Panorama software?

<p>I use Capture NX2 to process my Raw photos. I am looking for a compatible panorama software. Something at low cost or free would be best but, you get what you pay for... Is there a software that allows stitching of RAW? The software suite that came with my Nikon P6000 included panorama software but the D300 suite I now use does not, why? Can I reinstall the P6000 suite and use it with the D300?<br>

Help...</p>

<p>check out Serif"s panormana plus, it is a little less than 50 dollars. they h ave great custom service and most of all the software is great. It did a much better job than several others that i tested.</p>

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<p>Do you use photoshop? It does a very good job with most panos.</p>

<p>Photoshop's panoramic function got good from CS3 onwards. I'm using '3, I understand '4 is better yet.</p>

<p>I just installed Hugin because it's free. I'm into free. It does a good job even in the "dummy" mode on the "Assist" tab. The "non assist" mode is pretty complex. But it's free.</p>

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<p>"The software suite that came with my Nikon P6000 included panorama software but the D300 suite I now use does not, why?"</p>

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<p>In and of itself, a DSLR will not necessarily give anyone better photos than a quality P&S. Using a DSLR assumes you want more creative control than a P&S offers. That's the major advantage of using the tool. The creative control advantage (or burden, if you prefer) extends to processing/post-processing as well.</p>

<p>It's rather like the difference between shooting jpg and shooting RAW: RAW exists in order to allow processing images more intensively than can be done with jpg without significant image degradation, hence you have more control over the outcome. RAW doesn't guarantee any better results than can be achieved with jpg - that's up to the photographer, and so it is with processing software, including panoramas.</p>

<p>For this reason, the 'one size fits all - run it thorough the app and take what you get' concept does not (and should not) apply to processing software for advanced cameras, and the camera manufacturers understand this. The creative choices are rightly the photographer's. Those choices should fit each photographer's vision of what a given image should be, and bundled software can't achieve that.</p>

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<p>Is there a software that allows stitching of RAW?</p>

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<p>Yes. A quick google search for 'raw panorama stitching' turned up a couple. All RAW converter engines aren't created equal, however. For example: a preponderance of folks that like HDRI currently use Photomatix Pro, and even though the app will handle RAW, Photomatix's own website suggests using a RAW converter other than theirs. Nikon and Adobe have excellent RAW converters. You could use NX2 to convert your RAW files to a lossless format (e.g. tif), and stitch/process from there.</p>

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>>> Is there a software that allows stitching of RAW?

 

 

Lightroom and Photoshop work together on that.

 

From within LR you can select multiple photos and then select Merge to Panorama in Photoshop. Photoshop creates the

panorama and then returns it as a tiff to LR. Works great....

<p>As previously mentioned, you may want to take a look at Hugin. It's very good as well as free.</p>

<p>Another good option, if you don't mind paying, is Autopano Pro. Autopano Pro will allow you to stitch straight from RAW, and can easily manage panoramas shot handheld and/or with differing exposures. Cost is around 99 Euro.</p>

<p>Another vote for Hugin. There's a new version coming up soon with many improvements, I like it much better than the current stable release (0.7). Beta versions are available, but not from the official site. If you're on Windows, check the website of <a href="http://adhuikeshoven.pbworks.com/hugin%C2%A0installer%C2%A0for%C2%A0Windows%C2%A0Vista">Ad Huikeshoven</a> , as he is releasing installers very frequently. See the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/hugin-ptx">hugin mailing list</a> for the latest news.<br>

Hugin doesn't stitch raws but it can do 16 bit tiffs if you want the full bit range.</p>

<p>CS4 will stitch RAW images using Photomerge without involving Lightroom. While Autopano Pro will stitch RAW images, it will not implement any adjustments to the images made in a RAW converter such as ACR. This greatly reduces its usefulness.</p>

<p>CS4 will stitch RAW files in the 16 bit mode. I'm not sure if any other stitching programs that stitch RAW files will do the same. Anyone?</p>

<p>PTGui will stitch RAW images to 16-bit format (tiff, PSD, PSB). </p>

<p>Thank you all for your well informed responses. I'm going to check out both PTGui and Hugin. Once again, thank you for your direction.</p>