Menu
What's new
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!

Custom built Digital Panoramic camera setup.

K

keller212

New member
Hi, this is my first post here.
I would like to show off a project i built around 3years ago. It has had a lot of use so excuse the current condition of it. I designed & built it with my own hands...

In a nutshell it is a camera body built out of aluminium which i mount a Sony A7 (will also work for A7r\Mk 2,3 & 4) on the sliding back & mount any Mamiya RZ67 lens on the front end,
which has a bellows\focusing-rail to focus (50mm ULD in pics)...

I basically compose & focus the image using the Live-View of the A7 & set critical focus plus adjust the lenses floating element by the magnified live view on the lcd.
I then set the sliding plate to one end & take each exposure (in between sliding the back to the next frame). It is calibrated so that each frame (7 in total) has roughly a 40% overlap for stitching.
I can then easily merge the images in PS just using the built in reposition photomerge tool. There is no post cropping that needs to be done & zero geometric distortion as i am just capturing the large
image circle of the RZ67 Lens in multiple 35mm frames.

So far, i only have the 50mm ULD which is equivalent to an ultra wide lens. And i also have a 140mm Macro. I have been very impressed with the resolution\detail of the Mamiya lenses.
Next upgrade will be getting a A7R Mk2, i would love the MK4 but the bank wont allow it atm. lol

Anyway just thought i would share it, here are some pics of the setup & also some shots taken with it.
Cheers :)
 

Attachments

K

keller212

New member
These are some of the shots i have taken with this setup. Sorry if some of them look a bit cooked, im not sure if they are processed for web properly.
 

Attachments

PeterA

PeterA

Well-known member
Amazing photography and great creativity in building your own kit - thanks for sharing.
Pete
 
P

PedroL

Member
keller212 said:
Hi, this is my first post here.
I would like to show off a project i built around 3years ago. It has had a lot of use so excuse the current condition of it. I designed & built it with my own hands...

In a nutshell it is a camera body built out of aluminium which i mount a Sony A7 (will also work for A7r\Mk 2,3 & 4) on the sliding back & mount any Mamiya RZ67 lens on the front end,
which has a bellows\focusing-rail to focus (50mm ULD in pics)...

I basically compose & focus the image using the Live-View of the A7 & set critical focus plus adjust the lenses floating element by the magnified live view on the lcd.
I then set the sliding plate to one end & take each exposure (in between sliding the back to the next frame). It is calibrated so that each frame (7 in total) has roughly a 40% overlap for stitching.
I can then easily merge the images in PS just using the built in reposition photomerge tool. There is no post cropping that needs to be done & zero geometric distortion as i am just capturing the large
image circle of the RZ67 Lens in multiple 35mm frames.

So far, i only have the 50mm ULD which is equivalent to an ultra wide lens. And i also have a 140mm Macro. I have been very impressed with the resolution\detail of the Mamiya lenses.
Next upgrade will be getting a A7R Mk2, i would love the MK4 but the bank wont allow it atm. lol

Anyway just thought i would share it, here are some pics of the setup & also some shots taken with it.
Cheers :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing .
Quite amazing to see a home made panoramic camera today. It was fairly common in 1970s and 1980s to make panoramic cameras at home.Than when I started shooting panos many cameras were hand made by members of International Association of Panoramic Photographers - IAPP, which I believe started in mid 80s in Virginia and one of the founding members was late Mr. Eddie Goldberg from Texas. He was a real father of Panoramic photography as we know it today.
Please share some more pictures, great job.
 
D

D&A

Well-known member
Keller 212,


You should be commended for your innovative approach to panoramic photography. There is saying "Necessity is the Mother of Invention", so if we assume your passion for Panoramic photography was a necessity, then you certainly applied invention. Yes often we describe such cobbled together devices as Rube Goldberg devices, but yours has a practical purpose and your images are inspiring. As other have expressed, I would look forward to seeing more images and if you have plans in the future for expanding on this endeavor when funds and material are available. Thanks ever so much.

Dave (D&A)
 
PhiloFarmer

PhiloFarmer

Member
Very Impressive mechanics...and creativity!

I haven't built my own camera...but I have certainly used a wide variety of gear, and admired all the innovative engineering involved in each one.

When you used the term "panoramic," I understood "rotating around a focal-point."

What you're really doing is sliding the back & stitching a composite, rather than rotating the back for the composite. No parallax corrections needed!

Great imagery...keep your vision growing...!!
 
K

keller212

New member
Thank you guys for the encouragement & enthusiasm.
Much appreciated...
I will definately upload some more of my work taken with this setup as soon as I get some free time.

Thanks again.
 
Richard Osbourne

Richard Osbourne

Member
Great work - and I love the photos taken with it. Bit of panorama specialist here but I just use a Manfrotto pan head, which has its limitations, especially with straight lines and buildings. This is a very interesting solution!
 
K

keller212

New member
More Pics

Here are some more photo's taken with the camera.
 

Attachments

I

itsdoable

Member
Do you have a view finder, or method to determine the entire image for framing? Sliding the camera back and forth to check the right and left boarders sounds pretty tedious.
 
K

keller212

New member
I would say more Months than hours... lol
I find the workflow pretty straight forward. Its just a matter of sliding the plate to 1st shot & last shot position & then adjusting the ball head until im happy with framing\composition.
The proccess really only takes a few minutes, especially once you get to know the lens & have an idea in my head of the angle of view etc...
 
I

itsdoable

Member
keller212 said:
...Its just a matter of sliding the plate to 1st shot & last shot position & then adjusting the ball head until im happy with framing\composition.
The proccess really only takes a few minutes, especially once you get to know the lens & have an idea in my head of the angle of view etc...
Click to expand...
I do something similar with a Canon 35mm TS lens that has been modified so it shifts the camera instead of the lens when tripod mounted, and I've always struggled getting the framing just right. Maybe more practice is called for ; )

Your image captures are fantastic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top