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Adventures in pano stitching

sangio

New member
Santo

thats really cute! I'll have to try that
Thanks,

I have a large print of that pano hanging in my den....

This process has been around for a while, I saw it on some website a couple of years ago, but can't find the link so here's a condensed how-to

1. after creating the 360 degree pan, crop any overlap out of the image so that it's exactly 360 degrees.
2. flip the image vertically, so it's upside down
3. apply the "polar coordinates" filter in PS.
4. use the "distort" function in Edit to stretch the image out so that the center is roughly circular.

There's a lot of distortion on the edges, so a clear blue sky without clouds works best.

regards
Santo
 
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Devon Shaw

Guest
Really good nice! Might save me some money on a wide angle lens. Is Photoshop the best software to do this? Or is special software like panoramo editor in the example above more suitable?
If you'd like a free option to start out with I've had good results with Hugin.
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/
Once I get past 10 or so images it's choked up a bit and refused to finish stitching them.. but that could be more related to the speed of my computer than anything


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3617/3335088512_e565569be6_o.jpg

-Devon
 

ggibson

Well-known member
Nice work, Devon! I like how the shot is framed on either side with the fence and the tree in the middle grabs your attention.
 

leuallen

Member
Forgive the rather bland pictures but I just got my Fotodiox shift adapter for the Minolta MD mount. I put a 28mm 2.8 Rokkor on it for a quick test.

Primarily got this setup for panos. The adapter has a tripod mount so that the lens will maintain position while the camera shifts, avoiding parallax. Very easy to use and quick to setup for panos.

The adapter rotates so that vertical shift is possible but using the adapter mount, the camera interferes and does not allow the rotation. I will have to figure something out with some sort of spacer.

I use CS4 and it gives stellar results. I first use LR 2.6 to adjust exposure, white balance, etc using auto synch so that the images are all the same. Manual exposure of course.

I have a 45mm 2.0 coming and plan to get the 50mm macro. I got this setup because I wanted to try using panos on macro flower shots, something I've not seen much of and think may give interesting results.

For landscapes I tend to use longer focal lengths so this will fill the bill. Not too good for architectural shots because there are no viable wide angel lens available.

The aspect ratio is close to 3:1 which is near what I usually use for landscapes.

Larry
 

Jonas

Active member
You've shown that one before and I marveled at the number of shots as I do again. (I've never tried more than 9 total-- 3 over 3 on tripod with shifting on TS lens--I've done handheld, but usually 4--2 over 2). Thanks for the workflow you give in another post.

Diane
Hi,
I had to go back and check again. Yes, I posted it April 13 last year. I couldn't believe people remembered any of my images that long. I was wrong btw, it was 40+ images in that mosaic. Seeing it now again I wonder I overcorrected it. I used a bigger overlap than usual as the lens doesn't cover the full sensor. And Thank you.


Thanks Jonas,

I keep looking at that multi shot building pano, it's a great capture.

I've done a few 360 degree pans, but they're not easy to print. Here's a 360 pano that I wrapped around itself using polar coordinates in PS.

cheers
Santo
Santo,

That's a fun image. Maybe more pop art than photography but good to look at anyway. I guess one have to think about the vantage point for a successful circular image in that style.

Forgive the rather bland pictures but I just got my Fotodiox shift adapter for the Minolta MD mount. I put a 28mm 2.8 Rokkor on it for a quick test.

Primarily got this setup for panos. The adapter has a tripod mount so that the lens will maintain position while the camera shifts, avoiding parallax. Very easy to use and quick to setup for panos.

The adapter rotates so that vertical shift is possible but using the adapter mount, the camera interferes and does not allow the rotation. I will have to figure something out with some sort of spacer. (...)
Larry,
I'm not sure I understand your setup. Are you saying you just moved the camera in parallel to the target and then made your panos from (probably) three images each? I have seen that technique earlier and it seems very good but perhaps a little limiting as well.

regards,

/Jonas
 

leuallen

Member
I'm not sure I understand your setup. Are you saying you just moved the camera in parallel to the target and then made your panos from (probably) three images each? I have seen that technique earlier and it seems very good but perhaps a little limiting as well.
That's the idea. Works well. Will be useful for lots of things. I have other pano setups if needed.

