Panoramic equipment - leveling base vs. panning clamp

[480sparky]

99.99% of the panos I do are shot in portrait mode. I don't use any special pano head on my tripod, and have been able to shoot panos hand-held without much issue.

 

[jbushee]

I have only limited experience, but at least for spherical panos, you want a level tripod.
Being able to fix things in post is great, but a last choice IMHO. Why set yourself up for the extra work when it takes just a couple extra minutes of prep to avoid it?

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

I have only limited experience, but at least for spherical panos, you want a level tripod.
Being able to fix things in post is great, but a last choice IMHO. Why set yourself up for the extra work when it takes just a couple extra minutes of prep to avoid it?

Exactly. I dont have any plans on stitching gigapans shot handhled. And there is a big difference between results that are "good enough" and "stellar".

But the more I think about it the more I lean more to the panning clamp. I didnt realize the PCL-1 was so robust. Its the same size as the panning base of the BH-55. It will be a lot easier to put a QR plate on the panning clamp than mess with removing the head.

 

[Ped]

Correcting levelling with 360° x 180° panos takes a second or two, even if you take the shots pefectly level, the stitching software might hit off slightly at first run. Levelling becomes more important with cylindrical panos as correcting would invariably involve cropping the image. Also, the point of least parallax (nodal point) only becomes important with scenes with near and far objects, like rooms etc. It is perfectly fine to take panos from a normal tripod or handheld of scenes where everything is far off like in a landscape scene. With closer objects in view, or doing the complete sphere, more work would be involved to hide the errors. Nodal Ninja do a good range of equipment for making panoramas. I have an old slightly war worn NN3 head that does me a treat.

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

I will also be focus stacking. So just about everything in frame will be in focus. Near and far.

 

[Edsport]

Because portrait orientation will give you the most pixel vertically and give you more room for cropping it rectangular (room for error)?

You can take shots up and down to get as many pixels you want. More than just by using portrait orientation...

 

[jbushee]

Correcting levelling with 360° x 180° panos takes a second or two, even if you take the shots pefectly level, the stitching software might hit off slightly at first run. Levelling becomes more important with cylindrical panos as correcting would invariably involve cropping the image. Also, the point of least parallax (nodal point) only becomes important with scenes with near and far objects, like rooms etc. It is perfectly fine to take panos from a normal tripod or handheld of scenes where everything is far off like in a landscape scene. With closer objects in view, or doing the complete sphere, more work would be involved to hide the errors. Nodal Ninja do a good range of equipment for making panoramas. I have an old slightly war worn NN3 head that does me a treat.

I guess I would have to disagree. While it might SOMETIMES be able to level or straighten your pano, after spending WAY too mych time fixing one recently, I bought a level to toss in my bag, since the bubble on my tripod dried up somewhere along the line...

Spend a sec and set up right, instead of counting on the software to bail you out.

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

Spend a sec and set up right, instead of counting on the software to bail you out.

This.

It takes waaaaay less time to set up and shoot properly than it does to correct in post. And you just cannot duplicate the results of a multi-row pano rig by shooting handheld.

 

[Edsport]

Spend a sec and set up right, instead of counting on the software to bail you out.

This.

It takes waaaaay less time to set up and shoot properly than it does to correct in post. And you just cannot duplicate the results of a multi-row pano rig by shooting handheld.

I don't agree. It takes less time just to take the photos than to set up a tripod. I've taken lots without a tripod and stitching in post has never failed...

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

Are we really gonna go down that road again? Did you read any of this thread or just post and run? Regardless of what you believe, YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS BY SHOOTING HANDHELD. Period. Tell yourself whatever you like. What looks great on your monitor will look like garbage as a 4'x6' print, litho, etc.

There is a reason the worlds best pano shooters use gear to get the camera where it should be. Shooting large scale pano's handheld is like using a hammer to put together a puzzle.

 

[480sparky]

Are we really gonna go down that road again? Did you read any of this thread or just post and run? Regardless of what you believe, YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS BY SHOOTING HANDHELD. Period. Tell yourself whatever you like. What looks great on your monitor will look like garbage as a 4'x6' print, litho, etc.

There is a reason the worlds best pano shooters use gear to get the camera where it should be. Shooting large scale pano's handheld is like using a hammer to put together a puzzle.

I dunno.... I've printed some of my hand-held panos up to EIGHT feet with no problems.

 

[baturn]

Another guy asking for advice when he'd already made up his mind. This is starting to sound like , Wow, look at all my cool photo stuff.

 

[EchoingWhisper]

Actually I suggest overlapping the images by at least 50%, unless you have to conserve space.

 

[Arkanjel Imaging]

Another guy asking for advice when he'd already made up his mind. This is starting to sound like , Wow, look at all my cool photo stuff.

Hardly. Dont troll my thread either. If I was pimping my gear Id have it listed in my sig like the other egomaniacs around here.

The question was very legitimate. But it seems the lack of general education is holding this topic back. Very little in the way of useful information has been given. Just a bunch of nay-sayers that think their opinion is fact. :er:

Mods, you can close this at your discretion.

 

[chakalakasp]

Are we really gonna go down that road again? Did you read any of this thread or just post and run? Regardless of what you believe, YOU CANNOT ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULTS BY SHOOTING HANDHELD. Period. Tell yourself whatever you like. What looks great on your monitor will look like garbage as a 4'x6' print, litho, etc.

There is a reason the worlds best pano shooters use gear to get the camera where it should be. Shooting large scale pano's handheld is like using a hammer to put together a puzzle.

Most of my panos are handheld, and most of them can be printed 5 to 10 feet wide. Several have been licensed for thousands of dollars. It can be done, and in some situations, it's the only practical way to do it. I agree that a tripod is optimal in situations in which time is plentiful, and required in situations in which lighting is below the safe handholding threshhold.