panoramic head?

[john_lee48]

<p>I've been using a basic ballhead tripod (Manfrotto 7302YB) to do stitched landscape panoramas, both horizontal and vertical. Really feel the need to upgrade to something with panning ability. </p>

<p>But is a panoramic head necessary? I'm considering a leveling base instead (although because it's for light backpacking, it can't add too much weight). </p>

<p>Also the replacement model i'm looking at (the Benro travel angel) has a 360 degree panorama scale, i'm not clear what that is? </p>

<p> </p>

[JDMvW]

<p>Ball heads are not really suitable for panning. What you need is the traditional two handle ('Tilt-All' style for the old timers) head that will let you move only horizontally (with a <em>leveled</em> tripod, naturally).</p>

<p>As an alternative, you can get special heads, just for this purpose. Here is the Nikon Panorama Head AP-2. (Such a head is more problematic for vertical stitching).</p><div></div>

[howard_m]

<p>many/most modern decent ballheads have a builtin panning base</p>

[tim_eastman]

<p>Nodal Ninja</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

"Howard M , Sep 20, 2011; 07:58 p.m.

many/most modern decent ballheads have a builtin panning base"

 

If you are going to shoot stitched panoramas where you want the panning "base" is on top of the head. From

experience I can recommend three heads with a panning camera platform: the INDURO PHQ-3, the Arca-Swiss p0

and the heavier duty Arca-Swiss p1 head. The Really Right Stuff ball heads are very good but I haven't worked with

one in the field and you can easily replace the standard camera platform with a RRS PCL-1 panning clamp.

I tried both the NodalNinja and RRS gear and decided to go with the RRS gear. It more strongly built and is modular

which makes it more versatile.

I second what an earlier responder wrote about the using a double tilt head instead of a ballhead as it just makes it

faster to get the platform level. The INDURO PHQ-3 is a double tilt head as well having a panning base and panning

platform which incorporates an Arca-Swiss compatible clamping mechanism.

 

I do a lot of panoramic work, single and multi-row but not immersive. And my cavorts set up these days is a Foba

ASMIA head, Really Right Stuff PCL-1, CB-10, PG-02VA, and MPR II "nodal slide" along with a collection of various

Arca-Swiss compatible camera and lens plates from different manufacturers.

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>You don't need a special panning head for panoramas. Any pan head will do if it is leveled so that the axis of rotation is vertical. When panning, you need about 25% of overlap between frames, which you can easily estimate by observing landmarks 25% from the leading edge, and panning until they are 25% from the trailing edge. In a pinch, you can pan without a tripod or leveling. Panorama software can handle misalignment, but you get jagged edges in the pan which must be removed by cropping.</p>

<p>You should also adjust the position of the camera so that the axis of rotation goes through the entrance node of the lens. This eliminates parallax between the background and nearby objects. If you don't do this, you get ghosting or double images in the stitching process. Sometimes that's a problem, but not always.</p>

<p>Panning vertically and horizontally at the same time adds a lot of complexity. You need positional adjustments so that both axes of rotation intersect with the entrance node of the lens. The contraption must be rigid enough so that it doesn't slip or vibrate excessively, yet break down so you can carry it into the field and re-assemble it easily and consistently. That's going to get expensive and heavy. Look at equipment in <a href="http://www.reallyrightstuff.com">www.reallyrightstuff.com</a>. I think their equipment is about the most rigid yet portable gear available, but there are others in this price bracket that might work as well.</p>

<p>Software is important. You can do basic stitching with Photoshop and perhaps some simpler programs. None compare to the speed and accuracy of dedicated panorama software like PTGui (and others).</p>

[paul_soohoo2]

<p>http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Double-Bubble-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000YJ2Q9U/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316639774&sr=1-2<br>

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/acratech-leveling.shtml<br>

I shoot panos fairly often and was able to do this with the my existing ballhead by simply adding the two things above:<br /><br />a. simple hotshoe spirit level<br /><br />b. a leveling base</p>

<p>This setup is admittedly is not as nice as the PCL leveling base from RRS as stated by others but the whole setup set me back less than $170.<br>

The most important part is the leveling base which levels you tripod, then you level your camera with the the spirit level. With a little practice, I can get set for a pano in less than 3 minutes.<br>

I haven't found the need for the complication of a nodal slide. Perhaps it is because I typically shoot wide landscapes I have never noticed a problem due to parallax problems.<br>

The Archtech leveling base is a little hefty (1/2 lb)</p>

<p>http://www.moosepeterson.com/digitaldarkroom/lessons/panoramas.html<br>

I used this extensive article as a guide but simply replaced some of the hardware elements with less expensive options. The key is understanding the purpose of each component e.g. he calls for a PC lens but it is not completely necessary</p>

<p> </p>

[paul_soohoo2]

<p>http://www.amazon.com/Opteka-Double-Bubble-Digital-Cameras/dp/B000YJ2Q9U/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316639774&sr=1-2<br>

