Panoramic view question.

[S2S2S2]

Hi CSnappers,

i am very interested in doing a panoramic picture, i know these are the following steps,

1) Camera on tripod
2) Set the tripod to move only left and right.
3) set the focus and exposure, so they will be constant throughout
4) take 1/3 over lapping of each picture
5) stitch them all up

all these is what i read.. havent tried it yet. but is there any advice i can get from you all to take this kinda picture?

thanks in advance

 

[dingaroo]

If you really want to capture a good pano, you may have to look into finding the nodal point of your lens. Do a google search on 'nodal point'. You may have to even spend up to more than $800 to get a pano bracket.

But if you just want to do a simple one, you've pretty much covered the basics. Also, depending on the scene, you may have to overlap more than 1/3, maybe 1/4 to 1/6, to prevent distortion on the buildings.

Cheers!

 

[jaRv1s]

1) Camera on tripod (correct, might need to include the no parallax point as dingaroo mentioned... expensive way would be a full pano bracket... cheaper option would be a sliding rail...)
2) Set the tripod to move only left and right. (require ballhead with panning base... 3 way head would do the job as well...)
3) set the focus and exposure, so they will be constant throughout (and White Balance must be on manual as well...)
4) take 1/3 over lapping of each picture (people suggesting 30% to 50% overlap... i quite lazy... i only use my ballhead's panning degree engrave... so it's normally a bit more than 50%... don't see the diff between 30% and 60%...)
5) stitch them all up (software required... photoshop cs3 and up... or hugin if you don't wanna pay...)

finding no parallax point might be a trouble... i spent about 2 hours for two lenses... one 50mm one wide zoom (only found widest and longest end of the zoom)... depends on what you take... if you take panorama for further subject i.e. very wide landscape etc... you might not be able to see the parallax error... if you shoot with lampposts, benches, or safety rail quite near then it would start to show up...

hope this helps...

 

[S2S2S2]

wah.. thanks for the info.
still not quite sure about the nodal point and parallex error thing, nvm i will google it up.

 

[megaweb]

Try to read up this link http://www.panoguide.com/howto/;jsessionid=7AF62530D6A42B72FC8FC0D5437B4D7B

1) Camera on tripod <-- try to use a pano head to mount the camera in portrait view
2) Set the tripod to move only left and right <-- a pano head can assist you to rotate the camera in specific angle
3) set the focus and exposure, so they will be constant throughout <-- manual mode
4) take 1/3 over lapping of each picture <-- 20% overlapped of each side
5) stitch them all up <-- need a good panoramic software

 

[S2S2S2]

is sliding rail or a pano head necessary for the shot?
right now i only got a tripod.

lol

 

[dingaroo]

I find that for pano, a ball head tripod may not be accurate, even when using the bubble leveler.

(image was taken by member Peterpan1975, but taken off denniskee's guide on tripod selection).

Recently (last Sunday), was at Cathay Photo after a photo outing. They happen to have on sale the Manfrotto 410 geared tripod head. Going for $403 with tripod, but on its own is $360. However, you'd be getting a $218 worth tripod for only $43! Consider this as a long term tripod solution.

You could also DIY one yourself, if you are a DIY-er type.

Just something to consider.

 

[dingaroo]

Here's a link to DIY your own Pano head.

 

[S2S2S2]

LOL... i will consider more on the pano head. would wanto try without it first.


ok i read and watch something abuot the paranomic view

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoQNL-VsvJA&feature=fvsr

if you take a look at this video, he is just using a normal tripod. and only when he tilt the camera vertical then he needs to find the nodal point.
he did not find the nodal point when the camera is in the horizontal position.

is this right?

 

[night86mare]

I find that for pano, a ball head tripod may not be accurate, even when using the bubble leveler.

(image was taken by member Peterpan1975, but taken off denniskee's guide on tripod selection).

your legs have to be level too.

no, a gear head should not help with pano accuracy. what helps is a specialised pano head like the nodal ninja.

