The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Help with panorama options please

satybhat

Member
Interesting perspectives. I'm being drawn in to stitching. :(
Will, that five shot pano looks really righteous. Considering that there are fast moving low level clouds, ripples on the lake, likely moving leaves as well.
So what hardware do you guys suggest ? The gigapan looks really inviting, but not sure that it would take a DF+ and 75-150 attached, although it might take my STC. Using 40HR, what's the maximum shift latitude you can get if I were to shift-stitch 2x horizontals ? Obviously the LCC would impede the swiftness of the job if I had a shot like Will's.
 

jlm

Workshop Member
panos are a lot of fun, here is a 15 shot 270 degree view, IQ160 and rodie 70. biggest problem is evening out the light as you move around the sky. i usually overlap at least 1/3. and i have had better results with autpano giga. also if you shoot right to left, the images are laid out in natural order in C1 thumbnails
 

mike6272

New member
Why don't you give it a try if you wanna shoot panorama with subject not moving crazily fast?
overview
It works pretty well in terms of image quality and work flow. The lens choice is versatile, too.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
Interesting perspectives. I'm being drawn in to stitching. :(
Will, that five shot pano looks really righteous. Considering that there are fast moving low level clouds, ripples on the lake, likely moving leaves as well.
So what hardware do you guys suggest ? The gigapan looks really inviting, but not sure that it would take a DF+ and 75-150 attached, although it might take my STC. Using 40HR, what's the maximum shift latitude you can get if I were to shift-stitch 2x horizontals ? Obviously the LCC would impede the swiftness of the job if I had a shot like Will's.
Thank you.

As far as the pano I posted, I simply had the camera vertically mounted on an Arca Swiss p0 which was leveled and I used a 120mm lens. I manually swung the camera. I shoot for a 50% overlap. I have a gridded screen in my viewfinder which makes judging the overlap easy.

I did get a nodal rail for stitching, but I found in most cases, it was unnecessary. Where a slide or rail comes in handy is when there are a lot of foreground and background features, like shooting in a forest.

BTW, if you are swinging the camera, having long focal lengths give the illusion of a rectilinear projection. With the posted pano, it is a cylindrical projection, but the focal length hides it. Using wides will cause more projection artifacts--they are really not distortions as if you curve the print and view from the relative camera position it will look natural.

I would go out and try some panos. Go to places you think they will work and try some places you think they will not. It helps to get an idea how far you can push these. I do many panos handheld and PS deals with them nicely. But they are addictive and they can be disk hogs.
 

dchew

Well-known member
...Using 40HR, what's the maximum shift latitude you can get if I were to shift-stitch 2x horizontals ? Obviously the LCC would impede the swiftness of the job if I had a shot like Will's.
STC shifted horizontally 18mm each way, cropped to 6x17 gives you a 18.2mm equivalent focal length in 135 format. That's pretty darn wide. Depending on the shot (and if the output is color vs B&W), you will probably get 10-15mm of shift that is usable and "blend-able". If that's a word.

If you can only go out to 10mm due to LCC limitations, then your final 6x17 format will be 73.7x26. That is still a pretty-wide 22mm equivalent diagonal, and a 71MP image.

Unless 1) that is not wide enough, or 2) you want big frozen wave action, I think shifting the STC is a good option. Because you have an interest in wide angles for this shot, I'm guessing you don't want big frozen waves since the wide will make the waves far and small in the image. Of course if you do a long exposure to create the misty effect, then you can shift / stitch to your heart's content.

Dave
 

jlm

Workshop Member
cant believe graham doesn't have one!
does look interesting, 8micron sensor cells is in the fat pixel camp (6cm/7500 cells).

use must be demanding; next will be setting it vertical and stitching sideways
 

tcdeveau

Well-known member
Oooh yeah I forgot about the Seitz. I guess I meant I'd like to see a non-scanning back 6x17. Even if I did have that kinda money laying around the 10 sec max exposure time is a little too limiting. Also, I'm getting spoiled by a lot of the digital cams coming out these days and the 11 stop DR (advertised) of the Seitz doesn't sound too appealing for that kind of money. Would rather stitch with a 280 for that price. Would be fun to rent one and try it but it looks like you have to pick it up at the factory?