Larry
 

sangio

New member
Forgive the rather bland pictures but I just got my Fotodiox shift adapter for the Minolta MD mount. I put a 28mm 2.8 Rokkor on it for a quick test.

<snip>

The aspect ratio is close to 3:1 which is near what I usually use for landscapes.

Larry
Hi Larry:

It looks like you're getting about double the horizontal FOV with this adapter, is that correct? I can see how this would be very interesting to use for macro panoramas as you mentioned.

How does the camera interfere for vertical shots? Is it because the clamp extends under the camera body?

I definitely need one of these, I wish fotodiox would make one for OM lenses.

cheers
Santo
 

leuallen

Member
How does the camera interfere for vertical shots? Is it because the clamp extends under the camera body?
The body hits the tripod head. I use the Manfrotto quick release adapters (square) and the body prevents the quick plate from going into the head. I can probably cook up a fix.

I am pleased with the field of view. It gives me what I usually shoot when using normal pano techniques. My normal pano is usually 8+ images with camera vertical and a longish focal length. This method requires only 3 images, camera horizontal with shorter focal length. The trade off is that the normal pano is higher resolution but the resolution with the shift method is sufficient for the sizes I usually print.

The shift method has the advantage that the gear is much lighter and simpler too use. I can use an ordinary ball head and lighter tripod instead of my geared Manfrotto 410 and L bracket and heavy tripod. So I am much more likely to have it with me.

Attached is pano I took last fall. G1 and about a 200mm focal but I don't remember which lens as I have several and there is no EXIF data and I am not good at noting.

Larry
 

scho

Well-known member
I made a sliding back for my 4x5 so I could attach the Lumix G1 body and then use my large format lenses. Sort of a big tilt/shift arrangement. Think I may have posted this last year, but here is a garden pano made with this contraption and the Rodenstock APO-Sironar-S 135mm/5.6 lens.

 

photoSmart42

New member
I made a sliding back for my 4x5 so I could attach the Lumix G1 body and then use my large format lenses. Sort of a big tilt/shift arrangement. Think I may have posted this last year, but here is a garden pano made with this contraption and the Rodenstock APO-Sironar-S 135mm/5.6 lens.
That's awesome! I was thinking of doing the same thing once I get a 4x5. Can you only slide the G1 horizontally with the setup, or can you flip the back so you can do the same thing vertically?
 

scho

Well-known member
That's awesome! I was thinking of doing the same thing once I get a 4x5. Can you only slide the G1 horizontally with the setup, or can you flip the back so you can do the same thing vertically?
The back can be flipped and you can also use rise/fall for multi row stitching if desired. I later bought a commercial version (chinese ebay) made for the eos mount and tried it with the G1 via an eos to m43 adapter, but the adapter adds too much extension to be useful. I do use it now occasionally with my 5DII.

 

photoSmart42

New member
The back can be flipped and you can also use rise/fall for multi row stitching if desired. I later bought a commercial version (chinese ebay) made for the eos mount and tried it with the G1 via an eos to m43 adapter, but the adapter adds too much extension to be useful. I do use it now occasionally with my 5DII.
Thank you for the photo of your setup! Wouldn't using rise/fall on the back plate affect your focus plane because of the Scheimpflug effect? For the setup I'm designing I'd be doing rise/fall for the camera adapter only, but keeping the camera geometry fixed.
 

scho

Well-known member
Thank you for the photo of your setup! Wouldn't using rise/fall on the back plate affect your focus plane because of the Scheimpflug effect? For the setup I'm designing I'd be doing rise/fall for the camera adapter only, but keeping the camera geometry fixed.
I used rise/fall on the front standard for multi-row stitching with the camera in landscape orientation. Sample using 4 images:

 
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DougDolde

Guest
That is such a cool building with the multicolored balconies. Love it.
 

photoSmart42

New member
I thought that Scheimpflug applied to tilt/swing, not to shift/rise/fall?
I honestly don't know for sure now. I thought it applied to any movement of the lens with respect to the film plane, but in hindsight I suppose shift/rise/fall would only affect the location of the focus plane along the film plane, but not the orientation of it.
 
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