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/accessories/acratech-leveling.shtml<br>

I shoot panos fairly often and was able to do this with the my existing ballhead by simply adding the two things above:<br /><br />a. simple hotshoe spirit level<br /><br />b. a leveling base</p>

<p>This setup is admittedly is not as nice as the PCL leveling base from RRS as stated by others but the whole setup set me back less than $170.<br>

The most important part is the leveling base which levels you tripod, then you level your camera with the the spirit level. With a little practice, I can get set for a pano in less than 3 minutes.<br>

I haven't found the need for the complication of a nodal slide. Perhaps it is because I typically shoot wide landscapes I have never noticed a problem due to parallax problems.<br>

The Archtech leveling base is a little hefty (1/2 lb)</p>

<p>http://www.moosepeterson.com/digitaldarkroom/lessons/panoramas.html<br>

I used this extensive article as a guide but simply replaced some of the hardware elements with less expensive options. The key is understanding the purpose of each component e.g. he calls for a PC lens but it is not completely necessary</p>

<p> </p>

[scott_ferris]

<p>I thought about my head and support strategy for a long time before coming to the solution that works best for me. A very broad general shooting with an emphasis on stitches, interiors, travel and long lens uses.</p>

<p>I have an Acratech GP ballhead, the one you can mount upside down and use as a levelling base and clamp. Such a good design I don't know why nobody has copied it yet. I got L brackets for my cameras and a RRS MPR-192 bar, I also got a set of the mini clamps. Not a cheap investment and not the ultimate set for any one discipline, but far and away the most flexible system and the highest quality for the price.</p>

<p>This set up, quite frankly, does everything superbly. It takes effortless panos, it works to your lenses entry/nodal point so zero parallax, it works for portrait and landscape format, it works if you are attaching camera or lens foot due to the mini clamps, it works on all sized cameras from P&S to very large 135 format DSLR's and lenses and Medium Format to 6x9. It works as a levelling base, it works as a macro rail, it works as a gimbal head for my 300 f2.8, it works as a regular ballhead. It is all light, compact, easy to use and if need be expandable, seriously the best package I have ever used.</p>

<p>Here it is configured as a levelling base and parallax free stitch tool.</p><div></div>

[andrew_keam]

Hi, Am hoping someone can help me with quite a few questions I have regarding the PHQ3 from Induro, which gets mentioned in this post.. So basically, I am interested in panoramic photography but potentially it is for the reasons that most pano photographers are trying to avoid... I am interested in obtaining a stitched photograph that has a wider field of view, whilst achieving a "shallower" depth of field..

 

I am hoping that maybe I can skip a full 360 Pano head and be able to achieve what I am after with the PHQ3 product..

 

I first came across this idea by this post..

 

<a href="http://www.ryanbrenizer.com/2012/09/brenizer-method-contest-results-honorable-mentions-part-2/" target="_blank">http://www.ryanbrenizer.com/2012/09/brenizer-method-contest-results-honorable-mentions-part-2/</a>

 

so this method is essentially stitching photos (generally handheld) to create a wider field of view with a shallow depth of field.. For example, someone has done the math and some of these equate to a 30mm F0.7 shot... obviously impossible with current lenses..

 

So I really like the idea of this but the amount of stitching required (you will see that some are 30+ shot stitches) is too much for my style of work..

 

So I was hoping that by using a Pano head (or hopefully the PHQ3) I would be able to do a much simpler stitch without too much post processing... Ideally I would like to create a piece that roughly equates to an 8 x 10 inch film shot at f5.6... Very, very shallow

 

This could basically be an 85mm 1.2/1.4 lens on my Canon 5DII stitched just once or maybe at max twice...

 

So is this possible with the PHQ3 head? Or is it really only suitable to landscapes, architecture etc where you are using a suitable aperture to obtain maximum sharpness?

 

Also, in my searches, I could only really only find Pano heads that stitched with the camera in a "portrait" position.. What I am really after is to stich two "horizontal" shots that would end up giving me roughly an 8 x 10 "portrait" orientation..

 

Am I able to do this with the PHQ3?

 

 

 

 

 

I have been playing around with a Manfrotto 303SPH which a friend at my studio owns but it is very bulky and as yet, I do not know whether I can put the camera in a "landscape" position (whilst still maintaing the lens position at the nodal point) and tilting up and down (when stitched to give a "portrait" mode)

 

I could live with having to stich with the camera in "portrait" mode but having one that does both portrait and landscape would be better... Any ideas?

 

Also, if the answer is yes to the Induro PHQ3, what arca swiss quick release should I be looking at? I shoot a combination of 4x5 large format (a Chamonix 45N-1), Pentax 67 and Canon 5DII...

 

 

Sorry, looking back on this email, is a complete bombardment of questions...

 

Hopefully you have had a chance to read and tell me I am not completely crazy!

 

Thanks, any information and advice would be greatly appreciated.