entirely sure you need any fancy kit for a panorama - we seem to be getting into huge technical overkill half the time. I've done plenty of fairly complicated woodland scenes as well as bigger highland mountain panos all handheld and have never had any great issue. Steady hand - wee bit of thought - decent amount of overlap.
 
I will put this ismply you do not need any kit at all for panoramic shots

This was taken from a helicoptor that did not stop moving through a window and is three vertical shots

The Rockies 1- by Alf Branch, on Flickr

A handheld using vertical 5 shots

Banff and the bow river by Alf Branch, on Flickr

End thread!

Joking aside, I was going to say you need a nodal slide for close in foreground work and wide angle lenses, with an L bracket so the camera is sitting directly above the rotational point, but other than that, as Alf has shown you don't need them.

You should own an L bracket regardless as they are great though.
 
Aren't they a pain to carry around and a faff to use?


I use one of the "Noldal Ninja"ones they are the best in the business... and with close objects in the foreground, or interiors, they solve all the parallax and stitching problems.
However a vast majority of my pans are done hand held, most often with the help of a walking pole/monopod.

Once the entry pupil (nodal point) is established. Panoramic brackets are no trouble at all to set up, and take only a few seconds. And a further few seconds to level the tripod legs.
I never use any other head on the tripod, under the bracket. I find it quicker and more stable to mount the bracket directly on the legs.
 
I wouldn't go back after using an L Bracket. Lives permanently on the camera & makes swapping from landscape to portrait so much easier!! The panorama use is just a bonus!

Cheap Chinese bracket for me :)
 
I wonder why arca swiss type channels are not built into the side and bottom of cameras, it would make fixing them on tripods so much easier.
So many of us add L brackets to make up for the lack, and their design is always a compromise and somewhat "lumpy" and less than ideal.

I am sure that even if the design was slightly different dimensionally, provided they did not copyright it, it would soon become universal.
 
I bought a L bracket in the summer to use for verticals and panoramas of the Grand Tetons - ending up shooting everything including panoramas hand held.

Off to snap Buachaille Etive Mòr this weekend though so it will probably get it's first outing
 
I own a eos 7Dii and am looking for decent L bracket or reasonable Chinese knock off. So which which ones is worth looking at ! ?
I bought a Sunwayfoto for my 7Dii. I think they are about £40 new (mine was S/H). Its a well made bit if kit plus it has the cut out in the correct place to accept the remote cable

If you use a wireless remote or simply the 2 second delay you can get away with a cheapie to see if you would get the use out of it The issue with a generic is you can't butt up against the bracket as you need to slide the camera along the longer part of the L to accommodate the cable
 
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