Looking for suggestions on a lens for 360 /180 panos

[MetroRuss]

Hi all

Im a new owner of a A57
I've got the 18-55 kit lens
Minolta 70-210 f4
And now I am looking for a lens to shoot 360/180 panoramas indoors and out. I am planning to shoot real estate vr tours.

Im so addicted!!

 

[christop]

What's stopping you from using one of the lenses you already have? A panorama can be taken with almost any lens.

You'll want to choose the focal length depending on how many shots you want to take (which also determines the size and quality of the final panorama). A longer focal length requires more shots to cover the entire scene than a shorter one because it gives you a narrower angle of view. On a crop-frame camera (Canon APS-C), I find that a 50mm lens can give a decent number of shots--perhaps a couple dozen for a single horizontal row. A wider lens like 28mm requires about half as many shots.

Just experiment taking panos with your 18-55 at each end and at the middle of its range and see what you prefer.

(Then again, you might want to consider buying a prime lens at your preferred focal length as it may be easier to use because you won't have to worry about accidentally changing the focal length while you're taking a pano.)

 

[MetroRuss]

Hi christop

Thanks for reply.

What you have said does work as I have some nice mountain ranges and parks with no parralax errors. However it takes a real long time to do 3 rows of 360 with the 18-55

I've been reading About the rokinon / samyang 8mm fisheye and last night i just discovered their newer version for just 20 dollars more. Its a rokinon hd8m-s HD 8mm fisheye.

Under 300. i think i am going to give this one a try. 6 shots for a full 360 / 180 panorama.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Hi christop

Thanks for reply.

What you have said does work as I have some nice mountain ranges and parks with no parralax errors. However it takes a real long time to do 3 rows of 360 with the 18-55

I've been reading About the rokinon / samyang 8mm fisheye and last night i just discovered their newer version for just 20 dollars more. Its a rokinon hd8m-s HD 8mm fisheye.

Under 300. i think i am going to give this one a try. 6 shots for a full 360 / 180 panorama.

You want a sigma 8mm fisheye or maybe the 4.5mm. The 8mm will cover the full frame but I have heard about people using the 4.5 for what you are doing.

 

[MetroRuss]

Hi christop

Thanks for reply.

What you have said does work as I have some nice mountain ranges and parks with no parralax errors. However it takes a real long time to do 3 rows of 360 with the 18-55

I've been reading About the rokinon / samyang 8mm fisheye and last night i just discovered their newer version for just 20 dollars more. Its a rokinon hd8m-s HD 8mm fisheye.

Under 300. i think i am going to give this one a try. 6 shots for a full 360 / 180 panorama.

You want a sigma 8mm fisheye or maybe the 4.5mm. The 8mm will cover the full frame but I have heard about people using the 4.5 for what you are doing.

Hi DJ

Id love to be able to buy the sigma but the wife has tight reins on the budget.

I did purchase a HD 8mm samyang / rokinon fisheye.

The price is alot easier to manage.

I shot a quick 360/180 of my kitchen last night after i screwed together a home made panorama head and autopano had alot of issues trying to stitch it at the default settings. Ptgui did it in a few minutes. Weird.

Are you doing panoramas?