As far as pano hardware goes, I usually just use a panning clamp (PC-PRO Quick-Release Clamp). I also have a nodal slide but don't really use it that much. Because I use zoom lenses a lot, I've been way too lazy to figure out the nodal positions for each focal length on the zoom haha. As someone else already mentioned, unless you have a lot of subject matter in the foreground, parallax isn't a huge issue when shooting mainly at or near infinity, and a nodal slide isn't necessary. I also shoot vertically when I stitch so that I use the long end of the sensor for the height. Also, you want to try and avoid using wide angle lenses when shooting for pano because they tend to have more distortion, which can create problems when stitching. You should be fine with a single row pano, you'll need a little more hardware for a multi row pano.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I follow the same approach as Dave Chew and typically use my Alpa STC and stitch using the panoramic shift movements. However, there's a lot of merit in covering your bases too when shooting.

And no, I don't have the Seitz (although trust me if I had the means ... ) so I just slum it with my Fuji 617 instead :D

 

jlm

Workshop Member
what the hell, graham, it's only 1/3 of the range rover ;)

seems like it is the lens coverage that is most demanding, since the scanning back is similar to a lot of shifting.

maybe i'll get creative and make a huge L/R shifting back for my cambo IQ160 rig (+/- 15mm ain't enough?
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
what the hell, graham, it's only 1/3 of the range rover ;)
That's the logic that got me set up with an Alpa & Phase One systems along with the IQ160/260 backs. That time Guy played his Jedi mind tricks on me and had me upgrading my camera system vs buying that new car. I'm not falling for it again :D :poke:

seems like it is the lens coverage that is most demanding, since the scanning back is similar to a lot of shifting.

maybe i'll get creative and make a huge L/R shifting back for my cambo IQ160 rig (+/- 15mm ain't enough?
That would be cool - I'm surprised actually that someone hasn't come out with an equivalent shift pano tech camera to provide the equivalent of 617 or 612. Ultimately I suppose the rationale is that you can always shoot and crop down to any ratio if you've got enough source pixels. Keeping the sky consistent with shifts, even with good LCCs, is still one of the downsides vs a full frame pano capture.

I'd still buy a digital equivalent to an Xpan in 35mm. Having the crop VF I think is part of the magic of composing and shooting panoramics.
 

Shashin

Well-known member
I follow the same approach as Dave Chew and typically use my Alpa STC and stitch using the panoramic shift movements. However, there's a lot of merit in covering your bases too when shooting.

And no, I don't have the Seitz (although trust me if I had the means ... ) so I just slum it with my Fuji 617 instead :D

I don't know. Anyone that uses an Alpa to frame their iPhone shots doesn't seem like they are really "slumming" it...
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
I don't know. Anyone that uses an Alpa to frame their iPhone shots doesn't seem like they are really "slumming" it...
You can never have too much tripod, too stable a head or too good a viewfinder :D

The iPhone shoots 6x17 natively like a champ too. (645Pro app).
 

wryphotography

New member
If I were you, I would use the IQ280 and rent/borrow/buy a 617.

Contrary to what some have said in the thread, scanning film is no easy task. So much so that I sent many slides out for scanning, and was completely unhappy with the results. So i bought my own imacon, it took me months to learn the ins and outs of the Imacon, before I started getting great results. It also took months to learn the ins and outs of RVP50, what works what doesnt.

So if you have the system you know, the 280 and a system you don't know, a 617, you cover your basis.

That said I have great pano shots from both iq180 and Fuji 617, both of which can print extremely large with proper technique. I will say at that size, the IQs files will be cleaner.
 

satybhat

Member
Interesting. Thanks for the options guys. .It seems like an awful lot to learn and do before I am happy with the 617 and confident enough to take it out as a sole system. Must admit, part of it was fuelled by the prospect of using film - I do get a bit nostalgic about film even now.
Nodal stitching for digital. With the IQ280 / DF or Tech combinations, below what focal lengths would you consider nodal stitch a necessity as opposed to panning only? In fact, can anyone recommend a good book or learning resource on these matters ?
Thanks for the replies guys. Much appreciated.
 
Top