Panoramic photography

<p>Hi all. I really enjoy doing panoramic photography, so I am considering upgrading my panoramic equipment. Currently I have a benro b-1 ball head, 140mm nodal slide, and an L plate for my D7000. I usually shoot with the sigma 10-20 f3.5. After reading a lot on various websites, I have become quite confused and would love to get some questions answered!</p>

 

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<li>I am considering getting a panning clamp for my ball head. On really right stuffs website they state that the bubble level on the panning clamp should be leveled before taking a panorama. Here’s my problem; when I go hiking in order to get the edges of the trail and landscape into the photo, I have to tilt my camera and nodal slide combo slightly. This means that the bubble level will not be level. Would this defeat the purpose of getting a panning clamp? Would tilting my rig downwards compromise the technical quality, ex. Stitching, when taking a single row panorama? My initial thoughts are that having a panning clamp would make the photo taking process easier because I wouldn’t have to level the tripod since my rig is rotating about my panning clamp.</li>

<li>I am also considering getting a multiple row panoramic rig. This is considerably more expensive, bulky, and time consuming to set up. If anyone has experience with this type of set up suggestions would be appreciated. Should I just grab the panning clamp or go for the full multiple row set up? I know a lot of this answer relies on my willingness to invest the money and my desire to shoot multiple row panos, but I am more concerned about the weight, set up, and ease of use. Thanks a lot guys!</li>

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<p>I've been doing some reading in old photo.net forums and I think i may have solved my issue in number one. In order to take a technically correct panorama while tilted up or down, one must level the base of the ball head. That way, the panning will be done on a level plane. This would be facilitated by using a leveling base, not a panning clamp. When rotating about the panning clamp, tilting the camera up would make the photo arc down. Tilting the camera down, would make the photo arc up. Can anyone confirm this?</p>

<p>The panning clamp is a useful tool for things besides panos. Some cameras and lenses have different orientations of the plate. With the pan head, you don't have to turn the whole ball.</p>

<p>The main use is, naturally, taking panoramas which don't lose a lot of area through jagged edges. The ball head itself has a lot of freedom to level the pan head. The downside is that the horizon is squarely in the middle of the image.</p>

<p>If you want to move the horizon up or down from center (e.g., to get the trail edges), you need two things - a leveling platform or joint between the tripod and the head, and a 2-way level for the accessory shoe. Leveling platforms (e.g., Gitzo, Novoflex and Manfrotto) have about 7 degrees of motion in any direction. If you eyeball the tripod setup, you usually can level the head within that range. This makes the axis of rotation about head itself vertical about it's built-in pan base. (The RRS pan head is locked in place). You then tilt the camera up or down to place the horizon, and level the camera from side to side with a level in its accessory shoe. If the head itself is properly leveled, the camera level won't change as you rotate the head on its base.</p>

<p>Tilting the camera like this creates vertical convergence. As a result, the stitched images will lie in an arc rather than a straight line. This can be corrected easily using PTGui, but not easily in Photoshop. This correction will cause straight lines parallel to the film plane to curve.</p>

<p>If there are nearby objects, they will shift against the background (>75' or so) as the camera is rotated. To eliminate that motion, you need a nodal slide, which places the exit node of the lens directly above the axis of rotation. If you don't do this, nearby objects may make double images.</p>

<p>A full gimbal pan head will let you do vertical stitching, or a combination of horizontal and vertical stitching. It also is bulky and heavy, not something you would want to hike with. That said, a lot of interesting things are within a few feet of your car (i.e., you lose interest in schlepping heavy things for miles).</p>

<p>Wow! Thanks so much. You did a great job of explaining what I was trying to convey. Weight is a big issue with the full panoramic head set up. I'll need to review that. </p>

<p>The key is to get everything leveled and normalized. The axis of rotation must be perfectly (well humanly) vertical for a horizontal panorama. If you wish to pan vertically, then the axis of rotation must be perfectly horizontal. Both must be normallized of you do a 3D panorama (e.g., gigapan).</p>

<p>Most of my cameras are equipped with L-brackets, so turning the camera vertical is easy, without needing realignment. That gives you a much wider vertical aspect and 50% more resolution (pixels) in that direction. It also takes 50% more shots to complete the panorama. The better your alignment of the axis of rotation, the better the alignment of the images and the less cropping you need to smooth the final borders.</p>

<p>An interesting trick for tall buildings (e.g., the Seattle Space Needle) is to flop the head horizontally, using a level in the accessory shoe, then pan vertically using the RRS panning clamp. This method was an epiphany after I tried doing it manually with mixed results (a LOT of cropping).</p>

<p>You see, you don't need a lot of bulky, heavy (and expensive) hardware for most panoramas. My favorite tripod has a Gitzo leveling platform instead of a column. I also have a Manfrotto leveling attachment between the column and head of a lighter tripod. Both work equally well for panoramas. A column is a good thing to have for closeups, but not needed for landscapes. The latest RRS L-brackets (and plates) have a mark designating the optical center of the lens (plates are customized for each model of camera), which will intersect the axis of rotation if everything else is normallized.</p>

<p>Why not buy a 8x20, 7x17 or 10 inch by 5 foot circut camera for this type of work and contact print the negatives?</p>

<p>Mark,</p>

<p>Here are my suggestions:</p>

<p>http://www.timmulholland.com/2014/12/11/tutorial-how-to-create-a-digital-panoramic-photograph-part-i-of-iii/</p>

<p>http://www.timmulholland.com/2014/12/15/tutorial-how-to-create-a-digital-panoramic-photograph-part-ii-of-iii/</p>

<p>http://www.timmulholland.com/2014/12/19/tutorial-how-to-create-a-digital-panoramic-photograph-part-iii-of-iii/</p>

<p>Tim!</p>

<p>Zelph: i appreciate the suggestion. I don't think i'm musclely enough to hike with that though! haha. Actually those cameras sound really awesome. Hopefully one day I can use one. <br /><br />Tim: You're blog is great! I read those links and it was helpful. :D<br /><br />Edward: Thanks for the detailed response. After sitting and contemplating for a while, i've decided I don't need a big bulky multi row panorama set up. I want it to be as simple, compact, easy to use, and light as possible. I'm currently using a ball head for my panoramas, which is so silly I don't know how I overlooked it! I took your advice and ordered a hot shoe bubble level. I'm about 95% certain that I will get the 1. manfrotto 056 (3 way pan tilt head) + neewer universal arca swiss clamp (so I can use my nodal slide) and 2. sunwayfoto leveling base (just to make set up quicker and easier). <br /><br />Thanks again for the responses!</p>

<p>You would do well to read up on "nodal point" for panoramas.</p>