Thread: Panoramic head for tripod

Have been taking panoramas since 1974 when I used to sticky tape B&W prints together in a large art folio. I have hundreds of digital panoramas going back about 16 years. I have a reasonably top end Manfrotto tripod head but I only use that indoors or when complex high DOF images are involved.

Once the subject is beyond the hyperfocal distance a tripod head that rotates the camera about the nodal point of the lens is not required so outside I shoot all my panoramas hand held or using a regular tripod - Even indoors they can come out OK if you learn to rotate your body around the camera - not the other way around.

Here's one I took overhead - it's not as easy as it looks.


Here are a few I took in Canada https://www.woodworkforums.com/f122/r...oramas-119650/
A few indoor panos in this thread taken with the panohead.
Also in that thread the OP discussed the use of various kitchen items to use as a basic tripod.

The Probys Grave picture was the worst with the error bit.
The others ended up ok. Some problems could be just the way the software did the matching. A lot depends on the foreground and how close it is to the camera from what I can determine.

Next time I play with this I will use a tripod, especially if I am going to do more than 4 pics packed into one completed shot.

As for that overhead shot all yours, great picture.

What did you do lie on the ground?

Here one I took earlier this year, hand held

Originally Posted by cultana

Next time I play with this I will use a tripod, especially if I am going to do more than 4 pics packed into one completed shot.

If you use a tripod you need to make sure it is level or you will end up with a curved panorama if it is a 180º or an S shaped one if it is a 360º

As for that overhead shot all yours, great picture.
What did you do lie on the ground?

I took it standing up. But I get a bit of vertigo while doing this so I leant on the side of one of the pews in the church.

One of the things to watch out for with multiple frame panoramas is the exposures. Two things can happen:

1.
The different subject matter from frame to frame can cause the camera to select a different exposure. That is to say that a darker subject will yield a different exposure to a lighter subject. If the lighting conditions are constant then by far the best way to get consistent exposures over the whole pano is to use manual exposure. This is evidenced in the Bukaringa Lookout pano (sorry to single you out cultana) where the middle parts are denser than the others. You can try to correct this with Photoshop et al, but it can be quite tricky. In any case it's ALWAYS better to having a close to perfect as possible in the original exposure, rather than manipulate later.

EDIT: This non uniform exposure can also come about when using a Polarising filter for a pano. The part of the sky that is at 90 degrees to the sunlight direction will get the maximum polarisation (deeper blue) and that will graduate back to no effect whatsoever at 0 or 180 degrees. This will give a similar effect to the Bukaringa LO pic. So, rule of thumb, never use a PL filter when taking panos that include blue sky (which is prolly about 90% of amateur panos taken I suspect). This effect can even be seen in a single frame (non-pano) pic taken with a lens of 35mm focal length or wider (if you camera works with full size sensor).

Always use a PL filter in forest/garden etc shots (pano or not) - the colour saturation can really lift the image immeasurably. The PL filter eliminates reflections of light from the leaves and reveals the colour that can otherwise not be seen, and if you think about it, where the light is reflecting of a subject so that it does "white out" that means it is getting 100% illumination - take the reflection away and you have 100% colour!


2.
The ambient light can change (sun peeps in or out slightly, for example). Having the camera in Automatic may, repeat may, solve this, but not necessarily. Under these circumstances having the camera set to manual exposure will result in the problems described in 1. above (and the only way around it then is to manipulate post-shooting).

HTH
Brett

Originally Posted by ian

Here one I took earlier this year, hand held

Sometimes not Ian, but you have to be extremely mindful of pivoting the camera about it's axis, not your body axis, particularly when there is subject matter closer to you than "infinity" - that's where the parallax error will creep in. Depends how important the pic is, time available etc I suppose.

Brett,
The exposure modifications with the Pentax K-m is somewhat limited. Its a base entry type digital camera so has some limitations.
The pictures I took were more of a trial to see if the software was worth spending the money.

I do have a different camera that allows playing with exposure a lot easier but due to domestic politics at the time I had no wish to take it with me. Something along the lines of "who needs a camera where you change the lenses etc, vs a nice little pocket one". Not a discussion I wished to deal with at that time.


As for tripod, depends on what you are standing on. With the Bukaringa Look out I was standing on a pile of rocks so some what unstable. A tripod would have helped a lot.

Originally Posted by cultana

The exposure modifications with the Pentax K-m is somewhat limited. Its a base entry type digital camera so has some limitations

Yes, often a problem. FWIW I think that all cameras should have manual exposure. It is too often not until after the purchase, and subsequent experimentation, that it becomes evident that it would be desirable, when it is in fact THE most useful exposure method.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Sometimes not Ian, but you have to be extremely mindful of pivoting the camera about it's axis . . . .