 

[dingaroo]

your legs have to be level too.

no, a gear head should not help with pano accuracy. what helps is a specialised pano head like the nodal ninja.

Thanks for the info there nightmare! Considering plonking down >$800 for one from Cathay.

Cheers!

 

[wildcat]

your legs have to be level too.

And thanks to you for giving the tips on how to level tripod. Basically, take out the ballhead, level the tripod using the spirit leveller first, put back the ballhead, then level the camera. That way, the camera will still be levelled when panning left and right.

Otherwise legs not level, straighten camera already, when pan left or right, it will go off level.

 

[dingaroo]

And thanks to you for giving the tips on how to level tripod. Basically, take out the ballhead, level the tripod using the spirit leveller first, put back the ballhead, then level the camera. That way, the camera will still be levelled when panning left and right.

Otherwise legs not level, straighten camera already, when pan left or right, it will go off level.

After my op, my legs are not level!!!

 

[giantcanopy]

1) Camera on tripod
2) Set the tripod to move only left and right.
3) set the focus and exposure, so they will be constant throughout
4) take 1/3 over lapping of each picture
5) stitch them all up

U will need progressively more overlap when u r stitching with photos taken from wider focal lengths so as to compensate for large gaps from de-distortion from stitching. i usually prefer stitching at longer focal lengths to reduce potentially funky distortion issues. used to be abit hung up on nodal points, but after a while. . heck..

u can diy try to shoot ur room with a wide and stitch, and a tele and stitch and get abit of feel from there.

ryan

 

[wildcat]

After my op, my legs are not level!!!

Maybe need to get a whiskey straight up. Geddit? Spirit? Leveller?

 

[night86mare]

And thanks to you for giving the tips on how to level tripod. Basically, take out the ballhead, level the tripod using the spirit leveller first, put back the ballhead, then level the camera. That way, the camera will still be levelled when panning left and right.

Otherwise legs not level, straighten camera already, when pan left or right, it will go off level.

yes, and for greater ease, a panballhead will do wonders.

i haven't had time to try out the giottos panballhead i got, but when i do, maybe i'll take a few pictures, post up a user review somewhere in clubsnap.

 

[gundamseed84]

Sorry to dig up an old thread...I am learning how to do nice pano shots but have failed...Basically I get pictures that look like fisheye pic and need details on how to eliminate these distortions.

First picture looks like fisheye

Second pic looks better but the foreground is still curved (a little on the building too)

Third pic --> is it because I am not standing in the middle of the building?

I am using Canon's 18-200mm, if I rem correctly I am using the 18mm focal length. So I am wondering if the problem lies partly with the lens and how can I reduce such problems if I want to use at 18mm.

Thank you guys so much. I have a 3 way head btw.

 

[MRSAMO]

Sorry to dig up an old thread...I am learning how to do nice pano shots but have failed...Basically I get pictures that look like fisheye pic and need details on how to eliminate these distortions.

I am using Canon's 18-200mm, if I rem correctly I am using the 18mm focal length. So I am wondering if the problem lies partly with the lens and how can I reduce such problems if I want to use at 18mm.

Thank you guys so much. I have a 3 way head btw.

Hi,

Your pictures are curving because of a number of reasons:
- you've probably taken too many pictures (start with 3 or 4)
- You're shooting end to end or 180 degrees of semi-circular pano shooting which will always produce a curve
- strange angles occur because you're probably not in the middle of your pano shoot and the layout you use to stitch your panos may not have been right (play around with auto, perspective, cylindrical, spherical, collage, reposition in Photoshop or a stitching program)
- you will always experience distortion with whatever lens that you use if you don't do any lens correction in Photoshop (for most of your pictures you'll probably need to adjust the geometric distortion)

I've done a lot of panos but I'm a bit different because I don't normally use a tripod:

Here's an example of a curving scene that I didn't correct mainly because I used the wrong method (shot too many and end-to-end) and it wasn't the right place for a pano (sloping hills) :