Technically speaking it has to be rotated around the "nodal centre of the lens". This is rarely the tripod connection point of the camera and is usually somewhere between the film or CCD plane and the end of the lens. Typically the nodal centre is near the middle of the lens. This is why panoramic tripods have an X and Y offset slides. This only matters when shooting inside the hyperfocal distance.

For exposure variations bracketing of exposures can help - this one has the sun in one of the frames. The frames with 90º of the sun were bracketed and I chose the best of the exposures. I was also using a Polarising filter.

Originally Posted by BobL

Technically speaking it has to be rotated around the "nodal centre of the lens". This is rarely the tripod connection point of the camera and is usually somewhere between the film or CCD plane and the end of the lens. Typically the nodal centre is near the middle of the lens. This is why panoramic tripods have an X and Y offset slides. This only matters when shooting inside the hyperfocal distance. Yes, goodo Bob, I figured you might cover this, and explain it better than I.

For exposure variations bracketing of exposures can help Yep, excellent tip, as long as the camera is capable of it, and too many aren't - this one has the sun in one of the frames. The frames with 90º of the sun were bracketed and I chose the best of the exposures. I was also using a Polarising filter. Which works in this case because there is very little blue sky, and a complete absence in the middle.

From Wiki, for those who may wish to know:
Definition 2: The hyperfocal distance is the distance beyond which all objects are acceptably sharp, for a lens focused at infinity.

In other words, with a typical standard to slightly wide lens (which is as wide as should really be used for panos, otherwise the distortion gets all over the shop) if you have objects in the frame that are closer than perhaps 15-20 metres (maybe a little less - Bob?), then you should rotate the camera around the nodal point, otherwise you can get away with just rotating it on the tripod screw point.

Apologies if this is getting into too much detail cultana.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

From Wiki, for those who may wish to know:
Definition 2: The hyperfocal distance is the distance beyond which all objects are acceptably sharp, for a lens focused at infinity.

In other words, with a typical standard to slightly wide lens (which is as wide as should really be used for panos, otherwise the distortion gets all over the shop) if you have objects in the frame that are closer than perhaps 15-20 metres (maybe a little less - Bob?), then you should rotate the camera around the nodal point, otherwise you can get away with just rotating it on the tripod screw point.

I just checked my notes - the hyper focal distance not really relevant - sorry for the bum steer, I was confused with something else to do with stereo photography.
The interplay between object distances/F number/ focal length /CCD size and parallax is a bit messy. My experience is if I am indoors use the nodal point, when outdoors bigger than a large room, just go for it.

Originally Posted by FenceFurniture

Apologies if this is getting into too much detail cultana.

Firstly unless you start dealing with cameras similar to the Nikon D4, D600,(?), or D800 you possibly won't get manual override on everything you want to. But then you start talking about $3000, ($6000 for the D4), just for the camera body alone.

Second point the various shots for the panoramic picture was only done with a Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM and really it does not have a big wide angle view for such a lense. This is a better lens: Nikon AF-S 14-24mm F2.8 G ED.

And in reality no most of the detail I already know. Hence i wanted to know about building a panoramic head vs buying one. It has its uses especially if foreground is too close when making the shot.

As for the nodal point that is a nasty as it does vary for each lense be it mid lense or close to the front.

Originally Posted by cultana

And in reality no most of the detail I already know. Hence i wanted to know about building a panoramic head vs buying one. It has its uses especially if foreground is too close when making the shot.

As for the nodal point that is a nasty as it does vary for each lense be it mid lense or close to the front.

It should be very easy to make one for a specific camera.

Basically you want to offset the camera X-Y so the tripod head rotates around the nodal point. Chances are the tripod mount is already in line with the long (Y) axis of the lens so no X-axis adjustment is needed. So then all you need is a plate with a long slot in it that attached to the tripod at one end but allows for a variable Y position of the camera. A good starting point is the centre of the lens and test for parallax and adjust the camera back and forth along the Y axis until you get no parallax shift. Testing different focal lengths will tell you how much of a range you will need - usually it's no more than a few cms.
I'm sure if you look around on the web you will find some home made jobbies to give ideas.

Good pano heads have a bit more than this to it. Mine has built in level and an indexing system that generates the same overlap for every shot. Then there are those that allow for multiple layers of shots.

Originally Posted by cultana

Firstly unless you start dealing with cameras similar to the Nikon D4, D600,(?), or D800 you possibly won't get manual override on everything you want to.

Yes, understand, and things may have changed since I bought my POS (not P&S) about ten years ago. I wouldn't buy a camera that didn't have manual exposure - not a chance. The one I have is the Canon Pro1 which was about a grand IIRC. Mind you, that's the only thing about it that's Pro - the name.