I think I got lucky with these shots because:
- I tried not to shoot too many for stitching
- Stood really still and held the camera steadily while shooting in a smooth and consistent manner
- Overlap each picture, some say 20% others say 1/3, it doesn't matter just overlap a little bit for each shot just not too much
- Always shoot in portrait view not landscape

I agree that if you have a tripod and a pano head then you will have a more consistent result (ie. flatter). I only just bought a tripod and have used it sparingly for my last trip, not sure if it's worth carrying the thing because of its weight and bulk so I will probably still rely on my old habits for pano shooting unless I'm shooting at night.

 

[giantcanopy]

Hi,

Your pictures are curving because of a number of reasons:
- you've probably taken too many pictures (start with 3 or 4)
- You're shooting end to end or 180 degrees of semi-circular pano shooting which will always produce a curve
- strange angles occur because you're probably not in the middle of your pano shoot and the layout you use to stitch your panos may not have been right (play around with auto, perspective, cylindrical, spherical, collage, reposition in Photoshop or a stitching program)
- you will always experience distortion with whatever lens that you use if you don't do any lens correction in Photoshop (for most of your pictures you'll probably need to adjust the geometric distortion)

I think the main culprit for having the distortion that gundamseed84 mentioned is using a wider focal length to take individual frames and stitch. Ur 2nd / 3rd / 4th panos also have the central curvature. Usually will be less pronounced if u have no defining lines for instance that runs across to make the curve visible, or like mentioned, sometimes the stitching software has various settings to correct it ( often with much crop )

some folks go to the extent of correcting each wide frame before stitching. too laborous and i am not sure how much better it takes. alternatively use great PP skills like liquify that NM86 used to champion on correcting complex distortion.

Your pictures are curving because of a number of reasons:
- you've probably taken too many pictures (start with 3 or 4)
- You're shooting end to end or 180 degrees of semi-circular pano shooting which will always produce a curve

I am half convinced regarding taking more pictures causing the curvature. But taking pictures with a more telephoto focal length makes the curvature much less obvious since each shot in itself has less distortions per se. but if u take a huge pano with telephoto lenses, the distortions will add up. ( if thats what u r referring to ) U dun need more than 2 shots to show the distortion in the stitch with wides.

As to semi circular panos, take a look at emlee's recent europe thread. he did a long stitch with good results. i suspect it is taken with telephoto frames ( else it is a wide with alot of cropping )

This is probably the longest i have done with an 85mm, 7 frames.
( I seldom do anything longer than 4 frames mainly because i find it too hard to compose a proper super long pic )

I've done a lot of panos but I'm a bit different because I don't normally use a tripod:

If i am caught without a tripod or in a place where tripods are not allowed .. otherwise i really propose using tripod. helps to align horizons better without correcting for tilt ( long panoramas suffer huge crops from just a simple 1 degree tilt )

- Overlap each picture, some say 20% others say 1/3, it doesn't matter just overlap a little bit for each shot just not too much
- Always shoot in portrait view not landscape

Telephoto lenses u can afford less overlap since each de-distortion process in stitching softwares is a minimal compared to wide lenses.

- Always shoot in portrait view not landscape

Most of my panos are done in landscape format but usually a matter of framing the entire pano and of necessity. I have done them in portraiture as well.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/4454101364_c5d7eef9f3_o.jpg
I am not sure how much impact there is on landscape or portrait frames, unless one of them exaggerated the distortion.

Ryan

 

[coolthought]

if you look at your original and un-stitched photos, you will notice that the 2 left and right most frames have some sort of perspective distortion. This is more pronounced the closer you are. And the software will tried it best to line and join up everything nicely as possible.

One of the solution is to stand further back. However, location might limit what you can do. I have tried correcting the perspective before stitching and after stitched, liquify and a few other to try to correct this. So far, I still can't get a satisfying result. Probably will just keep on looking and trying.